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NASB | John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; |
Subject: water into wine |
Bible Note: Greetings Jim! Thanks for the response! Allow me to briefly address your points. 1 and 2) There is not any doubt that the people in Bible times had no way to stop fermentation from occuring. However, there are historical records indicating methods of slowing the process. The new bottles served both purposes, slowing the process and perserving the product. Obviously, over time, fermentation would occur. The point of my post was not to deny that alcoholic wine existed, but simply to stress that the words which are translated "wine" have a wide variety of meanings. So it is important to know which word means what in which context. 3) You are absolutely correct that fermentation can actually being on the vine. However, natural fermentation is not very effective. Depending on the type of yeast in the grape, you may only get 6 percent alcohol in the wine. To make the alcohol content stronger, there are other additives which can be used. One concern I have always had is that we are comparing apples with oranges when we compare naturally occuring wine with modern alcohol. Most people who try to justify drinking alcohol are not wanting to simply drink a glass of 6 percent wine. They are drinking much stronger things than that! My personal opinion is that even if one doesn't believe that Scripture forbids drinking at all, it is still much safer and a better witness not to drink. Well, I've got to get a couple hours of sleep before church. God Bless! p.s. - I almost forgot! I'll have to check about the English word "wine." I was basing my comment on something I was told by someone who had lived through the depression. They shared with me that grape juice used to be called wine and that "wine" didn't come to mean alcohol until the mid 1900's. However, I'll have to verify that! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |