Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (2)

This topic was begun in “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)”.  Part 2 here is the conclusion.

Part 1 identified the two most-used Hebrew Old Testament (OT) terms for “wine”…yáhyin (Strongs h3196) and tiroshé (h8492).  Yayin was fermented wine.  Tirosh usually referred to unfermented grape juice.  Tirosh is called “new wine” in many Bibles.  (Other terms for alcoholic drink were less-used.)

Part 1 also discussed the customary Jewish practice of using wine to celebrate Passover in 1^st century Jerusalem.  Jesus the man was Jewish, and He observed God’s annual Passover (Lk.2:41-42).

In the Greek New Testament (NT) and Greek OT Septúagint/LXX, the term for “wine” is oínos g3631.  It occurs 33 times in the NT.  However, yayin (fermented) and tirosh (unfermented) were both translated as oinos in the OT LXX!  No differentiation was made.  The context determined its meaning.

The NT writers didn’t identify the type of liquid in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.  “Cup” is potáyreeon g4221, occurring 33 times.  “Cup” as a drinking vessel is seen at the Lord’s Supper: Mt.26:27; Mk.14:23; Lk.22:17, 20; 1Co.10:16, 21, 11:25-28.  No beverage is specified (not oinos).

In Part 2 we’ll discuss uses, concerns, and symbolism of wine from the Bible; also when Christian churches started using grape juice in communion or the eucharist.  (Part 1 material won’t be repeated.)

In Bible times, wine (mixed with water) was used for other celebrations besides Passover.  Jn.2:1-11 Jesus’ first miracle was, He changed water into wine (oinos g3631) at a wedding celebration.  Probably His miracle wine was undiluted.  In Is.1:22, the Lord had negatively compared debased ancient Israel to pure wine diluted with water.  And Jesus didn’t change the Jn.2 water into grape juice.  Jn.2:10 after the guests had drank, they wouldn’t notice any quality difference if it was grape juice.  But they would notice a difference if it was wine.  Jesus wasn’t opposed to wine (in moderation)!

Lk.7:33-35 Jesus was exaggeratedly even called a glutton and a ‘wino’ (oinopótes g3630), a friend of tax collectors & sinners.  Winos drink fermented wine.  In contrast, John the Baptizer didn’t drink wine.

De.14:25-27 rejoicing with wine (h3196 yayin) to celebrate the Lord’s OT feasts was fine!  Included were Levites too.  But priests weren’t allowed to drink wine while on duty (Le.10:8-9; Ezk.44:21).

Wine symbolized Jesus’ blood!  The 19^th century German theologian Augustus Neander wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper (Lk.22:17-20). “The broken bread was to represent His body. The wine is to represent His blood, about to be shed for them.”  Got Questions: What is the Meaning of the Blood of Christ? “The pouring of wine in the cup symbolized the blood of Christ.”  Answers.com: What is the Symbolic Meaning of Wine? “Wine signifies blood and blood signifies life, ‘the life is in the blood’ (Lev.17:14).”

Fermented wine yayin h3196 (not unfermented tirosh h8492) was called the blood of grapes.  Ge.49:10-12 is a prophecy about the future King Messiah Jesus. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs. He will wash His garments in wine [h3196], His robes in the blood of grapes.”  That’s meaningful.  Henry Commentary Ge.49:11 “He is the true Vine, wine is the appointed symbol of His blood.”  Poole Commentary “The ‘blood of grapes,’ so the wine is called in Deu.32:14.”  (De.32:14 has a less-used term for fermented red wine, chémer h2561-2.  Chemer wine was at the feast of Babylon’s King Belshazzár in Da.5:1-4, e.g.)

Wine also symbolized God’s divine wrath.  Re.14:9-10 “If anyone worships the beast…he will drink of the wine [g3631] of the wrath of God, which is unmixed in the cup [g4221] of His anger.”  Pure wine of intoxication is in His metaphorical cup of judgment.  Barnes Notes Re.14:10 “Without being diluted with water.”  Re.16:19 “Babylon the great’ was remembered before God, to give her the cup [g4221] of the wine [g3631] of His fierce wrath.”  Also ref Ps.75:8; Is.51:17-22, 63:6; Je.25:15-ff; Ezk.23:31-33.

Is.63:1-6 symbolically reflects blood as the wine of His wrath, not as celebration.  v.6 “drunk”.  v.2 “winepress” (gath h1660) is somewhat a misnomer.  As grapes were pressed, it was grape juice, not wine, which flowed down the drain.  (Usually grapes in the upper vat/receptacle were trodden by a team; but interestingly, in v.3 only One solely does the treading.)

{Sidelight: Just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, He prayed at a place called “Gethsemane”, g1068 (Mt.26:36).  It’s from the OT h1660 gath/winepress and h8081 oil, on the Mount of Olives.  The later olive harvest was perhaps pressed into the same vats as grapes were recently pressed.  Laura Reynolds “Why Are Olive Trees Planted Around Vineyards? “The two crops used a similar processing procedure. As wine press works ends, olive pressing begins.”  Lk.22:42-44 in agony, Jesus sweated drops of blood (cf. hematidrósis) at the place of the press.  Jesus Himself felt so pressed, shedding His blood for us!}

Ex.29:38-42 the twice-daily sacrifice at God’s tent of meeting included a drink offering of fermented wine (yayin h3196).  The drink offering wasn’t grape juice!  In Nu.28:7 this drink offering is called “strong drink” (shekár h7941).  Also see Le.23:13.  ATS Bible Dictionary: Drink Offering “A small quantity of wine, part of which was poured on the sacrifice, and the residue given to the priests.”  It was part of the sacrificial system, prefiguring Christ’s blood sacrifice.

