Reference: Wine
American
The vine being natural to the soil of Canaan and its vicinity, wine was much used as a beverage, especially at festivals, Es 1:7; 5:6; Da 5:1-4; Joh 2:3. As one of the staple products of the Holy Land, it was employed for drink-offerings in the temple service, Ex 20:26; Nu 15:4-10; it was included among the "first-fruits," De 18:4, and was used in the celebration of the Passover, and subsequently of the Lord's supper, Mt 26:27-29. Together with corn and oil it denoted all temporal supplies, Ps 4:7; Ho 2:8; Joe 2:19.
The word "wine" in our Bible is the translation of as many as ten different Hebrew words and two Greek words, most of which occur in but a few instances. The two most frequently used, Yayin and its Greek equivalent Oinos, are general terms for all sorts of wine, Ne 5:18. Without minute details on this subject, we may observe that "wine" in Scripture denotes,
1. The pure juice of the grape, fermented, and therefore more or less intoxicating, but free from drugs of any kind, and not strengthened by distilled liquors.
2. Must, the fresh juice of the grape, unfermented or in process of fermentation. For this the Hebrew employs the word tirosh, English version, new wine. Wine, as a product of agriculture, is commonly mentioned by this name along with corn and oil, Ge 40:11; Ex 22:29; De 32:14; Lu 5:37-38.
3. Honey of wine, made by boiling down must to one-fourth of its bulk. This commonly goes, in the Old Testament, by the name debhash, honey; and only the context can enable us to determine whether honey of grapes or of bees is to be understood, Nu 18:12; Pr 9:2,5.
4. Spiced wine, made stronger and more inviting to the taste by the admixture of spices and other drugs, Song 8:2.
5. Strong drink, Hebrew shechar. This word sometimes denotes pure strong wine, as Nu 28:7; or drugged wine, as Isa 5:22; but more commonly wine made from dates, honey, etc., and generally made more inebriating by being mingled with drugs.
See also, in connection with this article, FLAGON, MYRRH, and VINEGAR.
The "wine of Helbon" was made in the vicinity of Damascus, and sent from that city to Tyre, Eze 27:19. It resembled the "wine of Lebanon," famous for its excellence and fragrance, Ho 14:7. See HELBON.
Great efforts have been made to distinguish the harmless from the intoxicating wines of Scripture, and to show that inspiration has in all cases approved the former alone, and condemned the latter, directly or indirectly. It is not necessary, however, to do this in order to demonstrate that so far as the use of wine leads to inebriation it is pointedly condemned by the word of God. Son and shame are connected with the first mention of wine in the Bible, and with many subsequent cases, Ge 9:20; 19:31-36; 1Sa 25:36-37; 2Sa 13:28; 1Ki 20:12-21; Es 1:10-11; Da 5:23; Re 17:2. It is characterized as a deceitful mocker, Pr 21:1; as fruitful in miseries, Pr 23:29-35; in woes, Isa 5:22; in errors, Isa 28:1-7; and in impious folly, Isa 5:11-12; 56:12; Ho 4.11. The use of it is in some cases expressly forbidden, Le 10:9; Nu 6:3; and in other cases is alluded to as characteristic of the wicked, Joe 3:3; Am 6:6. Numerous cautions to beware of it are given, 1Sa 1:14; Pr 23:31; 31:4-5; 1Ti 3:3; and to tempt other to use it is in one passage made the occasion of a bitter curse, Hab 2:15. On the other hand, whatever approval was given in Palestine to the moderate use of wine, can hardly apply to a country where wine is an imported or manufactured article, often containing not a drop of the juice of the grape; or if genuine and not compounded with drugs, still enforced with distilled spirits. The whole state of the case, moreover, is greatly modified by the discovery of the process of distilling alcohol, and by the prevalence of appalling evils now inseparable from the general use of any intoxicating drinks. Daniel and the Rechabites saw good reason for total abstinence from wine, Jer 35:14; Da 1:8; and the sentiment of Paul, on a mater involving the same principles, is divinely commended to universal adoption, Ro 14:21; 1Co 8:13.
For "wine-press," see PRESS, and VINE.
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Easton
The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning "to boil up," "to be in a ferment." Others derive it from a root meaning "to tread out," and hence the juice of the grape trodden out. The Greek word for wine is oinos, and the Latin vinun. But besides this common Hebrew word, there are several others which are thus rendered.
(1.) Ashishah (2Sa 6:19; 1Ch 16:3; Song 2:5; Ho 3:1), which, however, rather denotes a solid cake of pressed grapes, or, as in the Revised Version, a cake of raisins.
(2.) 'Asis, "sweet wine," or "new wine," the product of the same year (Song 8:2; Isa 49:26; Joe 1:5; 3:18; Am 9:13), from a root meaning "to tread," hence juice trodden out or pressed out, thus referring to the method by which the juice is obtained. The power of intoxication is ascribed to it.
(3.) Hometz. See Vinegar.
(4.) Hemer, De 32:14 (rendered "blood of the grape") Isa 27:2 ("red wine"), Ezr 6:9; 7:22; Da 5:1-2,4. This word conveys the idea of "foaming," as in the process of fermentation, or when poured out. It is derived from the root hamar, meaning "to boil up," and also "to be red," from the idea of boiling or becoming inflamed.
(5.) 'Enabh, a grape (De 32:14). The last clause of this verse should be rendered as in the Revised Version, "and of the blood of the grape ['enabh] thou drankest wine [hemer]." In Ho 3:1 the phrase in Authorized Version, "flagons of wine," is in the Revised Version correctly "cakes of raisins." (Comp. Ge 49:11; Nu 6:3; De 23:24, etc., where this Hebrew word is rendered in the plural "grapes.")
(6.) Mesekh, properly a mixture of wine and water with spices that increase its stimulating properties (Isa 5:22). Ps 75:8, "The wine [yayin] is red; it is full of mixture [mesekh];" Pr 23:30, "mixed wine;" Isa 65:11, "drink offering" (R.V., "mingled wine").
(7.) Tirosh, properly "must," translated "wine" (De 28:51); "new wine" (Pr 3:10); "sweet wine" (Mic 6:15; R.V., "vintage"). This Hebrew word has been traced to a root meaning "to take possession of" and hence it is supposed that tirosh is so designated because in intoxicating it takes possession of the brain. Among the blessings promised to Esau (Ge 27:28) mention is made of "plenty of corn and tirosh." Palestine is called "a land of corn and tirosh" (De 33:28; comp. Isa 36:17). See also De 28:51; 2Ch 32:28; Joe 2:19; Ho 4:11, ("wine [yayin] and new wine [tirosh] take away the heart").
(8.) Sobhe (root meaning "to drink to excess," "to suck up," "absorb"), found only in Isa 1:22; Ho 4:18 ("their drink;" Gesen. and marg. of R.V., "their carouse"), and Na 1:10 ("drunken as drunkards;" lit., "soaked according to their drink;" R.V., "drenched, as it were, in their drink", i.e., according to their sobhe).
(9.) Shekar, "strong drink," any intoxicating liquor; from a root meaning "to drink deeply," "to be drunken", a generic term applied to all fermented liquors, however obtained. Nu 28:7, "strong wine" (R.V., "strong drink"). It is sometimes distinguished from wine, c.g., Le 10:9, "Do not drink wine [yayin] nor strong drink [shekar];" Nu 6:3; Jg 13:4,7; Isa 28:7 (in all these places rendered "strong drink"). Translated "strong drink" also in Isa 5:11; 24:9; 29:9; 56:12; Pr 20:1; 31:6; Mic 2:11.
