Greek word · G3631
οἶνος
oinos
wine
Wine, the fermented juice of the grape. It was the normal table drink in the Greco-Roman world and in Judea, usually mixed with water. It could also stand for celebration, or by metaphor for God's wrath (Rev 14:10).
Appears 34 times in 26 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
οἶνος, -ου, ὁ
[in LXX chiefly for יַיִן also for תִּירוֹשׁ, etc. ;]
wine; Matthew 9:17, Luke 1:15, John 2:3, al.; οἴνῳ προσέχειν, 1 Timothy 3:8; δουλοῦσθαι, Titus 2:3. Metaphorical, Revelation 14:8, 10 16:19 17:2 18:3 19:15. By meton. for ἄμπελος, Revelation 6:6
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ephesians 5:18
- Range of meaning
Wine, the fermented juice of the grape. It was the normal table drink in the Greco-Roman world and in Judea, usually mixed with water. It could also stand for celebration, or by metaphor for God's wrath (Rev 14:10).
- Against the English
'Wine' is accurate. Some modern teaching claims that NT oinos often meant unfermented grape juice. That cannot apply here, because the verse is about wine that makes people drunk.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Common across the LXX and the NT: the Cana wedding (John 2), 'a little wine for your stomach' (1 Tim 5:23), and 'not addicted to much wine' (1 Tim 3:8; Titus 2:3). Proverbs 23:29–35 LXX describes the drunkard's misery and contains the same command, 'do not get drunk with wine'.
From the study of Romans 14:21
- Range of meaning
Wine: fermented grape juice, usually drunk mixed with water, a staple of meals and festivals. 'New wine' (gleukos) and vinegar wine were separate categories.
- Against the English
All versions have 'wine'. That is accurate. The issue is what the reader assumes the scruple was about.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Torah wine is a blessing and an offering (Num 15:5–10; Deut 14:26). Abstention was a special vow or status: priests on duty (Lev 10:9), Nazirites (Num 6), Rechabites (Jer 35). Daniel refused the king's wine (Dan 1:8), and Greek Esther refuses 'the wine of libations'. Later rabbinic law forbids Gentile wine that might have been poured out to idols (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 2:3; 5).
- Range of meaning
Wine, i.e. fermented grape juice. In Greek of this period the word means wine. Freshly pressed, unfermented juice had other names or descriptions (e.g. gleukos, "sweet new wine", Acts 2:13, which is itself mocked as making people drunk).
- Against the English
Every major English version says "wine", which is accurate.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Septuagint: the usual translation of Hebrew yayin, which can make people drunk (Gen 9:21; Prov 20:1). New Testament: Luke 7:33–34; Eph 5:18 ("do not get drunk with wine"); 1 Tim 3:8.
Where it appears
Matthew · 4
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Matthew 9:17 οἶνον οἶνος οἶνον wine
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Here: Ordinary fermented grape wine, the everyday drink of the Mediterranean and a familiar image of celebration and of the age to come.
-
Matthew 27:34 οἶνον wine
they offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
Here: Ordinary grape wine, the normal drink of the Mediterranean world. Many later manuscripts have ὄξος, 'sour wine' (see textual notes).
Mark · 5
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Mark 2:22 οἶνον οἶνος οἶνος οἶνον wine
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.”
Here: Ordinary grape wine, the drink of every meal and above all of weddings. It ties back to the wedding picture of 2:19–20.
-
Mark 15:23 οἶνον· wine;
There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
Luke · 6
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Luke 1:15 οἶνον wine
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
Here: Fermented grape wine, which was ordinary in daily life and at feasts. Giving it up was a visible sign of being set apart.
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Luke 5:37 οἶνον οἶνος wine
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.
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Luke 5:38 οἶνον wine
Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.
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Luke 7:33 οἶνον, wine
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
-
Luke 10:34 οἶνον. wine.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Here: Wine was used to clean wounds. Ancient doctors valued it for this because of the alcohol and acidity, though they would not have explained it that way. He is spending his own travel supplies on the man.
John · 6
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John 2:3 οἴνου οἶνον [the] wine, Wine
When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
Here: The ordinary fermented grape wine served at feasts, normally mixed with water. Together with the verb before it, it sets the scene: "the wine having failed."
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John 2:9 οἶνον wine
and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside
-
John 2:10 οἶνον οἶνον wine
and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
Here: Ordinary fermented grape wine, the standard drink at a feast. The whole remark assumes it can make people drunk.
-
John 4:46 οἶνον. wine.
So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
Here: The ordinary word for fermented wine, which the headwaiter judged the 'good wine' (2:10). It sums up the first sign in two words.
Romans · 1
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Romans 14:21 οἶνον wine
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
Here: Ordinary fermented wine, normally mixed with water at meals, and an everyday part of Mediterranean life. Its appearance here suggests that some scrupulous believers avoided wine as well as meat, probably because Gentile wine might have been poured out to the gods.
Ephesians · 1
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Ephesians 5:18 οἴνῳ, with wine,
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Here: 'With wine': the dative names the means by which someone gets drunk. Ordinary fermented grape wine, the everyday drink of the Mediterranean world. The phrase repeats the Greek Old Testament wording of Proverbs 23:31 word for word.
1 Timothy · 2
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1 Timothy 3:8 οἴνῳ to wine
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money.
Here: Ordinary fermented grape wine, the everyday drink of the Mediterranean world. Its dative case marks it as the thing someone gives their attention to.
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1 Timothy 5:23 οἴνῳ wine
Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
Here: Ordinary fermented grape wine, the everyday drink of the Mediterranean world, which people normally drank mixed with water. The dative case is the object that the verb 'use' requires in Greek.
Titus · 1
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Titus 2:3 οἴνῳ to wine
Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.
Here: Ordinary fermented wine, the everyday drink of the Mediterranean. The dative case marks wine as the master to whom they could be enslaved.
Revelation · 8
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Revelation 6:6 οἶνον wine
And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.”
Here: Wine, an everyday drink and part of daily calories, usually mixed with water. Like olive trees, the vines that produce it are deep-rooted plants that live for many years.
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Revelation 14:8 οἴνου wine
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
Here: Wine that intoxicates. It is the prophets' picture of a nation made drunk, dazed and unable to resist (Jeremiah 51:7).
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Revelation 14:10 οἴνου wine
he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
Here: Wine, used here as a picture. It echoes verse 8, where Babylon made the nations drink her wine, and turns that image back on them.
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Revelation 16:19 οἴνου wine
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
Here: Wine. Babylon made the nations drunk on her wine (14:8; 17:2; 18:3), and now she is made to drink God's.
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Revelation 17:2 οἴνου wine
The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
Here: Ordinary fermented wine, used here as an image. It is what she pours out: the intoxicating attraction of her wealth, pleasures and religion. It also hints at the cup of God's wrath that the drinkers will end up swallowing (14:8–10).
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Revelation 18:3 οἴνου wine
All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”
Here: Wine that intoxicates. Babylon's appeal works like a drink: it clouds judgment and makes people dependent. The image comes from Jeremiah 51:7, where Babylon is a golden cup that made the whole earth drunk.
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Revelation 18:13 οἶνον wine
of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages; of bodies and souls of slaves.
Here: Wine, shipped to the capital in huge quantities in jars called amphorae. It is paired with oil, as in Revelation 6:6.
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Revelation 19:15 οἴνου wine
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Here: What the press produces. It joins this image to the 'cup of the wine of God's wrath' (14:10; 16:19; Jer 25:15). BSB and NIV leave it untranslated.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.