This drink offering libation of wine was poured out (cf. Ezr.7:17), as was Jesus’ shed blood (Jn.19:34; Lk.22:44).  Jesus said in Lk.22:20, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood”.  (The apostle Paul also compared his own life to a drink offering poured out, Php.2:17, 2Ti.4:6.)

1Ch.9:29 Levites had charge over the fermented wine (h3196) kept in the temple.  The tirosh h8492 grape juice firstfruits initially tithed to the Levites (Nu.18:12; De.18:4; Ne.10:37) fermented into wine.

Again, there were restrictions for wine-drinking placed upon Aaron and his sons (the priests).  Priests weren’t allowed to serve God in the tabernacle/temple if they’re intoxicated!  Is.28:7 priests and prophets erred through their misuse of wine (h3196) and strong drink (h7941).  1Ti.3:8 deacons in the NT church aren’t to be heavy drinkers.  (Paul advised only a little wine for Timothy, 1Ti.5:23.)

Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper, held in a large furnished upper room of a house (Lk.22:12).  There Jesus instituted the eucharist.  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.809 “Peter and John would find there the wine for the four cups, the cakes of unleavened bread, and probably also ‘the bitter herbs’. The wine was…red, mixed with water, generally in the proportion of one part to two of water.”  Peter, John, and Jesus the man were Jews, here at Passover.

David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary [JNTC] Lk.22:17a, p.144 “Luke is the only one of the four [gospel] writers describing the establishing of the New Covenant who mentions both a cup of wine before the meal (here) and another after (v.20).”  Wine-drinking was customary at the Lord’s feasts.

The ingathering of the grape harvest occurred in the later summer, prior to the Feast of Ingathering or Booths of the early autumn.  Back then it was something of an ordeal to preserve pure grape juice for 7 months until the Passover next spring!  Joe Thorn A Theology of Wine “Drinking wine was normative.”

However, it was possible to maintain unfermented grape juice (albeit more difficult).  Wayne Jackson Was the Fruit of the Vine Fermented? “It is known from ancient sources, that there were ways of preserving juice, thus preventing fermentation. The ancient Roman statesman, Cato, said: ‘If you wish to have ‘must’ (grape juice) all year, put grape juice in an amphora [narrow-necked jar] and seal the cork with pitch; sink it in a fish pond. After 30 days take it out. It will be grape juice for a whole year.’ (De Agri Cultura CXX)”  Steve Shirley Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used For Communion? “Heating it [juice] to 150–180° would result in a syrup which could be diluted with water, then drank as unfermented grape juice. Also, keeping it in temperatures below 40° would prevent fermentation.”

Which beverage was used by the church?  Jennifer Tait New Wine, New Wineskins “The early Western church maintained the use of wine and unleavened bread. The Eastern church soon began to use leavened bread. From the 16^th until the 19^th century, the majority of Protestants communed using wine from a common cup and leavened bread. However, in the 19^th century, temperance became teetotalism or total abstinence, moving all alcohol (wine included) into the list of forbidden beverages. Many began to question why a beverage considered dangerous to drink was still used on the Communion table.”

Joe Iovino Methodist History: Controversy, Communion, & Welch’s Grape Juice “In the 1800s, churches faced a dilemma. To combat the epidemic of alcoholism, the temperance movement advocated total abstinence from all alcohol. Raw grape juice stored at room temperature (home refrigerators weren’t available until 1913) naturally ferments into wine. This caused a problem for congregations [taking the Lord’s Supper] not wanting to use anything containing alcohol. ‘Lots of churches just didn’t have communion when grapes were out of season,’ reports Roger Scull.”

Welch Foods, Inc. is named for Thomas Bramwell Welch (1825-1903).  He was a dentist, Methodist minister and “communion steward”, and Prohibitionist.  Wikipedia “In 1869, Welch invented a method of pasteurizing grape juice so that fermentation was stopped, and the drink was non-alcoholic. He persuaded local churches [in Vineland, NJ] to adopt this non-alcoholic ‘wine’ for communion services, calling it ‘Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine.”  It became the well-known Welch’s Grape Juice in 1893.

Thus pasteurization made it possible for churches to use grape juice year-round for the Lord’s Supper eucharist.  Most Protestant churches today use grape juice when serving communion.  Over the past 150 years, this relatively recent deviation from the practice of Bible times has become their church tradition.

However, there is evidence that Jewish religious bread and wine meals were held to honor the Messiah in the decades even prior to Jesus’ human birth and His Last Supper.  JNTC Appendix, p.931 says the Jewish community at Qumrán had regular meals in honor of the Messiah, who they expected soon.  Quoting their Dead Sea Scrolls: “When they gather for the Community table…let no man stretch out his hand over the bread and wine before the priest. He shall first stretch out his hand. And afterwards the Messiah of Israel shall stretch out His hands. They shall process according to this rite at every meal where at least ten persons are assembled.”  These were frequent meals.

These Qumran Community meals weren’t Passover meals!  Yet they partook of bread and wine, not grape juice, to honor the Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah.  Traditionally, wine celebrated Him.

But the representative bread and wine is much more ancient than the 1^st century BC!  In Ge.14:18-19 “Melchisedek the king brought out bread and wine [yayin h3196]; He was priest of the Most High God.”  He served wine, not grape juice (tirosh h8492)!  He shared a (leavened?) bread and wine meal with the uncircumcised gentile/non-Jew Abrám.  The Ps.110:1-4 prophecy is about Jesus. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” (also see He.6:20.)

