OINOS

B. Ward Powers bwpowers at eagles.com.au
Mon Jun 12 08:36:27 EDT 2000


B-greekers all:

At 01:22 PM 000610 -0400, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>At 3:30 PM +0200 6/10/00, Kevin Smith wrote:
>>Greetings,
>>
>>Is OINOS is used as a generic term for "alcohol" in the NT? Did they 
>>drink other kinds of alcohol; if so, what words were used for them?
>>
>>Thanks
>>Kevin Smith
>><mailto:kgs at iafrica.com>kgs at iafrica.com
>>
>
>There was a considerable string on this question in April of 1988 (April 
>14-22), and unfortunately that falls within one of a couple sizable 
>lacunae in our on-line archives. I can probably supply the thread as a 
>long text-file to you, Kevin. One of the intriguing elements in that 
>thread was Ward Powers' endeavor to demonstrate that OINOS was used of 
>unfermented grape juice, a proposition of which some may have been persuaded.
>
>--
>
>Carl W. Conrad


I would like to clarify that I do not hold that OINOS means only 
unfermented grape juice, but rather that in the LXX and NT (and 
corresponding Hebrew in the OT) OINOS is a generic term used of the juice 
of the grape from the time when it is still in the grape on the vine, 
through its extraction in a winepress (note, not a grapejuice-press), to it 
as a beverage as non-alcoholic grapejuice and to alcoholic wine.

If this is valid (I believe it is supported by the evidence) then it 
follows that when we find an occurrence of OINOS we need to bear in mind 
this potential range of meaning, and be guided by context as to the meaning 
in the passage in question.

My conclusion is that the occurrences of this word can fall into four 
categories: When it clearly refers of non-alcoholic grapejuice; when it 
clearly refers to alcoholic wine (though not to the fortified wines of 
today, which were a development of more recent centuries); when it refers 
jointly to both these categories together; and, when the usage is ambiguous 
or uncertain, and the interpretation of such a passage will largely depend 
upon the position one holds about questions of the use of alcoholic 
beverages, derived from sources and information outside the particular 
passage under consideration.

The previous discussion focussed upon the wine at the wedding in Cana (John 
2), a passage which (in my judgement) falls into the fourth category above. 
My conclusion as to its reference in this passage (influenced by 
considerations which lie outside the actual passage) was that the OINOS at 
the Cana wedding was unfermented grapejuice. I should mention that there 
are many on the list who do not share my conclusion on this.

Regards,

Ward


                                 http://www.eagles.bbs.net.au/~bwpowers
Rev Dr B. Ward Powers             Phone (International): 61-2-9799-7501
10 Grosvenor Crescent             Phone (Australia): (02) 9799-7501
SUMMER HILL  NSW  2130            email: bwpowers at eagles.bbs.net.au
AUSTRALIA.                      Director, Tyndale College




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