From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia pages 694-700
I. TERMS.
1. Wine:
(1) ˆyIy’ (yayin), apparently from a non-Tsere root allied to Greek (w)oinos, Latin vinum, etc. This is the usual word for “wine” and is found 141 times in Massoretic Text.
(2) rm,j, [chemer], perhaps “foaming” (<053214>Deuteronomy 32:14 and Massoretic Text <232702>Isaiah 27:2 (but see the English Revised Version margin)); Aramaic rm”j} [chamar] (Ezr 6:9; 7:22; <270501>Daniel 5:1,2,4,23).
(3) vwOryTi [tirosh]. Properly this is the fresh grape juice (called also hr,v]mi [mishreh], <040603>Numbers 6:3), even when still in the grape (<236508>Isaiah 65:8). But unfermented grape juice is a very difficult thing to keep without the aid of modern antiseptic precautions, and its
preservation in the warm and not over-cleanly conditions of ancient Palestine was impossible. Consequently, tirosh came to mean wine that was not fully aged (although with full intoxicating properties (<070913>Judges 9:13; <280411>Hosea 4:11; compare <441113>Acts 11:13)) or wine when considered specifically as the product of grapes (<051217>Deuteronomy 12:17; 18:4, etc.). The Septuagint always (except <236508>Isaiah 65:8; <280411>Hosea 4:11) translates by oinos and the Targums by chamar. the King James Version has “wine” 26 times, “new wine” 11 times, “sweet wine” in <330615>Micah 6:15; the Revised Version (British and American) “vintage” in <041812>Numbers 18:12; <330615>Micah 6:15 (with the same change in <161037>Nehemiah 10:37,39 the Revised Version margin; <236208>Isaiah 62:8 the English Revised Version margin). Otherwise the
English Revised Version has left the King James Version unchanged, while the American Standard Revised Version uses “new wine” throughout.
(4) Two apparently poetic words are sysi[; [`acic] (the Revised Version (British and American) “sweet wine,” <234926>Isaiah 49:26; Am 9:13; <290105>Joel 1:5; 3:18, “juice”; <220802>Song of Solomon 8:2), and ab,so [cobhe]’ (“wine,” <230122>Isaiah 1:22; “drink,” <280418>Hosea 4:18 (margin “carouse”); <340110>Nahum 1:10).
(5) For spiced wine three words occur: _]s,m, [mecekh], <197508>Psalm 75:8 (English Versions of the Bible “mixture”); _]s;m]mi [mimcakh], <202330>Proverbs 23:30 (“mixed wine”); <236511>Isaiah 65:11 (the Revised Version (British and American) “mingled wine”); gz<m, [mezegh],
<220702>Song of Solomon 7:2 (the Revised Version (British and American) “mingled wine”); compare also jq”r,h; ˆyIy’ [yayin hareqach], <220802>Song of Solomon 8:2 (“spiced wine”).
(6) [mamethaqqim], literally, “sweet,” <160810>Nehemiah 8:10.
(7) rk;ve [shekhar] (22 times), translated “strong drink” in English Versions of the Bible. [Shekhar] appears to mean “intoxicating drink” of any sort and in <042807>Numbers 28:7 is certainly simply “wine” (compare also its use in parallelism to “wine” in <230511>Isaiah 5:11,22,
etc.). In certain passages (<031009>Leviticus 10:9; <040603>Numbers 6:3; <090115>1 Samuel 1:15, etc.), however, it is distinguished from “wine,” and the meaning is not quite certain. But it would seem to mean “drink not made from grapes.” Of such only pomegranate wine is named in the
Bible (<220802>Song of Solomon 8:2), but a variety of such preparations
(made from apples, quinces, dates, barley, etc.) were known to the ancients and must have been used in Palestine also. The translation “strong drink” is unfortunate, for it suggests “distilled liquor,” “brandy,” which is hardly in point.
See DRINK, STRONG.
(8) In the Apocrypha and New Testament “wine” represents [oi+nov, oinos], with certain compounds, except in <440213>Acts 2:13, where the Greek is [gleu~kov, gleukos], “sweet,” English Versions of the Bible “new wine.”
See also BLOOD; DRINK; FLAGON; FRUIT; HONEY.
2. Wine Press:
(1) Properly speaking, the actual wine press was called tG’ [gath] (<070611>Judges 6:11, etc.), and the receiving vat (“fat”) bq,y< [yeqebh] (<041827>Numbers 18:27, etc.), but the names were interchangeable to some degree (<231610>Isaiah 16:10; <182411>Job 24:11; compare <230502>Isaiah 5:2, the Revised Version (British and American) text and margin) and either could be used
for the whole apparatus (see GATH and compare <070725>Judges 7:25; Zec 14:10). In <236303>Isaiah 63:3 the Hebrew has hr:WP [purah], “wine trough” a word found also in <370216>Haggai 2:16 where it seems to be a gloss (so, apparently, the American Standard Revised Version).