Jesus, the Priest-King, is of the order of Melchisedek (not of the in-between Levitical order)!  So way back in the days of father Abraham, even prior to Jacob/Israel and the Jews, a bread and wine meal foreshadowed Christ’s priesthood and rule.  This is significant…we are of the order of Melchisedek!  The archetypal meal wasn’t tied to a recurring religious date or season of the year, e.g. Passover.  Its timing may or may not coincide with other religious observances.  (see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)

Pr.9:1-5 “Wisdom has built her house. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine [h3196, fermented], she has set her table. ‘Come, eat of the bread and drink of the wine [h3196] I have mixed.”  It is wisdom to partake of (symbolic) bread and wine.  Melchisedek did so with Abraham.

In 1Co.11:20-34, drunkenness was a problem in the Corinthian church (v.21).  They were consuming too much wine while celebrating the eucharist at regular love feasts.  Drunkenness can have bad consequences (cf. Ge.9:20-27).  But wine-drinking in moderation is fine (except for Levites on duty).

To conclude…Jesus and His disciples drank wine with His Last Supper (Passover) meal.  International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [ISBE]: Wine “The wine of the Last Supper may be described in modern terms as sweet, red, fermented wine, rather highly diluted.”  Wine was in Jesus’ “cup”.

As a representation of Jesus’ blood and body, taking wine with bread is scripturally acceptable.  Joe Thorn The Lord’s Supper – Wine or Welch’s? “Regarding children, in most of the United States it is not illegal for children to consume alcohol ‘in the performance of a religious ceremony or service.”

However, conscience matters!  Je.35:5-8, 16-19 Jonadáb the son of Recháb commanded the Rechabites to be nomads, enduring hardship and abstaining from wine.  His descendants obeyed their forefather.  Some Christians abstain from wine, meat, card-playing, etc., as a matter of conscience or from fear of excess.  They only use grape juice, not wine, for communion.  We should respect their consciences.

Recovering alcoholics who become Christians, those with health problems and/or taking medications which could conflict with alcohol…should substitute grape juice for wine when taking communion.

Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper with either wine or grape juice!  Over the years, I’ve used both.  (Again, the NT writers didn’t specify the beverage in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.)  When taking the eucharist, more important is our attitude of heart.  Yet division may occur when a perhaps well-meaning church custom/tradition becomes a modern form of pharisaic oral law and promotes exclusivism.  Jesus castigated the Pharisees for their oral traditions that contradicted OT scripture.

For more, see “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)” and the separate topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.  Also related is “Jesus’ Last Supper Timing”.

Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)

Bread and wine are symbols which represent the body and blood of Jesus the Savior.  The partaking of these symbols as the eucharist or communion in the early New Testament (NT) church is addressed in the topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.  Little of the material covered in that topic is repeated here.

At Jesus’ Last Supper before His crucifixion, He instructed His disciples in the symbolic ceremony. Mt.26:26-28 “Jesus took some bread…and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  This became the eucharist.

Accordingly, after Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection, in the 30s AD a communal sharing of consecrated bread and wine became a regular practice or sacramental rite at church gatherings.

However, there is controversy among church denominations (mostly since the 1800s AD) about what form of beverage should be in the communion “cup”.  This topic addresses the contents of Jesus’ “cup”.

Wikipedia: Sacramental Wine “The majority of mainstream liturgical churches require that sacramental wine be pure grape wine. In most liturgical rites, a small quantity of water is added to the wine when the chalice [cup] is prepared. However, some Christian churches disapprove of the consumption of alcohol, especially by children, and hold that it is acceptable to substitute grape juice for wine. These denominations include Pentecostals, Baptists, Methodists, some Churches of Christ, and other evangelical groups. In this case, generally only pasteurized grape juice is used. In some Protestant churches each communicant drinks from a small individual cup.”  Well-known liturgical churches using wine for communion are the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic.

What is wine?  Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s present definition of wine: “The alcoholic fermented juice of fresh grapes used as a beverage. From Latin vinum.”  If it’s unfermented, it’s not actual wine.

Steve Shirley Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used For Communion? “Juice becomes fermented when yeast is added to it and it begins to break down the sugars that are present in the juice, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. However, grape juice does contain small amounts of naturally occurring yeast, and can ferment naturally over time.”

In our Greek NT, “cup” is potáyreeon, Strongs g4221.  It occurs 33 times.  In the NT, cup g4221 refers to: a drinking vessel; or metaphorically, one’s lot or experience, joyous or adverse.  “Cup” as a drinking vessel is seen in: Mt.26:27; Mk.14:23; Lk.22:17, 20; 1Co.10:16, 21, 11:25-28.  What was in Jesus’ cup?

Wikipedia: History of Wine “Consumption of ritual wine was part of Jewish practice since Biblical times and, as part of the eucharist commemorating Jesus’ Last Supper, became even more essential to the Christian Church.”  Reid Mitenbuler What Did Wine Taste Like Thousands of Years Ago? “Priests, monks, and nuns cultivated vineyards to make wine an everyday drink in places where it hadn’t existed before.”  Christian religion actually promoted and increased the knowledge of wine (production)!

In the NT and Old Testament (OT) Septúagint/LXX, the Greek term for “wine” is oínos g3631.  It occurs 33 times in the NT.

In the OT, the most-used Hebrew term for fermented wine is yáhyin h3196.  It occurs 140 times.

But OT “wine” prior to the fermentation process, grape juice, is tiroshé h8492, occurring 38 times.  Tiroshe is translated as “new wine”, in many Bibles.  This “new wine” was unfermented, or less fermented.  Grape juice.  (A half dozen less-used Hebrew terms also relate to wine or alcoholic drink.)

