Wine in Smiths Bible Dictionary
The manufacture of wine is carried back in the Bible to the
age of Noah, Ge 9:20,21 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.
So 8:2 In Israel the vintage takes place in
September, and is celebrated with great rejoicing. The ripe
fruit was gathered in baskets, Jer 6:9 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 18:10; 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 Ac
2:13 [See below] The "treading" was effected by one or more
men, according to the size of the vat. They encouraged one
another by shouts. Isa 16:9,10; Jer 25:30; 48:33 Their legs
and garments were dyed red with the juice. Ge 40:11; Isa
63:2,3 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. Isa
25:6 The wine consequently required to be "refined" or
strained previous to being brought to table. Isa 25:6 To
wine, is attributed the "darkly-flashing eye," Ge 40:12
Authorized Version "red," the unbridled tongue, Pr 20:1; Isa
28:7 the excitement of the spirit, Pr 31:6; Isa 5:11; Zec
9:15; 10:7 the enchained affections of its votaries, Ho 4:11
the perverted judgment, Pr 31:5; Isa 28:7 the indecent
exposure, Hab 2:15,16 and the sickness resulting from the
heat (chemah, Authorized Version "bottles") of wine. Ho 7:5
The allusions to the effects of tirosh are confined to a
single passage, but this a most decisive one, viz. Ho 4:11
"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, Pr 9:2,5 and occasions of
excess. Pr 23:30; Isa 5:22 At the same time strength was not
the sole object sought; the wine "mingled with myrrh," given
to Jesus, was designed to deaden pain, Mr 15:23 and the
spiced pomegranate wine prepared by the bride, So 8:2 may
well have been of a mild character. In the New Testament the
character of the "sweet wine," noticed in Ac 2:13 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...
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