Greek word · G3943

πάροινος

paroinos

drunken

An adjective built from para ('beside, at') and oinos ('wine'). In Greek usage it means 'given to wine, drunken', and especially 'abusive or violent in drink'. The related verb paroineō means 'to behave drunkenly', and very often 'to insult or mistreat someone while drunk'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

πάρ-οινος, -ον

= cl., παροινικός (παρά, οἶνος),

given to wine, drunken: 1 Timothy 3:3, Titus 1:7.†

(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 1 Timothy 3:3

Range of meaning

An adjective built from para ('beside, at') and oinos ('wine'). In Greek usage it means 'given to wine, drunken', and especially 'abusive or violent in drink'. The related verb paroineō means 'to behave drunkenly', and very often 'to insult or mistreat someone while drunk'. The noun paroinia means drunken rowdiness or violence. So the word covers both the habit of heavy drinking and the misconduct that comes with it.

Against the English

KJV and YLT 'given to wine' and BSB 'dependent on wine' stress the habit. WEB 'not a drinker' could be heard as forbidding any drinking. Other modern versions use 'drunkard' or 'drunkenness', or 'addicted to wine'. None of the English quite carries the overtone of the obnoxious, belligerent drunk that the Greek word family has.

How it drifted

In current English 'given to wine' or 'a drinker' can sound like anyone who drinks wine. In the KJV's English, 'given to' meant 'habitually devoted to'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT it appears only here and in Titus 1:7, the parallel list for elders. In classical and Hellenistic Greek the word family is regularly used for drunken insult and assault, typically at banquets and drinking parties. In the same letter, deacons must be 'not addicted to much wine' (3:8), older women in Titus 2:3 'not enslaved to much wine', and Timothy himself is told to 'use a little wine' for his stomach (1 Tim 5:23).

From the study of Titus 1:7

Range of meaning

'Beside the wine' (para + oinos): a man who sits long over his drink and is abusive or quarrelsome when drunk. Related words (paroineō, paroinia) mean 'to behave drunkenly, insult in one's cups' and 'drunken violence'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT 'given to wine'; BSB 'given to drunkenness'; ESV 'a drunkard'; NASB 'addicted to wine'; NLT 'a heavy drinker'. All are fair. Most miss the overtone of drunken aggression, which is why the next word in the list is 'striker'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Also 1 Tim 3:3, in the same pairing 'not paroinos, not a striker'. Classical writers use paroinia for drunken insult and abuse at banquets. Compare 1 Tim 3:8 (deacons 'not given to much wine') and Titus 2:3 (older women 'not enslaved to much wine').

Where it appears

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 3:3 πάροινον, given to wine,

    not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

    Here: Literally 'at the wine' or 'beside the wine'. It means a man who habitually lingers over drink, and it carries the bad behaviour that goes with that: loudness, abuse, picking fights when drunk. It describes a habit and a character, not someone who drinks wine at all.

Titus · 1

  1. Titus 1:7 πάροινον, given to wine,

    As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

    Here: Literally 'by the wine': a man who lingers over drink and becomes rowdy or abusive when drunk. It leads straight into the next word, 'striker'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.