Rex M.D. Russell What the Bible Says About Healthy Living “Some Biblical commentaries suggest that yayin is wine fermented from the previous year, and tirosh is a somewhat less fermented drink from the recent harvest. Others concede that yayin is a fermented and intoxicating beverage, but tirosh is simply freshly squeezed juice from grapes.”  (Ho.4:11 may indicate a fermented tirosh.)

Tirosh would naturally ferment into wine, unless (impractical) steps were taken to preserve it as juice.  Mitenbuler op. cit. “Preservation efforts are the most noticeable culinary difference between ancient and modern wine.”  Wine was a valued product of agriculture.  Let’s compare tirosh and yayin in the OT:

Pr.3:10 “Your vats [yéhqeb h3342] will overflow with new wine [tirosh h8492].”  Ellicott Commentary Pr.3:10 “Vats, into which the newly pressed [grape] juice flowed.”  ref “wine vat” in Mk.12:1.  Cambridge Bible Pr.3:10 “The wine-press of the Jews consisted of two receptacles or vats placed at different elevations; in the upper the grapes were trodden, while the lower one received the expressed [grape] juice.”  (cf. Joel 3:13 “The press [gath h1660] is full, the vats [h3342] overflow.”)  Unfermented grape juice, not wine, flowed from the “winepress” (so called).  Mic.6:15 ESV “You shall tread grapes [or new wine h8492], but not drink wine [h3196].”  Is.65:8 the Lord says new wine (h8492) is found in the cluster of grapes.  Fermented wine/yayin h3196 isn’t found in grapes.  Quora What is Tirosh? “It’s literally grape juice in Hebrew.”  However, word meanings in languages can change over the centuries.

University of Chicago Biblical Notes, 1891, p.181 “Tirosh and Yayin denote not two kinds of wine but the same wine at different stages, before and after fermentation. The juice of the grape is tithed as tirosh [ref 2Ch.31:4-5] but drunk as yayin. At first it is a simple product of husbandry and valued for the promise that is in it. Finally it is treated as a drink, and praised or condemned as it is used or abused.”

Right use of fermented wine can be of benefit.  Ps.104:15 “Wine [yahyin h3196] makes glad the heart of man.”  De.14:25-26 “Go to the place the Lord chooses. You may spend the money for…wine [h3196] or strong drink [h7941 shekár], or whatever your heart desires…and rejoice.”  God encouraged wine-drinking (in moderation) to aid Israel’s rejoicing at His pilgrim feasts.  In Is.25:6 KJV, the prophetic banquet the Lord prepares includes aged wine on the lees h8105 of yeast sediment (from fermentation).

The Jews mixed wine in their water.  2Mac.15:39 “It is hurtful to drink wine or water alone. Wine mingled with water is pleasant, and delights the taste.”  In Bible times, water by itself was often dirty, contaminated with pathogens.  Charles Swindoll Dirty Water, Prohibition, and the Bible “Pure drinking water was often unavailable.”  Mitenbuler op. cit. “Ancient wine provided valuable nutrients and was used to sanitize water well past the Middle Ages.”  Also, Israel would water down their wine.

Paul told Timothy in the NT, 1Ti.5:23 “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine [oinos g3631] for your stomach’s sake and your frequent ailments”.  But excessive alcohol consumption could worsen ailments, and lead to drunkenness.  Paul also wrote, Ep.5:18 “Be not drunk with wine [g3631]”.  Due to its alcoholic content, drinking wine to excess can cause intoxication.  Moderation is key.

Professor R. Laird Harris wrote, “All the wine [of Bible times] was light wine, i.e., not fortified with extra alcohol. Concentrated alcohol was only known in the Middle Ages when the Arabs invented distillation (‘alcohol’ is an Arab word) so…20% fortified wines were unknown in Bible times. Probably ancient wines were 7–10%. To avoid the sin of drunkenness, mingling of water with wine was practiced.”  The blend of water and wine was 50/50–65/35?  Prior to Is.1:22, 700s BC…wine undiluted?

Alfred Edersheim described 1^st century Jewish practices. The Temple, p.187 “Red wine alone was to be used at the Páschal [Passover] Supper, and always mixed with water.”  Cups containing wine were customary at Passover in Jerusalem.  Benson Commentary Pr.23:31 “Red, the color of the best wines in that country, which therefore are called blood, Ge.49:11; De.32:14; and used by them in the Passover.”

Mishnah Pesachim 10:1 “Even the poorest person in Israel must not eat (on the night of the Passover) until he reclines [cf. Lk.22:14]. And they must give him no fewer than four cups of wine.”  Even the poor who couldn’t afford the cost of wine at other times were given wine at Passover.

The Biblical expression “fruit of the vine” (ref Mt.26:29; Mk.14:25; Lk.22:18; Is.32:12; Hab.3:17; Zec.8:12) referred to grapes from the grapevine, common in Palestine.

Wayne Jackson Was the Fruit of the Vine Fermented? “There is considerable historical evidence that the common Passover beverage used in the 1^st century was wine.”  Jesus kept Passover (Lk.2:41-42).

Dr. Jack Lewis states, “Wine was ordinarily used at the Passover and is called ‘fruit of the vine’ in Berakoth 6:1 [Talmud].”  Berakoth 6:1 “Over wine one recites: Who creates fruit of the vine.”