(10.) Yekebh (De 16:13, but in R.V. correctly "wine-press"), a vat into which the new wine flowed from the press. Joe 2:24, "their vats;" Joe 3:13, "the fats;" Pr 3:10, "Thy presses shall burst out with new wine [tirosh];" Hag 2:16; Jer 48:33, "wine-presses;" 2Ki 6:27; Job 24:11.
(11.) Shemarim (only in plural), "lees" or "dregs" of wine. In Isa 25:6 it is rendered "wines on the lees", i.e., wine that has been kept on the lees, and therefore old wine.
(12.) Mesek, "a mixture," mixed or spiced wine, not diluted with water, but mixed with drugs and spices to increase its strength, or, as some think, mingled with the lees by being shaken (Ps 75:8; Pr 23:30).
In Ac 2:13 the word gleukos, rendered "new wine," denotes properly "sweet wine." It must have been intoxicating.
In addition to wine the Hebrews also made use of what they called debash, which was obtained by boiling down must to one-half or one-third of its original bulk. In Ge 43:11 this word is rendered "honey." It was a kind of syrup, and is called by the Arabs at the present day dibs. This word occurs in the phrase "a land flowing with milk and honey" (debash), Ex 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:3; Le 20:24; Nu 13:27. (See Honey.)
Our Lord miraculously supplied wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee (Joh 2:1-11). The Rechabites were forbidden the use of wine (Jer 35). The Nazarites also were to abstain from its use during the period of their vow (Nu 6:1-4); and those who were dedicated as Nazarites from their birth were perpetually to abstain from it (Jg 13:4-5; Lu 1:15; 7:33). The priests, too, were forbidden the use of wine and strong drink when engaged in their sacred functions (Le 10:1,9-11). "Wine is little used now in the East, from the fact that Mohammedans are not allowed to taste it, and very few of other creeds touch it. When it is drunk, water is generally mixed with it, and this was the custom in the days of Christ also. The people indeed are everywhere very sober in hot climates; a drunken person, in fact, is never seen", (Geikie's Life of Christ). The sin of drunkenness, however, must have been not uncommon in the olden times, for it is mentioned either metaphorically or literally more than seventy times in the Bible.
A drink-offering of wine was presented with the daily sacrifice (Ex 29:40-41), and also with the offering of the first-fruits (Le 23:13), and with various other sacrifices (Nu 15:5,7,10). Wine was used at the celebration of the Passover. And when the Lord's Supper was instituted, the wine and the unleavened bread then on the paschal table were by our Lord set apart as memorials of his body and blood.
Several emphatic warnings are given in the New Testament against excess in the use of wine (Lu 21:34; Ro 13:13; Eph 5:18; 1Ti 3:8; Tit 1:7).
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Fausets
Tirosh is the most general term for "vintage fruit," put in connection with "corn and oil," necessaries (dagan, yitshar, rather more generally the produce of the field and the orchard) and ordinary articles of diet in Palestine. It occurs 38 times, namely, six times by itself, eleven times with dagan, twice with yitshar, nineteen times with both dagan and yitshar. Besides, it is seven times with "firstfruits," ten times with "tithes" or "offerings" of fruits and grain; very rarely with terms expressing the process of preparing fruits or vegetable produce. Yayin is the proper term for "wine." In Mic 6:15, "thou shalt tread ... sweet wine (tirowsh, vintage fruit), but shalt not drink wine," the vintage fruit, that which is trodden, is distinguished from the manufactured "wine" which it yields.
Tirowh is never combined with shemen "oil"; nor yitshar, "orchard produce," with "wine" the manufactured article. In De 11:14, "gather in thy grain, wine" (tirosh), it is described as a solid thing, eaten in De 12:7; compare 2Ch 31:5-6. In Isa 65:8 "the tirowsh (vintage) is found in the cluster"; Isa 62:8-9, "the stranger shall not drink thy tirowsh, but they that have gathered it ... and brought it together (verbs hardly applicable to a liquid) shall drink it." Pr 3:10, "presses ... burst out with tirowsh"; and Joe 2:24, "fats shall overflow with tirowsh (vintage fruit) and yitshar."
