Hebrew word · H4952

מִשְׁרָה

mishrat

juice

Found only here in the Bible. It comes from a root known in later Hebrew and Aramaic, sh-r-h, "to soak, steep, loosen." So it probably means "steeping", the liquid produced by soaking grapes or raisins in water, or more generally any juice taken from grapes.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

juice

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Numbers 6:3

Range of meaning

Found only here in the Bible. It comes from a root known in later Hebrew and Aramaic, sh-r-h, "to soak, steep, loosen." So it probably means "steeping", the liquid produced by soaking grapes or raisins in water, or more generally any juice taken from grapes.

Against the English

KJV says "liquor of grapes"; WEB, ESV and NASB say "juice of grapes" or "grape juice"; BSB and NIV say "grape juice." "Grape juice" is a fair modern equivalent, but it may suggest bottled fresh juice, when the word probably points to a soaked-fruit drink.

How it drifted

The KJV's "liquor" (1611) meant any liquid. Today "liquor" means distilled spirits, which gives exactly the wrong impression. The word names a drink that is probably non-alcoholic.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint paraphrases it as "whatever is made from the grape." Medieval Jewish commentators such as Rashi explain it as water in which grapes have been soaked. The Mishnah (tractate Nazir) treats every grape product as forbidden, whatever its alcohol content.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 6:3 מִשְׁרַ֤ת juice of

    he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

    Here: A word found only here in the Bible. It comes from a root meaning "to soak or steep", so probably a drink made by soaking grapes or raisins in water, or more broadly any grape juice. Even non-alcoholic grape drinks are off limits.

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