And Jesus’ Last Supper was also a Passover meal celebration!  Jesus told His disciples to prepare it.  Mk.14:12 “On the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, ‘Where do want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”  Lk.22:7-8 “Then came the first day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb must be killed. ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat.”  This would be His Last Supper.  (see the topic “Jesus’ Last Supper Timing”.)

In the OT the Lord didn’t command wine or any drink at Passover.  But we read from the above sources that wine was the “fruit of the vine”, and was customarily consumed in 1^st century Judea at Passover.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [ISBE]: Wine “The wine of the Last Supper may be described in modern terms as sweet, red, fermented wine, rather highly diluted.”

The annual Passover was 6 months after the grape harvest in the Land.  Grape juice would’ve naturally undergone some fermentation during that time, even if yeast wasn’t added.  David C. Hopkins Life on the Land, p.186 “Stored [new] wine naturally fermented unless it was boiled down or kept cool.”

Again, in the Greek NT, “wine” is oinos g3631, occurring 33 times.  In the OT Greek LXX, oinos g3631 was used to translate the Hebrew yayin h3196 in 130 of its 140 occurrences.  And the LXX also used oinos to translate the Hebrew tiroshe h8492 in 37 of its 38 occurrences (all except Is.65:8)!  Therefore, we see that the Greek oinos g3631 in the LXX referred to either fermented or unfermented drink.

{Sidelight: The Greek term for vinegar and “sour wine” is óxos g3690.  It occurs in 6 NT verses, all relating to Jesus’ crucifixion (Mt.27:34, 48; Mk.15:36; Lk.23:36; Jn.19:29-30).  Oxos/sour wine g3690 was a variety, quality or adulteration of oinos/wine g3631, such as acrid wine or vinegar.  This cheap “wine” was a common beverage.  It was a stimulant, and had standard wine/oinos and water as a base.  “Wine” and “sour wine” and pure vinegar differed.  (see the topic “Jesus’ Death – the Physical Cause”.)

Vinegar was made by the oxidation of wine or fermented fruit juice, or a mix of barley and wine.  It is highly acidic (acetic acid), and harms the teeth (Pr.10:26).  It wasn’t drank straight.  Livestrong.com What Are the Dangers of Drinking Vinegar? “Drinking vinegar can have unpleasant and dangerous side effects.”  ISBE: Vinegar “Undiluted vinegar was of course undrinkable, but a mixture of water and vinegar makes a beverage that was very popular among the poor.”  It was also popular among soldiers.

The Hebrew OT term for vinegar is chométs h2558, occurring 5 times (Nu.6:3; Ru.2:14; Ps.69:21; Pr.10:26, 25:20).  Nu.6:3 has both chomets h2558 vinegar and yayin h3196 wine.  They’re different Hebrew terms, representing different things.  (Nu.6:3 LXX has oxos g3690 and oinos g3631).  There’s no indication that oxos “sour wine” or vinegar was in the cup at Jesus’ Last Supper Passover meal!}

Also, in Ac.2:13 disciples were mocked, supposedly full of sweet wine (or ‘must’?), g1098 gleúkos.  In the OT LXX, this term is found only in Jb.32:19.  Bible linguists differ regarding what gleukos meant back then.  Callixenus wrote (300s BC), “They were trampling on the grapes and the new wine (gleukos) ran out over the whole road”.  Greek Bible scholar Dr. Spiros Zódiates, “Some believe that it [gleukos] is what distills of its own accord from the grapes which is the sweetest and smoothest. It was mentioned at Pentecost (Ac.2:13) indicating that the ancients probably had a method of preserving the sweetness, and by consequence the strongly inebriating quality of the gleukos for a long time.”

In the NT, oinos g3631 usually referred to fermented wine.  Lk.10:33-34 the good Samaritan poured oil and wine (oinos)…not grape juice…into the traveler’s wounds!  Red wine is an antiseptic.  Mt.9:17 Jesus said new wine (g3631) would cause brittle old wineskins to break (due to the fermentation process).

This topic is continued and concluded in “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (2)”.  In it, we’ll discuss concerns and symbolism of wine in Bible times, and when the use of grape juice for communion began.

Jesus’ Death – the Physical Cause

Over the years, you may have heard or read of various possible physical causes for Jesus’ death at His crucifixion.  Such as: a broken heart, a spear thrust in His side, multiple wounds, suffocation, exposure, heart failure, exhaustion, poison.  The apostle Paul affirmed in 1Co.15:3, “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures”.  In so doing, Jesus fulfilled Bible prophecies about His death.  We’ll examine what the scriptures reflect in regards to physical factors associated with His death.

Ancient historians too have verified that Jesus lived and died.  Jewish historian Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 18:3:3 “Jesus, a wise man…Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified”.  In 117 AD, Roman historian Tacitus Annals 15.44 “Christus, from whom the name [Christian] had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate”.  Jesus was a known historical figure.

Crucifixion was a slow, painful, humiliating execution.  The sufferer was nailed or tied to a large wooden cross or pole, and left to hang until dead.  It could take two or more days for the victim to die!  Crucifixion was used by the Persians ca 500 BC, and ‘perfected’ by the Romans ca 100 BC.  It was their common method for executing condemned criminals, rebels and traitors.

Flogging or scourging would usually precede the crucifixion.  The whip (flagrum) consisted of leather strips, with pieces of bone, metal and stone tied in.  It could rip out chunks of flesh, exposing muscles & bones.  David prophesied of Jesus in Ps.22:17, “I can count all My bones. People stare at Me.”  The victim would then carry or drag the crossbeam to the execution site where the stake was in the ground.

“According to the scriptures.”  Is.52:14 “His appearance was marred more than any man.”  Is.53:5 “He was wounded for our transgressions. And by His scourging we are healed.”  Jesus is at the Jewish high priest’s residence in Mk.14:65. “Some began to spit at Him, to beat Him with their fists.”  Mk.15:15-20 “Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on Him. And they kept beating His head with a staff and mocked Him.”  Mt.27:26 “Pilate…Having scourged Jesus, handed Him over to be crucified.”  Bleeding from multiple wounds, the crucifixion victim was nailed up.  Ps.22:16 “They pierced My hands and My feet.”

The Roman victim might remain on the cross for days, slowly dying in agony.  But not Jesus nor the two criminals crucified with Him that day in Judea (Lk.23:38-43)!  De.21:22-23 “If a man commits a capital offense and is hanged on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree. You shall bury him the same day; that the land be not defiled.”  A rotting corpse wasn’t to be left hanging in the air for birds to eat.  So the Jewish leaders who framed Jesus wanted His (dead) body taken down before night.

Let’s now read what happened to Jesus while He was hanging on the cross, before His death that same day.  The Bible doesn’t provide complete autopsy results, but does indicate the physical cause of death.

Mark’s gospel says they tried to give Jesus a wine drink mixed with myrrh, immediately prior to hanging Him up.  Mk.15:22-25 “They offered Him wine [oínos Strongs g3631] mixed with myrrh [smurnízo g4669], but He didn’t take it.”  The Greek term oinos g3631 occurs 33 times in the New Testament (NT).  Pure myrrh (smúrna g4666) is a bitter yellowish tree resin.  In the NT, the term myrrh g4666 occurs only in Mt.2:11 & Jn.19:39.  The mixture or tincture of myrrh g4669 occurs only in Mk.15:23.

What was the nature of this drink (which Jesus initially refused)?  Some think it was a mild painkiller provided by charitable women (Sanh 43a, ref Pr.31:6).  Others think it was a medicated wine or narcotic to dull the pain, or sedate.  Would the Roman soldiers have offered this mixture out of compassion?  The late theologian and Anchor Bible commentator Raymond Brown, “Neither in fact nor in what we know of ancient pharmacology does myrrh serve as a narcotic. Perhaps the myrrh was only a flavoring and the wine used was thought to numb.”  Myrrh would affect or alter the taste of the mix.

Matthew’s parallel account identifies another ingredient in this mix!  Mt.27:33-35 “They gave him sour wine [óxos g3690] to drink mixed with gall [cholé g5521]. After tasting it, He wouldn’t drink it.”  The term oxos g3690 occurs in 6 NT verses, all relative to Jesus’ crucifixion (Mt.27:34, 48; Mk.15:36; Lk.23:36; Jn.19:29-30).  Oxos/sour wine g3690 was a variety, quality or adulteration of oinos/wine g3631, e.g. acrid wine or vinegar.  Cheap wine or vinegar mixed with water was a common beverage.  By itself, it wouldn’t be rejected as undrinkable.  (However, vinegar is a stimulant, not a sedative!)  So Matthew chose the Greek term oxos for this mixture, which had water with wine or vinegar as a base.

Combining the accounts of Mark & Matthew…the drink Jesus initially refused was wine mingled with myrrh and gall.  The Greek term rendered gall is chole g5521.  In the NT, this term occurs only here in Mt.27:34 and in Ac.8:23, where the apostle Peter said to Simon the magician, “I see you are in the gall [g5521] of bitterness and the bond of iniquity”.  A few translations read, “…you are poisoned by bitterness.”  Peoples NT Notes Ac.8:23 “The gall of reptiles was considered by the ancients the source of their venom.”  Robertson Commentary “Peter describes Simon’s offer as poison and a chain.”  Poison!?  The term often used in ancient Greek poetry for poison is…chole/(gall) g5521!

We read in Mt.27:34 that Jesus didn’t drink the gall mixture then.  V d Brink Commentary “In the LXX [gall/chole] has the meaning of poison (in Jb.20:14, Ps.69:21)….It is clear that offering wine mingled with poison must here be regarded as an act of mercy.”  The Mt.27:34 margin refs Ps.69:21, to be fulfilled by Jesus.  However, that Old Testament (OT) prophecy won’t be fulfilled until Mt.27:48.

While the term chole/gall is in the Greek NT & LXX, the corresponding OT Hebrew term is rosh h7219.  Strongs Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary describes rosh h7219. “A poisonous plant. Poison even of serpents.”  Ps.69:21 “They gave me gall [roshe h7219] for My food, and in My thirst vinegar to drink.”  Jewish Publication Society “They put poison in my food.”  ISV & NET Bibles “They put bitter poison into my food.”  Cambridge Commentary Ps.69:21 “The Hebrew word rosh, rendered gall, LXX χολή (chole), denotes some bitter and poisonous plant.”  The Greek LXX has, “They gave Me gall [chole g5521] for my food, and made Me drink vinegar for My thirst”.  Again, this Greek term chole g5521 is the term in Mt.27:34, offered to Jesus!

The Hebrew term rosh h7219, translated as gall or poison in Ps.69:21 (the prophecy Jesus will fulfill), occurs in 11 other OT verses.  Following are selected verses for comparison and a frame of reference:  De.32:32 “Their vine is from the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison [rosh h7219].”  Ho.10:4 “Judgment springs up as poisonous weeds [or hemlock h7219] in the furrows of the field.”  Am.6:12 “You have turned justice into poison [h7219], and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.”  Je.8:14 “Our God has given us poison [gall h7219] water to drink, because we have sinned against Him.”  Jb.20:14-16 “He sucks the poison [h7219] of cobras; the viper’s tongue slays him.”  Here the Greek LXX term for poison or gall is chole g5521…as in the Greek of Mt.27:34!

Let’s return to the gospels for Jesus’ prophetic fulfillment (“according to the scriptures”, 1Co.15:3).

We read in Mk.15:23 & Mt.27:34 where Jesus tasted but refused to drink the wine/sour wine (oinos/oxos) mingled with myrrh and gall/poison (chole g5521).  Again, chole is the term often used for poison in ancient Greek poetry.  Why didn’t Jesus just drink it then and avoid hours of agony on the cross?

Ac.3:18 “The things God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ must suffer, He has fulfilled.”  Jesus must suffer as prophesied!  He desired to bear the full burden consciously with His senses.  It was prophesied that His hands & feet must be pierced.  Ps.22:14-17 “All My bones are out of joint”.  His bones (shoulders, elbows) must slip out of joint hanging on the cross, before He dies.

Yet something most unusual occurred from 12–3pm!  Mt.27:45 “From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.”  Unexpected darkness! (Am.8:9?)  We read in De.21:23 that a body was not to remain hanging after dark!  Jsh.8:29 “He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua commanded and they took his body down from the tree.” (also Jsh.10:27.)  This darkness phenomenon at noon would cause confusion…it was still dark at 2–3pm!  Jesus and the two malefactors are hanging on crosses in the dark!  What were the Jewish leaders/onlookers thinking then?

Around 3pm, Jesus does drink the sour wine.  (He’d refused it earlier, Mt.27:34.)  Mt.27:46-48 “Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Elí, Elí, lamá sabachthaní.’ And some who heard it said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ And immediately one of them ran and filled it with sour wine [oxos g3690] and gave Him a drink. The rest of them said, ‘Let’s see if Elijah will save Him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.”  Jn.19:28-30 “Jesus, in order that the scripture be fulfilled [margin Ps.69:21], said, ‘I thirst.’ They put a sponge full of the sour wine [oxos g3690] to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.’ He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

At 3pm, Jesus drank the sour wine mixture of vinegar, myrrh, gall…and died suddenly!  They mocked Jesus about whether Elijah would “save” Him…immediately after He’d drank that gall/poison wine!  Mk.15:36-37 “Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine [oxos g3690] and gave Him a drink. ‘Let us see if Elijah will come take Him down.’ Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last.”

A man suffocating due to hanging bodyweight, or suffering a heart attack, doesn’t cry out loudly.  Yet Jesus did.  A person having a heart attack is relatively quiet.  Matthew, Mark and John all show Jesus dying right after He drank the mixture in the sponge!  metrum.org “It cannot be denied that there is a causal relationship between the application of the sponge and the death.”  It was a potent poison.

Jesus was in good physical condition from walking throughout the Land.  He wasn’t diseased; He had a healthy body and immune system.  Jesus never ate any unclean parasitic creatures, disease-carriers.

Mk.15:42-46 “Pilate was amazed to hear that Jesus had already died, so he summoned the centurion to ask if He was in fact dead. When he knew it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.”  Pilate was well aware of the extent of Jesus’ scourging.  Jn.19:1-5 that morning Pilate had beheld how much Jesus was beaten.  Yet Pilate still wondered why Jesus was so soon dead…He’d been on the cross only six hours!  The Romans were experts at torture and crucifixion.  It could take a man days to die…a cruel, lingering, exhausting death!  Yet the Son of God died before the two criminals beside Him died!

Again, darkness had set in at 12pm.  The sabbath normally would begin near 6pm.  The three victims must be taken down ASAP.  Jn.19:31 “The Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have their legs broken and their bodies taken down.”  To hasten death, the Romans would break the legs of crucifixion victims with a club.  Hanging on the cross, they’d then be unable to thrust themselves up with their legs to expand their slumping chest cavity to breathe.  They’d quickly suffocate.  Jn.19:32-33 “So the soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw He was already dead, they didn’t break His legs.”  There was no need to break His legs to bring on death…Jesus had been in control of His circumstances during that time, and was already dead!

Jn.19:34 “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”  Reading Jn.19:34 in more than 20 translations, none of them say ‘had pierced’, as if the spear thrust caused His death.  Jesus had died from the sour wine in v.30, prior to the confirmation of v.34.

Jn.19:35-38 Jesus’ legs wouldn’t be broken! (ref Ps.34:20, Ex.12:46.)  The piercing must occur (Zec.12:10)!  To confirm a victim was dead before releasing the body, the Romans customarily inflicted a spear wound through the right side of the heart.  The outer sac of the heart (pericardium) contains blood and water.  Jesus’ blood was shed!  Mk.15:39-45 before Pilate could give Jesus’ body to Joseph, Pilate sent a centurion to certify Jesus was dead.  His side was then pierced, perhaps by the centurion’s order.

{Sidelight: Here’s one more crucifixion account.  It’s the earliest existing non-canonical account of Jesus’ Passion.  A fragment of the Lost Gospel of Peter was discovered in 1886 in an Egyptian tomb.  It was referred to by Serápion bishop of Antioch in 190 AD, Órigen in 253 AD, Eusebius bishop of Caesárea in 300 AD.  Theodóret in 455 AD said the Nazarenes (Ac.24:5) used it, and previously Jústin Mártyr also mentioned it.  Dr. D.H. Stanton wrote in Journal of Theological Studies, “The conclusion with which we are confronted is that the Gospel of Peter once held a place of honor”.

