BLESSING IN THE CLUSTER 

 Wine definition 

Wine\96Jan22:06:39.FAQ - reply to a Curious Questioner--

>>>??> I sure would like to see -any- 300 year old dictionary that defines wine primarily as "freshly pressed" and therefore unfermented grape juice.
Three hundred years ago would be about 1696. The first American dictionary to be widely recognized was Noah Webster's 1828 work, "An American Dictionary of the English Language." A 19th century author of a book on Bible Wines gives a definition by "Dr. Noah Webster" for new wine as "Wine, pressed from the grape, but not fermented." (Except for commas, that's the SAME as my 1949 Webster quote below:)

RC-Note added 02Jun2006:

Benjamin Marin's 1748 English Dictionary defines "wine" as: "1. the juice of the grape. 2. a liquor extracted from other fruits besides the grape. 3. the vapours of wine, as wine disturbs his reason."

Funk & Wagnalls 1955 dictionary defines "wine" as: "1. The fermented juice of the grape: in loose language the juice of the grape whether fermented or not."

Robert Cawdrey's 1604 dictionary (A Table Alphabeticall) defines "fermented" as meaning "leavened." (spelled "leauened" then)

>>CQ2> It's covered in Samuele Bacchiocchi's WINE IN THE BIBLE. I don't have the time to look it up, however, just started college at age 68.

>CQ> ...I have developed a VERY healthy scepticism of non-verifiable second hand information... ;-).
You can verify that it was some time after the middle of the 20th century that the publishers of Webster's dictionary made a very "subtile"(Gen.3:1p) change regarding NEW WINE, known also as MUST:

Webster(1949)-- must, n. [L.mustum, new wine, neut.of mustus, new, fresh.]
1. Wine pressed from the grape but not fermented.

Webster(1969)-- must, n. [L.mustum, new wine, neut.of mustus, new, fresh.]
1. juice pressed from the grape but not yet fermented into wine.

The change was from "wine...NOT fermented" -to- "juice...not yet fermented into wine." It is obvious that the Bible uses the word "wine" in both senses: of the "good" uncorrupt wine pressed from the grape but not fermented, and of the "bad" corrupt fermented wine, which is also called the poison of dragons. In any verse where the sense is not apparent, you should give the Bible the benefit of the doubt, and presume the use to be innocent ("good" new wine) unless proven otherwise. (Skepticism that presumes guilt is not healthy.)

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the -will- of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Eph.5:17,18)

You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit if you are possessed by the spirits of alcohol. (Be not deceived.) Remember that Jesus is the Lord and cherish the truth, for Jesus' sake. Amen. --Richard

(-4 Please Moderation (re: Wine) next. Thanks. :)


This Page = 4 Wine definition

  NEXT  

URL of this page: http://www.avbtab.org/rc/wine/winedef.htm