We shall look at all the twelve different Hebrew words used in the Bible for wine. A word study will reveal to us how “wine” was used and understood in the Bible. This week we shall look at the first two on the list.
(1.) Ashishah (2Sa 6:19 ; 1Ch 16:3 ; Song 2:5 ; Ho 3:1 ), denotes a flagon or container, but it is translated in the English Revised Version as “a cake of raisins.” This word “ashishah” occurs only four times in the Bible. They are mentioned above. There is no basis for the English Revised Version to change “ashishah” from “a flagon” to “a cake. The word refers to a flagon.
2 Samuel 6:19 “And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.” The context of this verse was when David brought the Ark of God successfully into the capital city of Jerusalem, a happy occasion. The word “wine” is in italics which means that it was added by the translators. I Chronicles 16:3 talks of the same event as in 2Samuel 6:19 , also with an ellipsis. The Song of Solomon in Song 2:5 reads, “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.” These are the words of one coaxing his lover to stay longer and flagons were used to keep him. Hosea 3:1 is the only verse where the word wine is attached to “flagon.” It reads, “Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.” This word for wine is “enabh” which literally means grapes. The KJV translators chose the word wine because it was the term used to describe grape and to use the word grape would be a clumsy translation. Then the phrase would become “flagons of grape” which does not make sense. But in Deuteronomy 32:14 the KJV translators did translate is as grape, “Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” [emphasis added]
Therefore the “flagon” that was used at that time was grape juice rather than the wine of today. The BDB, a classic Hebrew Lexicon, translates the word “enabh” as grape.
(2.) ‘Asis, “sweet wine,” or “new wine,” the product of the same year (Song 8:2 ; Isa 49:26 ; Joe 1:5 ; 3:18 ; Am 9:13 ), from a root meaning “to tread,” hence juice trodden out or pressed out, thus referring to the method by which the juice is obtained. The power of intoxication is ascribed to it. The usage in Song of Solomon 8:2 , “I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.” “The pomegranate tree, Punica granatum (Natural Order, Granateae) occurs usually as a shrub or small tree 10-15 ft. high, and is distinguished by its fresh green, oval leaves, which fall in winter, and its brilliant scarlet blossoms (compare Song 7:12 ). The beauty of an orchard of pomegranates is referred to in Song 4:13 . The fruit which is ripe about September is apple-shaped, yellow-brown with a blush of red, and is surmounted by a crown-like hard calyx; on breaking the hard rind, the white or pinkish, translucent fruits are seen tightly packed together inside. The juicy seeds are sometimes sweet and sometimes somewhat acid, and need sugar for eating. The juice expressed from the seeds is made into a kind of syrup for flavoring drinks, and in ancient days was made into wine.” [from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)]. Spiced wine was used to make the drink less intoxicating. “Spiced wine was much used by the ancients, and in the eastern countries: so Phoenician wine, or wine of Byblis, is said to be odoriferous; so the wine of Lebanon, Ho 14:7 ; the Babylonians had a wine they called nectar: spiced wine was thought less inebriating, and therefore the ancients sometimes put into their wine myrrh and calamus, and other spices; sometimes it was a mixture of old wine, water, and balsam; and of wine, honey, and pepper.” [from ISBE) In the Songs of Solomon, this phrase was used as a figure of speech which means “to give to the best and most delicate” drink to the one you love when you bring the person to meet your mother. The alcoholic nature of the drink is greatly diluted by the spices.
In Isaiah 49:26 , “And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” The colour of the grape juice is the focus as this reflects the colour of blood which God said will be shed by the enemies of God’s people whose blood these men have shed. Barnes explains the sweet wine as, “The ‘must,’ or new wine, was the pure juice which ran first after the grapes had been laid in a heap preparatory to pressure. The ancients had the art of preserving this for a long time, so as to retain its special flavor, and were in the habit of drinking it in the morning (see Hor. Sat. ii. 4). This had the intoxicating property very slightly, if at all; and Harmer (Obs. vol. ii. p. 151) supposes that the kind here meant was rather such as was used in ‘royal palaces for its gratefulness,’ which was capable of being kept to a great age. It is possible, I think, that there may be an allusion here to the fact that it required a ‘large quantity of the must’ or new wine to produce intoxication, and that the idea here is that a large quantity of blood would be shed.”
In Joel 1:5 , “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.” The meaning of “asis” is that it refers to concentrated grape juice that has fermented with a low dosage of alcohol. But when taken in excess it will cause drunkenness, hence the warning and judgement against these sinners of Israel.
Also in Joel 3:18 , “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” The meaning of the phrase “sweet wine” is that the land of Israel will be filled once again with vineyards and all good things when the LORD brings His people Israel back to the Promised Land. The usage is like above in Joel 1:15 .
In Amos 9:13 , “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” The context of Amos was the copious blessings of God that will come upon Israel when Israel returns to God in repentance. This is the picture of the abundance fruitfulness of the land after the restoration by God.
Usage of “ashishah” (flagon) is that of a container to hold grape juices. The usage of “Asis” (sweet wine) is concentrated fermented grape juices with very low alcohol content but when taken in excess it can cause drunkenness. There is no approval from God that this was to be taken at all. When they drink, it is deliberately spiced so that the little bit of alcohol is reduced further to practically zero. A warning is uttered to those who drink and has gotten drunk.