GosPet.1:15-19 “Now it was noonday, and darkness prevailed over all Judea; they were troubled in an agony lest the sun should have set, for that He yet lived. For it is written for them that the sun should not set on him that had been slain. And one of them said, ‘Give ye Him to drink gall with vinegar’; and they mingled it [Mt.27:34] and gave Him to drink; and they fulfilled all things and accomplished their sins upon their own heads. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night; and some fell. And the Lord cried aloud saying, ‘My power, my power, thou hast forsaken Me’. And when He had so said, He was taken up.”

We don’t give the Lost Gospel of Peter the same credence as the four canonical gospels, of course.  Nonetheless, GosPet does indicate what some Christians believed regarding Jesus’ crucifixion ca 100 years afterwards.  It contains a few details not in our gospel Passion accounts.

Dominic Crossan The Birth of Christianity “That is exactly the point of the Gospel of Peter, where Jesus is given a poisoned drink to finish the crucifixion speedily so that His body can be removed before dark.”  Another researcher observed, “In the Gospel of Peter it was poison and vinegar both in a drink”.  Prior to the advent of firearms, the most convenient common means of taking a person’s life was poison (ref Mk.16:18).}

Jn.19:4-12 Pilate thought Jesus was unjustly accused.  Mt.27:17-25 Pilate’s wife had a dream about the righteous Jesus, and so told her husband.  Pilate wanted Him released, and “washed his hands” of guilt.  Perhaps Pilate, despite other wrongs noted by historians, desired to ease or shorten Jesus’ suffering?

Jesus’ total time on the cross was comparatively short.  Some critics don’t think He really died.  But Jesus did die, according to the scriptures.  Peter said of Jesus, Ac.2:23 “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death”.

Yet God isn’t a masochist or sadist.  Jesus needn’t be on the cross any longer than to accomplish His Father’s will and fulfill all prophecies about Him…including the Ps.69:21 gall/poison.

Mt.26:42 “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done.”  Also see Jn.18:11.  Jesus drank it…and died.  To the very end, Jesus, not His tormentors, was in control of His life.  Jesus determined exactly when/how He would die.  Jn.10:17-18 “No man takes it from Me, I have authority to lay down My life.”  Mt.26:53-54 Jesus’ Father would have sent Him legions of angels to rescue Him, had He asked. “But if I did ask, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”

Jesus said in Jn.10:11, “I Am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”  Jesus also fulfilled Zec.13:7, which reads in more than 20 translations, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered”.  Jesus referred to Zec.13:7 in Mt.26:31 & Mk.14:27.  But in both accounts He added words not found in Zec.13:7.  Mt.26:31 & Mk.14:27 in more than 20 translations, “I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered”.  Jesus Himself struck the Shepherd!  (And His disciples left Him and fled, Mt.27:56, as prophesied.)

God commanded in Ex.20:13, “You shall not murder”.  God Himself has the authority and right to take life when He so chooses.  God determines the number of our days (Jb.14:5, Ex.23:26), and then God takes us.  In so doing, God isn’t a murderer, needless to say.  The capital punishment that YHVH commanded for certain crimes in His theocracy of ancient Israel…it was killing, but it wasn’t murder.  (see the topic “War & Killing and the Bible Christian”.)

As God, Jesus chose to lay down or sacrifice His life (according to His Father’s will).  In Jg.16:28-31, Samson also chose to sacrifice his life for a higher cause, dying at his own hand.  Samson is among God’s faithful (He.11:32)!  Jn.15:13 “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  There are war heroes who sacrificed their life, falling on a grenade so infantrymen next to them could live.  And the stewardess who voluntarily gave up her life jacket and went down with the sinking ship.  (Relative are the Christian martyrs who could have escaped death, but chose to die instead.)

To view the death of Jesus or Samson or those war heroes, etc. as self-murder is too narrow!  Their self-sacrifice was intentionally taking one’s own life for a greater good (somewhat similar to agathusia or benevolent suicide).  Self-sacrificers such as Jesus and Samson aren’t suicidal self-murderers!

Father God & Jesus were in charge of His entire ordeal.  Jesus didn’t die due to loss of blood from men’s actions according to the will of man, or because He just couldn’t take prolonged suffering.  Jesus made the decision as to the exact time He would die…He said, “I thirst”.  He initiated the onset of death.  Jesus struck the Shepherd.  He gave His life (for us)…men didn’t take it!

Yet many, so very, very many, ‘assisted’ in Jesus’ death, if you will.  We might say that satan ‘killed’ Jesus, or that Judas killed Jesus, Lk.22:3-4.  Or those Jewish leaders killed Jesus.  Or that Pontius Pilate killed Jesus.  Or those Roman soldiers killed Jesus.  Or that Father God killed Jesus, Ro.8:32.  Or that we ‘killed’ Jesus…you and I, all of us sinners (1Pe.3:18).

We understand that Jesus’ throat wasn’t slit as were the Passover lambs & animal sacrifices.  (Analogies and types end at some point.)  The important thing to remember is…Jesus did give His life/blood for our salvation!  1Jn.5:6 “This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.”  Both water and blood flowed from His spear wound (Jn.19:34).  Ro.3:23-25 “Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publically as a sacrifice through faith in His blood, for the remission of our sins.”  He.10:19-23 “Since we too have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near in full assurance of faith. For He is faithful who promised.”

Jesus conquered death!  1Co.15:4 “He was buried, and raised the 3^rd day according to the scriptures.”  Jesus died…and rose again!  His blood was poured out on our behalf.  Therefore we can come boldly to God for forgiveness.  So let us come to the throne of grace with confident assurance.  Our God is faithful!  It is finished (Jn.19:30)!