Two Wines: A Proper Understanding of "Wine" in the Bible

God speaks much about the fruit of the vine in the Bible. He promised it to Israel’s patriarchs when speaking of the promised land. The Jewish men who searched the land of Caanan brought back large bunches of grapes to show the people, as they reported on the land. God mentions it many times in the Old Testament as a staple of their diet, along with corn and oil. The English word that translates the 5 Hebrew words that refer to this fruit of the vine is “wine”, a word that was generic when the Old Testament was translated into English. This means that it applied to either fresh grape juice or grape juice that was turned alcoholic by adding yeast. The fact of its generic meaning is true and vital to the proper understanding of God’s teaching about grape juice and alcoholic wine. Thus, in the Bible we have revealed two wines: unfermented grape juice and alcoholic wine.

In the present time in Christian America, the truth that “wine” is generic in the Bible is little taught, largely unknown, and greatly contested. “Wine” is generally understood as an alcoholic beverage. Instead of accepting the “two-wine” understanding, writers deny the historic truth about unfermented grape juice in Bible times and use the Bible to permit and encourage drinking alcohol moderately.

We will carefully examine the facts about “wine” in the Bible in the light of God’s Word and we will document the danger of consumption of alcohol today. We will also tell a little-known story about Godly men who fought to show the truth of “two-wines” over 100 years ago so that they could convince Christians of the necessity of abstinence.