יַ֫יִן

From the study of Isaiah 55:1

Range of meaning

Wine is the festive drink of harvest and celebration (Ps 104:15, 'wine that gladdens the heart'). Milk comes from goats, sheep and cows and stands for the richness of a land full of flocks ('flowing with milk and honey', Exod 3:8).

Against the English

English readers may not register that the list climbs. Water is bare survival, grain-food is daily need, and wine and milk are abundance and feasting.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 49:11–12 (Judah: eyes dark from wine, teeth white from milk, a picture of royal plenty). Joel 4:18 [Eng 3:18]: 'the mountains will drip sweet wine and the hills flow with milk.' Song 5:1: 'I drank my wine with my milk.' Prov 9:2–5: Lady Wisdom's banquet ('drink of the wine I have mixed').

From the study of Hosea 4:11

Range of meaning

The general word for fermented grape wine (about 140 times). Positive uses: offerings (Num 15:5), feasts, the joy wine gives (Ps 104:15; Judg 9:13 uses tirosh). Negative uses: drunkenness (Gen 9:21), 'wine is a mocker' (Prov 20:1), priests forbidden wine when serving (Lev 10:9).

Against the English

'Wine' is accurate. NIV's 'old wine' (to set against 'new wine') is an interpretive pairing; yayin does not specify age.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same word appears across Northwest Semitic languages (Ugaritic yn). Ugaritic texts pair yn with trṯ (the cognate of tirosh) in poetry about drinking.

From the study of Ezekiel 44:21

Range of meaning

Fermented grape wine. It was a staple drink and a sign of blessing and joy (Gen 27:28; Ps 104:15), used in offerings (Num 15:5–10; 28:14). It also has a known danger: drunkenness and confusion (Gen 9:21; Prov 20:1; Isa 28:7). 'New wine' has a different Hebrew word (tirosh, H8492). Yayin is wine that can make you drunk.

Against the English

'Wine' is accurate. Modern English sometimes reads biblical wine as a mild or non-alcoholic drink. Yayin was alcoholic, and the fact that it can cloud the mind is exactly why it is banned here.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used about 140 times in the Hebrew Bible. Leviticus 10:9, the source of this rule, pairs yayin with shekar ('strong drink,' probably beer or other fermented drinks). Josephus (Jewish War 5.229; Antiquities 3.279) and Philo (Special Laws 1.98–100) say priests abstained from wine while serving. Mishnah Taanit 2:7 sets detailed rules on wine for priests during their week of temple duty.