De 14:22-26, "tithe of tirowsh," not merely of wine but of the vintage fruit. Scripture denounces the abuse of yayin, "wine." Ho 4:11, "whoredom, wine, and tirowsh take away the heart": the tirowsh is denounced not as evil in itself, but as associated with whoredom to which wine and grape cakes were stimulants; compare Ho 3:1, "love pressed cakes of dried grapes" (not "flagons of wine"): Eze 16:49. Yayin, from a root "boil up," is the extract from the grape, whether simple grape juice unfermented, or intoxicating wine; related to the Greek oinos, Latin vinum. Vinum, vitis, are thought related to Sanskrit we, "weave," viere. Chamar is the Chaldee equivalent to Hebrew yayin, the generic term for grape liquor.
It literally, means "to foam" (De 32:14, "the blood of the grape, even wine," not "pure"): Ezr 6:9; 7:22; Da 5:1; Isa 27:2. 'asis, from a root to "tread," the grape juice newly expressed (Song 8:2); "sweet wine" (Isa 49:26; Am 9:13); "new wine" (Joe 1:5; 3:18). Mesek; Ps 75:8, translated"the wine is fermenting ('foaming with wine,' Hengstenberg), it is full of mixture," i.e. spiced wine, the more intoxicating, expressing the stupefying effect of God's judgments (Pr 9:2; 23:30). Mezeg (Song 8:2), "spiced ... mixed wine," not as KJV "liquor"; compare Re 14:10.
Shekar (sikera in Lu 1:15), "strong wine," "strong drink," (Nu 28:7; Ps 69:12 drinkers of shekar,") including palm wine, pomegranate wine, apple wine, honey wine; our "sugar" may be a cognate word to shekar, syrup. Sobe', related to Latin sapa, "must boiled down" (Lees), rather from a root "soak" or "drink to excess." Isa 1:22, "thy sobe' is circumcised with water," i.e. diluted (implying that strength rather than sweetness characterized sobe'); the prophet glances at their tendency to rely on the outward circumcision without the inward spirit, the true wine of the ordinance. The Latin sapa answers rather to Hebrew debash, Arabic dabs, grape juice boiled down to the consistency of honey (Ge 43:11; Eze 27:17).
Na 1:10, Hebrew "soaked" or "drunken as with their own wine." Ho 4:13, chomets, "vinegar" or sour wine, such as the posca which the Roman soldiers drank, and such as was offered to Jesus on the cross (Ps 69:22). Instead of "flagons," 'ashishah ought to be translated "grape cakes" (2Sa 6:19; Ho 3:1, etc.). In Ho 4:18 "their drink is sour," i.e. they are utterly degenerate (Isa 1:22); else, they are as licentious as drunkards who smell sour with wine. But Maurer,"(no sooner) is their drinking over (than) they commit whoredoms." The effects of yayin, "red eyes" (Ge 49:12); producing "mockers" of God and man (Pr 20:1); causing error of judgment out of the way (Isa 28:7); but a restorative cordial where stimulants are needed (Pr 31:6).
Jg 9:13, "wine ... cheereth God and man"; the vine represents here the nobler families who promote the nation's prosperity in a way pleasing to God and man (Ps 103:15). God is well pleased with the sacrificial oblations of wine (Le 15:5,7,10) offered in faith. Externally applied to wounds (Lu 10:34). 1Ti 5:23, "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake." Bringing woe to followers of strong drink, which inflames them from early to late day (Isa 5:12; Ac 2:15; 1Th 5:7). Noisy shouting (Zec 9:15; 10:7), rejoicing, taking away the understanding (Ho 4:11). Causing indecent exposure of the person, as Noah (Ge 9:22; Hab 2:15-16). Therefore "woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him."
