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Modern Wine Is Not Bible Wine
Religious people who support and participate in drinking alcohol socially often call attention to wine drinking in the Bible to support their conclusion to “do what they did.” One problem with their conclusion is that wine in the Bible is not the same as modern-day wine. To equate the two does not follow scripturally or logically. Frankly, they are not “doing what they did.”
The Bible speaks of both fermented and non-fermented “wine.” Usage within context helps determine which is meant in each text. Importantly, the Hebrew word in the Old Testament translated “strong drink” or “intoxicating drink” (shakar) was produced from barley, honey, dates and other grains and fruits (William Patton, “The Laws of Fermentation and Wines of the Ancients, 57, 62). It is distinguished from “wine” and is routinely prohibited, as in Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink (shakar, jrp) is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” (For additional uses of shakar, see Isaiah 5:11, 22; 24:9; 28:7; 29:9.)
The alcoholic content of modern wines more closely conforms to this biblical “strong drink” than to biblical “wine.” These representative references explain the differences:
Alcohol content of ancient wine
“In the Bible, alcoholic wine is not like wine today. The sugar of grape juice can only ferment to 3 or 4% alcohol with wild yeast — airborne yeast. For grape juice to exceed 4% alcohol, then the winemaker must add yeast. The yeast added to ancient wines produced between 4–11% alcohol.” (bing.com)
Alcohol content of (modern) wine
“On average, the ABV (alcohol by volume, jrp) for beer is 4.5 percent; for wine, 11.6 percent; and for liquor, 37 percent, according to William Kerr, senior scientist at the Alcohol Research Group of the Public Health Institute. The range in alcohol levels is the result of how each beverage is made.” (bing.com)
Add to this information the fact that water was regularly mixed with Bible wine at ratios ranging from 3-1 and upwards, and there is no equity between modern wine and ancient wine. Modern wines contain alcohol at levels more consistent with the prohibited “strong drink.”
Those who use the Bible to approve alcoholic consumption need to address the difference between ancient and modern wines, and its relation to strong drink. Scripture says drunkenness, its associated revelry, as well as the drinking that leads to excess are all put away by those who have the mind of Christ and do the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-3).
