Alcohol in the Bible - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alcoholic beverages appear in the
Hebrew Bible, after
Noah planted a vineyard and became inebriated. In the
New Testament,
Jesus miraculously made copious amounts of wine
[1] at the
marriage at Cana. Later, Jesus incorporated the fruit of the vine as part of the
Eucharist. Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is a source of symbolism,
[2] and was an important part of daily life in biblical times.
[2][3][4] Additionally, the inhabitants of
ancient Israel drank beer, and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture.
[5]
This is newer interpretations which are not accepted.
Biblical literature uses several words in its original languages to refer to different types of alcoholic beverages. Some of these words have overlapping meaning, particularly the words in the
Hebrew language compared to the words in
Koine Greek, the language of both the
Septuagint and the New Testament. While some deuterocanonical books may have been originally written in Hebrew or the
Aramaic language, some were written in Greek. Hence, the meanings of the words used for alcoholic beverages in each of these languages has bearing on alcohol in the Bible.