THE USE OF WINE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8485, 17 May 1893, Page 3

THE USE OF WINE.

TO THB KDITOR OF THB PRESS.

Sir, —I do not know your correspondents " Jason " or " Robt. Clephane," but I consider it my duty for the sake of those who might be misled by the statements of the latter, uamely, that the wine mentioned in the Pentateuch does not mean fermented wine, and that- it was not considered a blessing, to show that he is labouring under a mistake.

It seems to mo that " Jason " is a person well versed in the Bible. I quite agree with him, and so will everyone who knows the Bible. I will first prove that the wine mentioned in certain passages in the Pentateuch is fermented wine. In the Hebrewtext fermented wino is called jayin and uufcrmented wine gtfen ; and in the following passages the word jayin is used. Genesis, cb. ix., v 21—" And he (Noah) drank of tho wine and was drunken ;" eh. xix., v. 35— " And they made their father drink wine that night also;" eh. xxvii., v. 25—"Aud he (Jacob) brought him wive, and ho drank ;'"' and in versa 28 Isaac bestows a blessing upon Jacob—" Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, anil the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wive."

If wine were not looked upou as a blessing, Isaac would certainly not havo mado it part of the blessing which ho bestowed on Jacob.

In Leviticus, eh. x., v, 9, we read—"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong driuk (stacker in Hebrew, which moans beer) thou, nor thy sous with thee, when ye go into the Tabernacle of tho congregation." . . . This prohibits the high priests from taking wive before they enter the Tabarnaole to worship, but it does not say that they may not driuk it afterwards. This couiuiaiidmeut was given to the priests alone. That fermented wine is meant iB clearly proved, for if it was unfermented, why tho necessity for the command ? In Exodus, eh. xxix., v. 40, it is shown that a "hin" of wine (in Hebrew jayin) was commanded to be given for a drink otfcriug; and in Leviticus, eh. xxiii., tho same law is given. Iv Numbers, eh. xxviii., v. 7, with regard to offerings, the following commaud is recorded:—"" Iv the boly

place, thou shalt cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering." It" God wauted to prohibit people from drinking wine. He would not have allowed them to sacrifice it unto Him. That this was fermented wine must be seen from the use of the words "strong wine." The Hebrew text gives the word shkhor, which means "strong drink, beer," a fermented drink that was also made from tho fruit of the viqe, . I could also meution many other passftges>M j*-;"] Pe&aj&ie- 1 w.hk'fSf (wine) is commanded to be used in making sacrifice.

That wine was not considered a curse, but a blessing, is shown from Deut., eh. vii., v. 13, "He will bless ..... the fruit of thy land, thy corn and thy wine, &c." In Dent., eh. xxviii., v. 39, God says that if tho Israelites will not hearken unto Him the result will be that "Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, &c." This clearly proves that the absence of wine was considered by God as a curse. In eh. xxix., v. 6, Moses relates to the Israelites all the miracles that bad happened unto them in the wilderness, and goes on to say, "Ye have not eaten bread neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink, that ye might know that I am the Lord your God." This sentence would seem to show that only by miracle could the Israelites have gone without Vine, &c., for forty years. Such a miracle we could not expect in the nineteenth century.

Mv.Clephane will agree with mc when I say that the word of Moses is the Word of God, and we never find throughout the whole of the Pentateuch .hat wine is prohibited except in the case mentioned of the High Priest goiug into the Holy of Holies. Oh the" other hand, wine is referred to as one of the chief blessings of man, aad I have proved' from the Hebrew text that jayin or fermented wine, and not gefen or uufermented wine, is alluded to.

I am not going to discuss the temperance question, merely wish to give Mr Ciephane a lesson which, I am sure, he will be grateful for ; and, if after reading this letter, he or any other who hold similar views, are not satisfied with the explanations given, I will only be too glad to give them a lesson gratis. I might add that the quotations given are from the English version of the Bible by reference to the original. With regard to the quotation made by Mr Ciephane from Joel, eh. 1, v. 5,1 may say that if he would read the whole chapter he wquld see that the prophet does not admonish the drunkards because they are drunken of wine, but merely calls upon them to mourn because they have lost their ] wine, _0., through the locust plague. Mr | Ciephane did not qnoto the whole of the fifth verse, and hence gave a totally wrong impression aa to the meaning of the prophet's words. I have only taken up this matter in order that the Pentateuch should not be misrepresented, and the other quotations I will deal with on a future occasion, as I have already taken up a large amount of your space.— Yours, _c, A. Chqdowski. Chnistchurcli, May 15th.