The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1874-04-30
BIBLE WINE.

Rabbi, but Shakespeare says. "Thrice is
he armed that has his quarrel. just" And
experience has taught nae Teachers Of
Religion are often weak on the subject OF
Bible Wine.
One great error on this subject IS the
opinion that wine means the same thing
at all times and in all places. That is,
that wine means always an intoxicating
drink; yet it does not require much
thought to finn OUT that the difference
pbetween different modern wines is great,
and that the difference is immense be-
tween modern aud ancient wines. 1
We will first take the statement That
schecar always meas intoxicating dri nix
and that it is recommended in the Bible.
The text given in proof is Deuteronomy
1926, but perhaps the type err, tits the IA
26. THIS passage if the Bible is correct
not only recommends but enjoins course
OF conduct that would soon reduce sober
community to drunkards. This must evi
IDENTIFY be the case. No one who knows
anything Of hum n nature can doubt it.
"Hear it and thou shalt bestow that
money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth
after, for oxen, for sheep, for wine, for
strong drink, or for whatever tiny soul
desireth. Can any man doubt that knows
the almost universal desire for stimulants,
that the great majority of souls would lust
after intoxicating drinks. And need we
wonder that infidelity abounds when the
Deity is represented as recommending a
custom of such attended with such icfnitc
evil But the Bible says no such thing
Let us reason out the question Distilla-
tisn was at that time unknown and what
ever the drink was it could only contain
the amount of alcohol formed by ferment-
alton, and the grapes Of that part of the
world do not make very stpng wine. But
it will be asked why did the translators
call it strong drink; did they. not under
stand it better than you. Now believe
that they were very learned, very pious
men out they were men. Hebrew scholars
tell us that schacar comes from a root
that means, reward or satisfaction, to
mind or body, and good illustration is
found in the story of Leah aud her son
Is sachar. Again read Isaiah 25-9
strong shall become bitter. Bishop South
translated it, The palm wine shall be-
come bitter. And as have drank con-
siderable palm wine uniermented I know
. @af&s aas4A @ & 81 80 ~
how sweet it Is. .-......... b
The Arabs call palm wine sacbaron,
and Theodoret and Chrysostum Doth
Syrians) say that schacar is palm wine,
and DR.. Shaw says that it Is more lus-
cious sweet than honey. This drink then
could only become intoxicating by tie
addition of drugs, and. drugs are not
named in the rabbits proof text. As the
strongest palm wine contains only q per
cent of alcohol, it would have been more
appropriate 20 call it weak drink. We
turn now to the word wine proper, and
ind that at least seven Hebrew words are
translated wine.@ Vain from root mean-
ing to press is most freque ntly used but
In their word we can not find what kind
of wine it was. 1t might be pure grape
juice fermented or dragged. The conte xt
must decide. Tirosh from a root that
means head chief or beginning and is
rarely used in the Bible but in Germs of
appreciation. latham makes lne vine say
shall leave my wine (Terosh) which
cheereth the heart ofGod and man; Isaiah
says: And one says when the new
wine (Tirosh) is in the cluster DESTROY it
notion blessing is in IT." and so on in i
vast numer of places. But there is one
remarkable text Zech 9-l9. Corn shall
make the young men cheerful and new
wine CTirosh) the maids. Now I fear
that the rabbi and his Christian colleagues
on the Bible wine question viii not be
willing to give up the wine to the maids
andct nsent themselves with bread. I have
no doubt they would concede woman suf-
frage before they would give up their
wine But a few words on this cheer
Does it mean the cheer felt by the inebri-
ates No, Deity is never cheered by seeing
a drunkard nor is man cheeredq by pas
sion drink Solomon says: 'eeat thy
bread with joy, same word as cheer in the
original. Comfort thy heart with q morsel