Producing sickness (Ho 7:5), "princes made him sick with bottles (else owing to the heat) of wine." Scripture condemns the abuse, not the use, of wine. In condemnatory passages no hint is given of there being an unfermented wine to which the condemnation does not apply. The bursting of the leather bottles (Mt 9:17) implies fermentation of the wine; so also Job 32:19. The wine was drawn off probably before fermentation was complete. In Pr 23:31 "when it giveth its eye (i.e. sparkle, Hebrew) in the cup," the reference is to the gas bubble in fermentation. The "sweet wine" (Ac 2:13,15) was evidently intoxicating; not "new wine," for eight months had elapsed since the previous vintage; its sweet quality was due to its being made of the purest grape juice. In Ge 40:11 the pressing of the grape juice into Pharaoh's cup is no proof that fermented wine was unknown then in Egypt; nay, the monuments represent the fermenting process in the earliest times.
Plutarch's statement (Isid. 6) only means that before Psammeticus the priests restricted themselves to the quantity of wine prescribed by their sacerdotal office (Diod. i. 70). Jonadab's prohibition of wine to the Rechabites was in order to keep them as nomads from a settled life such as vine cultivation needed (Jeremiah 35). The wine at the drink offering of the daily sacrifice (Ex 29:40), the firstfruits (Le 23:13), and other offerings (Nu 15:5), implies that its use is lawful. The prohibition of wine to officiating priests (Le 10:9) was to guard against such excess as probably caused Nadab to offer the strange fire (Eze 44:21). The Nazarites' Vow against wine was voluntary (Nu 6:3); it justifies voluntary total abstinence, but does not enjoin it. Wine was used at the Passover. The third cup was called because of the grace "the cup of blessing" (1Co 10:16), "the fruit of the vine" (Mt 26:29).
Moderation in wine is made a requisite in candidates for the ministry (1Ti 3:3,8; Tit 2:3). The vintage was in September and was celebrated with great joy (Isa 16:9-10; Jer 48:33). The ripe fruit was gathered in baskets, and was carried to the winepress, consisting of an upper (Hebrew gath, Greek leenos) and lower vat (yekeb, Greek hupolenion); the juice flowed from the fruit placed in the upper to the lower. The two vats were usually hewn in the solid rock, the upper broad and shallow, the lower smaller and deeper. The first drops ("the tear," dema, margin Ex 22:29) were consecrated as firstfruits to Jehovah. Wine long settled formed lees at the bottom, which needed straining (Isa 25:6). The wine of Helbon near Damascus was especially prized (Eze 27:18), and that of Lebanon for its bouquet (Nu 14:7).
Jesus' miracle (John 2) justifies the use; still love justifies abstinence for the sake of taking away any stumbling-block from a brother; Ro 14:21, "it is good neither to drink wine ... whereby thy brother stumbleth." W. Hepworth Dixon (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, May 1878, p. 67) shows that Kefr Kana, not; Kana el Jelil, answers to the Cana of Galilee (so called to distinguish it from the better known Cana of Judaea, John 2), the scene of our Lord's first miracle at the marriage. It is five miles from Nazareth in a N.E. direction, on the main road to Tiberias. Khirbet Kana (Cana) is not on the road from Nazareth to Capernaum; one coming up from Cape
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Morish
There are several Hebrew words translated wine, and though various expressions are attached to it as 'sweet,' 'new,' 'strong,' 'good,' 'mixed,' 'spiced,' 'on the lees,' all are wine; and the wine was intoxicating, as seen already in the days of Noah. Ge 9:21. Intemperance is the abuse of it, and against such abuse there are abundant protests and warnings in the scripture. Wine is mentioned with corn and oil, among the good gifts wherewith God would bless His earthly people. De 7:13; Ps 104:15. It was daily offered in the temple as a drink offering. Nu 28:7.
