Unfermented Fruit of the Vine at Passover Time?
By
Stephen M. Golden
Copyright
© June 3, 2014
Was
there unfermented Fruit of the Vine at Passover time?
Yes.
First, it should be noted that
there is no reference in scripture that calls the drink served in the Lord’s
Supper “wine.” The Greek word “oinos” is not
used. Every reference to the drink
served at the Last Supper is called “the cup” or “the fruit of the vine.”
Mt.26:27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and
offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
Mk.14:23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and
offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
Lk.20:22 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new
covenant in my blood.
1Cor.11:25 In the same way, after
supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this,
whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Mt.26:29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it
anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
Mk.14:25 "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the
kingdom of God."
Lk.22:17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this
and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God
comes."
This is the case for every faithful
translation of God's Word. The only
version in which it is called “wine” is the dubious New Living Translation
(NLT), and it is completely unwarranted.
The word for wine is not in the original manuscripts.
Even if the Greek word “oinos” had been
used in the original writings, the reader should be aware that “oinos” describes
any juice from a grape, fermented or not.
The only way we can even determine what was in the cup is by knowing
what was served at the Passover meal.
Jesus called it “fruit of the
vine” instead of using any of several words that might refer to alcoholic
drink. I believe this was an intentional
effort to be clear about the contents of the cup. It was grape juice.
Some have been known to say that
the drink served at the Last Supper had to have been alcoholic because that is
how they preserved “fruit of the vine” in those days. They maintain that unfermented “fruit of the
vine” was unavailable at Passover time.
This reasoning is simply incorrect and reflects a lack of understanding
of the preservation methods in use at that time.
Below are some sources regarding
the drink served at the Lord’s Supper and the use of boiled or steeped raisins
to reconstitute fruit of the vine, as well as methods of keeping fresh grape
juice for the Passover meal.
International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia (ISBE)
2.
The Elements:
As
to the elements used in the original institution of the Supper, they were bread
and wine. The bread of course was the unleavened bread of the Passover, during
which feast every trace of leaven was removed (Exodus 12:19). The Eastern church, perhaps influenced by the
bitter Ebionite spirit of the Judaizers, later adopted the use of common bread
(koinos artos); the Western
church used unleavened bread. Protestantism left the matter among the
adiaphora.
As
regards the wine, the matter has been in dispute from the beginning (see Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical
Literature). The early church always used mixed wine, wine
and water, following the Jewish custom. Whether the wine used at the
institution of the Lord's Supper was fermented or unfermented wine, must of course be determined by the Jewish
Passover-customs prevailing at that time. [emphasis added] The matter is in dispute
and is not easily settled.
Modern Orthodox Jews quite generally use raisin-wine, made by
steeping raisins over night in water and expressing the juice the next day for
use at the Passover-meal. The ancient Jews, we are told, used for this purpose a thick boiled
wine, mixed with water (Mishna, Terumoth, xi).
Whether oinos, the word used in the New Testament,
stands literally, as the name indicates, for fermented wine, or figuratively
for the mixed drinks, well known to ancient and modern Jews, is a debatable
matter. As late as the 16th century the Nestorian Christians celebrated
communion with raisin-wine, and the same is said of the Indian Christians
("St. Thomas Christians"). The word "new," used by Christ
in Matthew 26:29, is believed by some to indicate the character of
the wine used by Christ at the institution of the Eucharist, namely, the juice
of grapes fresh pressed out (see Clem. Alex., Paed.,
xi). On the other hand the third Council of Braga
explicitly forbade this practice as heretical. It is evident that the whole
subject is shrouded in much mystery. Some ancient sects substituted an entirely
different element, water and milk, for instance, being
used (Epiph., Haer., xlix;
Aug., Haer., xxviii). Such customs were utterly
condemned by the Council of Braga (675 AD). In general, however, the Christian
church, almost from the beginning, seems to have used fermented red wine,
either mixed or pure, in the administration of the Eucharist, in order to maintain the correspondence between the symbol
and the thing symbolized.
https://beta.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T5577
Or fresh preserved grape juice:
From
the writings of Cato we can learn that fresh must or grape juice was highly prized, and kept fresh throughout the year. He wrote a book on
agriculture of his time. He wrote about the time of Christ. Also, Pliny wrote
about similar subjects, and he lived about the end of the first century. Both writers
mention how to preserve the fresh grape “must,” and to use it to make various
medicines. Josephus mentioned that the palace of Masada had stores of fruits
and other produce that had been laid up during the time of Herod. These fruits
were found fresh when the Roman's took possession of Masada almost a hundred
years later. These and other accounts show that
fresh grape juice could be kept fresh.
Our
Lord used an illustration on the preservation of wine (grape juice) to teach
principles of the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 9:17 "Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or
else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.
But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
This
text teaches that to preserve new wine (“must,” or grape juice) you must store
it in a new wine skin. The reason for this was because once the seal had been
broken from the wine skin, the air would get into the skin, and the germ of
fermentation would be present. If new wine were put into the new skins, then
sealed, the wine would be kept from the fermentation process. If the new wine
were put into the old skins, the fermentation germ would be present, and the
wine would begin to ferment, and the skin would burst from the pressure created
by the expanding gasses released from the fermenting grape juice.
http://www.newtestamentchurch.org/York/libraryfiles/FRUITOV.html
The principal reason for the use of water with
wine by the Jews, was not that Intoxicating wine was used, but the admitted
fact that ancient wines were generally inspissated
or boiled to a thick syrup like "I'mustvm"
of the Romans (referred to in Appendix C) ; they were too thick or
"strong" for drinking and had to be "mixed" or mingled with
water. Both kinds of wine, unfermented and
fermented juice of grapes, dates, etc., were used by the Ancients as
beverages; for religious purposes, however, as the Report admits, unfermented
wine made from dried grapes or raisins steeped in water was used by various
churches, with or without official Ecclesiastical authority.
The late Dr. Norman Kerr in "Unfermented
Wine a Fact" states-"If unfermented grape
juice be enclosed in an air-tight vessel, and heated in boiling water,
fermentation will be rendered impossible" (this is one of the
modern methods of preserving Unfermented Wine).
He also states "Inspissated grape juice boiled down to a half, a third, or a
fourth of its bulk, does not ferment for a very
long period, and then only slightly and on its surface."
https://www.wpl.lib.oh.us/AntiSaloon/print/wine.html
Wine was NOT used in the celebration of the Passover until
Hellenistic times. Then,
among the spiritually minded, it must be "boiled" wine or fresh from
the vat.
https://www.piney.com/ComeDrink.html
New
Wine —fermented?
Is there any scriptural indication that “New
Wine” is unfermented?
The Hebrew word ‘tirosh’
refers to the fresh pressed juice of the grape.
(Isa.65:8, Joel 2:24, Prov.3:10)
Used alone, it is never associated with drunkenness.
https://www.newtestamentchurch.org/York/libraryfiles/FRUITOV.html
Here is a passage from three different versions
of the Bible: Isaiah 65:8
This
is what the LORD says:
"As
when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and
men say, 'Don't destroy it,
there
is yet some good in it,'
so
will I do in behalf of my servants;
I
will not destroy them all.
NIV
Thus
says the LORD:
"As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, 'Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,'
so I will do for my
servants' sake,
and not destroy them all.
ESV
"But
I will not destroy them all," says the LORD. "For just as good grapes
are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, 'Don't throw them
all away—there are some good grapes there.'), so I will not destroy all Israel.
For I still have true servants there.
NLT
(to show the inconsistency)
Judges 9:13
And
the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth
God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
KJV
But
the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go
hold sway over the trees?'
ESV
Refers to juice still in the grapes on the
cluster, attached to the vine.
Concept
from https://www.piney.com/ComeDrink.html