(2) In the Apocrypha (Sirach 33:16) and in the New Testament 21:33; Revelation 14:19,20 (twice); 19:15) “winepress” is [lhno>v, lenos]; in <411201>Mark 12:1 [uJpolh>nion, hupolenion], by which only the receiving vat seems to be meant (the Revised Version (British and American) a pit for a winepress”).
II. WINE-MAKING.
1. The Vintage:
For the care of the vine, its distribution, different varieties, etc., see VINE. The ripening of the grapes took place as early as June in the Jordan valley, but on the coast not until August, while in the hills it was delayed until September. In whatever month, however, the coming of the vintage was the signal for the villagers to leave their homes in a body and to encamp in
booths erected in the vineyards, so that the work might be carried on without interruption. See TABERNACLES, FEAST OF. It was the great holiday season of the year and the joy of the vintage was proverbial (<231610>Isaiah 16:10; <242530>Jeremiah 25:30; 48:33; compare <070927>Judges 9:27), and fragments of vintage songs seem to be preserved in <232702>Isaiah 27:2; 65:8. The grapes were gathered usually by cutting off the clusters (see SICKLE), and were carried to the press in baskets.
2. Wine Presses:
Many of the ancient wine presses remain to the present day. Ordinarily they consisted of two rectangular or circular excavations, hewn (<230502>Isaiah 5:2) in the solid rock to a depth of 2 or 3 feet. Where possible one was always higher than the other and they were connected by a pipe or channel. Their size, of course, varied greatly, but the upper vat was always wider and
shallower than the lower and was the press proper, into which the grapes were thrown, to be crushed by the feet of the treaders (<236301>Isaiah 63:1-3, etc.). The juice flowed down through the pipe into the lower vat, from which it was removed into jars (<370216>Haggai 2:16) or where it was allowed to remain during the first fermentation.
Many modifications of this form of the press are found. Where there was no rock close to the surface, the vats were dug in the earth and lined with stonework or cement, covered with pitch. Or the pressvat might be built up out of any material (wood was much used in Egypt), and from it the juice could be conducted into a sunken receptacle or into jars. Not infrequently a
third (rarely a fourth) vat might be added between the other two, in which a partial settling and straining could take place. Wooden beams are often used either to finish the pressing or to perform the whole operation, and holes into which the ends of these beams fitted can still be seen. A square of wood attached to the beam bore down on the pile of grapes, while the
free end of the beam was heavily weighted. In the simpler presses the final result was obtained by piling stones on the mass that remained after the treaders had finished their work.
3. Grading:
It is a general principle of wine-making (compare that “the less the pressure the better the product”; therefore the liquid that flowed at the beginning of the process, especially that produced by the mere weight of the grapes themselves when piled in heaps, was carefully kept separate from that which was obtained only under heavy pressure. A still lower
grade was made by adding water to the final refuse the mixture to ferment. Possibly this last concoction is sometimes meant by the word “vinegar” ([chomets]).
4. Fermentation:
In the climate of Palestine fermentation begins almost immediately, frequently on the same day for juice pressed out in the morning, but never later than the next day. At first a slight foam appears on the surface of the liquid, and from that moment, according to Jewish tradition, it is liable to the wine-tithe (Ma`aseroth 1 7). The action rapidly becomes more violent, and while it is in progress the liquid must be kept in jars or in a vat, for it would burst even the newest and strongest of wine-skins (<183219>Job 32:19). Within about a week this violent fermentation subsides, and the wine is transferred to other jars or strong wine-skins (<410222>Mark 2:22 and
parallel’s), in which it undergoes the secondary fermentation. At the bottom of the receptacles collects the heavier matter or “lees” (μyrIm;v] [shemarim], <197508>Psalm 75:8 (“dregs”); <244811>Jeremiah 48:11; <360112>Zephaniah 1:12 in <232506>Isaiah 25:6 the word is used for the wine as well), from which the “wines on the lees” gather strength and flavor. At the end of 40 days it was regarded as properly “wine” and could be offered as a drink offering (`Edhuyyoth 6 1). The practice after this point seems to have varied, no doubt depending on the sort of wine that was
being made. Certain kinds were left undisturbed to age “on their lees” and were thought to be all the better for so doing, but before they were used it was necessary to strain them very carefully. So <232506>Isaiah 25:6, `A feast of wine aged on the lees, thoroughly strained.’ But usually leaving the wine in the fermentation vessels interfered with its improvement or caused it to degenerate. So at the end of 40 days it was drawn off into other jars (for storage, <132727>1 Chronicles 27:27, etc.) or wine-skins (for transportation, <060904>Joshua 9:4, etc.). So <244811>Jeremiah 48:11: `Moab has been undisturbed from his youth, and he has rested on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel. .... Therefore his flavor remains unchanged (or “becomes insipid”) and his scent is unimproved (or “lacks freshness”)’; compare <360112>Zephaniah 1:12.