Wine was created by the Lord in His first recorded miracle. Joh 2:3-10. He was blasphemously spoken of as a wine-bibber; and He said at the last Passover, "I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Mr 14:25. He also instituted the Lord's Supper with the cup of wine. Paul recommended Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent sickness; and a bishop must not be given to much wine. There is therefore adequate evidence that wine is regarded as a beneficent gift of God, of which man may make a moderate use. If, however, a man has no power over his appetite, doubtless he had better abstain from wine altogether. Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1Co 6:10.
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Smith
Wine.
The manufacture of wine is carried back in the Bible to the age of Noah,
to whom the discovery of the process is apparently, though not explicitly, attributed. The natural history and culture of the vine are described under a separate head. [VINE] The only other plant whose fruit is noticed as having been converted into wine was the pomegranate.
See Vine
In Palestine the vintage takes place in September, and is celebrated with great rejoicing. The ripe fruit was gathered in baskets,
as represented in Egyptian paintings, and was carried to the wine-press. It was then placed in the upper one of the two vats or receptacles of which the winepress was formed, and was subjected to the process of "treading," which has prevailed in all ages in Oriental and south European countries.
Ne 13:15; Job 24:11; Isa 18:7; Jer 25:30; 48:33; Am 9:13; Re 19:15
A certain amount of juice exuded front the ripe fruit from its own pressure before treading commenced. This appears to have been kept separate from the rest of the juice, and to have formed the "sweet wine" noticed in
[See below] The "treading" was effected by one or more men, according to the size of the vat. They encouraged one another by shouts.
Their legs and garments were dyed red with the juice.
The expressed juice escaped by an aperture into the lower vat, or was at once collected in vessels. A hand-press was occasionally used in Egypt, but we have no notice of such an instrument in the Bible. As to the subsequent treatment of the wine we have but little information. Sometimes it was preserved in its unfermented state and drunk as must, but more generally it was bottled off after fermentation and if it were designed to be kept for some time a certain amount of lees was added to give it body.
The wine consequently required to be "refined" or strained previous to being brought to table.
To wine, is attributed the "darkly-flashing eye,"
Authorized Version "red," the unbridled tongue,
the excitement of the spirit,
Pr 31:6; Isa 5:11; Zec 9:15; 10:7
the enchained affections of its votaries,
the perverted judgment,
the indecent exposure,
and the sickness resulting from the heat (chemah, Authorized Version "bottles") of wine.
The allusions to the effects of tirosh are confined to a single passage, but this a most decisive one, viz.
Whoredom and wine (yayin) and new wine (tirosh) take away the heart, where tirosh appears as the climax of engrossing influences, in immediate connection with yayin. It has been disputed whether the Hebrew wine was fermented; but the impression produced on the mind by a general review of the above notices is that the Hebrew words indicating wine refer to fermented, intoxicating wine. The notices of fermentation are not very decisive. A certain amount of fermentation is implied in the distension of the leather bottles when new wine was placed in them, and which was liable to burst old bottles. It is very likely that new wine was preserved in the state of must by placing it in jars or bottles and then burying it in the earth. The mingling that we read of in conjunction with wine may have been designed either to increase or to diminish the strength of the wine, according as spices or water formed the ingredient that was added. The notices chiefly favor the former view; for mingled liquor was prepared for high festivals,
and occasions of excess.
At the same time strength was not the sole object sought; the wine "mingled with myrrh," given to Jesus, was designed to deaden pain,
and the spiced pomegranate wine prepared by the bride,
may well have been of a mild character. In the New Testament the character of the "sweet wine," noticed in
calls for some little remark. It could not be new wine in the proper sense of the term, inasmuch as about eight months must have elapsed between the vintage and the feast of Pentecost. The explanations of the ancient lexicographers rather lead us to infer that its luscious qualities were due, not to its being recently made, but to its being produced from the very purest juice of the grape. There can be little doubt that the wines of palestine varied in quality, and were named after the localities in which they were made. The only wines of which we have special notice belonged to Syria these were the wine of Helbon
and the wine of Lebanon, famed for its aroma.
