Question: I have always grown up being taught that the water Jesus turned into wine was unfermented. I researched online but am confused as it looks like it was fermented (per the internet). What proof is there that the wine was unfermented?
Answer: Thank you for this question, and we have had this type of question several times before so here are some links you can go to that answer your question in detail:
Christ’s first miracle was the turning of water into wine at the marriage feast. I was always taught that the wine was unfermented. The wine that Lot’s daughters drank was fermented, etc. I guess the bottom line is that I was taught that when it was used in a good way in the Bible it was unfermented, when used in a bad way it was fermented. I believe that Scripture does not contradict itself and that if Jesus turned the water into wine, it must be unfermented, as Jesus knew the Scripture and He would not do anything against it. Can you help? Thanks.
Is Paul endorsing the consumption of alcoholic beverages when he instructs Timothy to drink wine for his stomach’s sake in I Timothy 5:23?
Hello, I was reading your online article about fermented and unfermented wine in the Bible and had a specific question about the passage which I have copied and pasted at the bottom of this message. You said that yayin is unfermented wine or grape juice and then say that Deut. 32:33 tells us that fermented wine is poison. My confusion is Deut. 32:33 uses the Hebrew word yayin to portray that wine was poisonous. It also used specifics here. Saying that Gomorrah’s wine was poisonous not that all wine was poisonous. Please help me to understand this interpretation as I am still trying to get a full understanding of whether wine is okay to drink or not. Thank you for your time and consideration. God Bless.
Many people think that the Bible is in agreement with drinking alcohol.” this is how you start your tract. This is not really true that the Bible is not talking about alcohol when the word “wine” is used. Look, you say that the term “wine” is unique in the Bible and is what is referred to in all the Scriptures (that it can be fermented or unfermented depending on the context). Here are my arguments against this view…Where you talk about the context, it is very ambiguous. It seems that you are saying that in every place that something good is happening it has to be grape juice, but when it is bad. it is speaking of fermented wine. The Bible is precise and clear, and I can not be in agreement with this kind of interpretation.
Thanks for the question,
Gary T. Panell
For more information email me.
I’m still unclear on the yes or no question whether wine was or wasn’t fermented. It seems to me that the person who answered the question was too busy debunking the view on whether or not wine was or wasn’t alcoholic in certain circumstances that he forgot to say whether it was or wasn’t alcoholic period. Although I would assume that it was and is.
Hi Willaim, Did you get a chance to read what we said about alcohol? I have written several on the subject. Please put in the word alcohol in the search engine to read what we have on the subject. Thanks, Gary
There is no such thing as unfermented wine
So, Stan, you are saying then, that there is no such thing as grape juice? I know that all grapes have yeast, because of the seeds, and the skin, but that is a very small percent (like 3-5%). Let’s be realistic, there is what people call ‘grape juice,’ and what people call alcohol. There is distilled alcohol, and non-distilled alcohol. There was no such thing as distilled alcohol until 1200 AD.
So yes, we can call grape juice, grape juice, and alcohol or (fermented grape juice, fermented).
What does Proverbs 23:31 “Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.” (NKJV) So there is a point that grape juice becomes fermented. God says, don’t drink that drink. I hope this helps Stan.
Here is a book that explains this issue well – https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/book/e/63/t/the-christian-and-alcohol
Nice article on the verses about wine, and what it is really in the many verse of the Bible about it. Gary
Then why does it say in Proverbs give strong drink to thoses that are pershing and a little wine for the stomach’s sake! Also in the back of my King James version of the Bible the definition of wine isthat it quickly fermented andthat water was scarce in Palenstine and the use of wine increasted accordingly.It was abundant in the country and was drunk.Thanks Margaret Vance
Hi Margaret, I would say if you are perishing and you want to drink, I would say go ahead and do that. But if you really want to know what that means, and the other verses on wine in the Bible, please go to our website Bible-Christian.org and put in the search engine “alcohol in the Bible.” Thank you for your comment, Gary.
without the addition of yeast grape juice will remain grape juice. it is the yeast that causes fermentation (the turning of the grapes sugar into alcohol. Technically speaking there is no such thing as unfermented wine. it is either “wine” or “grape juice”.
H.M. Stine
Hi Howard, It is true that adding yeast and sugar will cause fermentation, but grape juice will ferment after a while. I have experimented with it to see. I raise grapes. However, they did not know how to distill it until the 1200’s. Thanks Gary