With regard to the uses of wine in private life there is little to remark. It was produced on occasions of ordinary hospitality,
and at festivals, such as marriages.
Joh 2:3
Under the Mosaic law wine formed the usual drink offering that accompanied the daily sacrifice,
the presentation of the first-fruits,
and other offerings.
Tithe was to be paid of wine, as of other products. The priest was also to receive first-fruits of wine, as of other articles.
De 18:4
comp.
The use of wine at the paschal feast was not enjoined by the law, but had become an established custom, at all events in the post-Babylonian period. The wine was mixed with warm water on these occasions. Hence in the early Christian Church it was usual to mix the sacramental wine with water. (The simple wines of antiquity were incomparably less deadly than the stupefying and ardent beverages of our western nations. The wines of antiquity were more like sirups; many of them were not intoxicant; many more intoxicant in a small degree; and all of them, as a rule, taken only when largely diluted with water. They contained, even undiluted, but 4 or 5 percent of alcohol.--Cannon Farrar.)
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Watsons
WINE, ???, Ge 19:32, ?????, Mt 9:17, a liquor expressed from grapes. The art of refining wine upon the lees was known to the Jews. The particular process, as it is now practised in the island of Cyprus, is described in Mariti's Travels. The wine is put immediately from the vat into large vases of potters' ware, pointed at the bottom, till they are nearly full, when they are covered tight and buried. At the end of a year what is designed for sale is drawn into wooden casks. The dregs in the vases are put into wooden casks destined to receive wine, with as much of the liquor as is necessary to prevent them from becoming dry before use. Casks thus prepared are very valuable. When the wine a year old is put in, the dregs rise, and make it appear muddy, but afterward they subside and carry down all the other feculences. The dregs are so much valued that they are not sold with the wine in the vase, unless particularly mentioned.
The "new wine," or "must," is mentioned, Isa 49:26; Joe 1:5; 3:18; and Am 9:13, under the name ????. The "mixed wine," ????, Pr 23:30; and in Isa 65:11; rendered "drink- offering," may mean wine made stronger and more inebriating by the addition of higher and more powerful ingredients, such as honey, spices, defrutum, or wine inspissated by boiling it down, myrrh, mandragora, and other strong drugs. Thus the drunkard is properly described as one that seeketh "mixed wine," Pr 23:30, and is mighty to "mingle strong drink," Isa 5:22; and hence the psalmist took that highly poetical and sublime image of the cup of God's wrath, called by Isa 51:17, "the cup of trembling," containing: as St. John expresses it, Re 14:10, pure wine made yet stronger by a mixture of powerful ingredients: "In the hand of Jehovah is a cup, and the wine is turbid; it is full of a mixed liquor, and he poureth out of it," or rather, "he poureth it out of one vessel into another," to mix it perfectly; "verily the dregs thereof," the thickest sediment of the strong ingredients mingled with it, "all the ungodly of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." "Spiced wine," Song 8:2, was wine rendered more palatable and fragrant with aromatics. This was considered as a great delicacy. Spiced wines were not peculiar to the Jews. Hafiz speaks of wines "richly bitter, richly sweet." The Romans lined their vessels, amphorae, with odorous gums, to give the wine a warm bitter flavour: and the orientals now use the admixture of spices to give their wines a favourite relish. The "wine of Helbon," Eze 27:18, was an excellent kind of wine, known to the ancients by the name of chalibonium vinum. It was made at Damascus; the Persians had planted vineyards there on purpose, says Posidosius, quoted, by Athenaeus. This author says that the kings of Persia used no other wine. Ho 14:7, mentions the wine of Lebanon. The wines from the vineyards on that mount are even to this day in repute; but some think that this may mean a sweet-scented wine, or wine flavoured with fragrant gums.