Why did Paul tell Timothy to drink some wine?

[chris4243]

Since we can't ask Paul, we can only guess. My guess is that since back in the day clean water wasn't really available, mixing it with wine would kill some of the germs, possibly even with it dilute enough not to get drunk with. Except in very rare cases, the problem with "dirty water" is not any sort of minerals or poisons, but bacteria, hence why boiling it will make it "safe".

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

The whole subject of wine or drinking is an interesting one. In the N.T., we're told not to be drunk with wine, wherein is excess. That points to the excess (more than enough or is prudent). It does not say to not drink wine. (I usually have no more than one glass a year, and I might not finish it.)

This is true; drunkenness is what is taught against in the Bible.

I'm not aware that the wine referred to is just grape juice either. People speculate on that. Jesus made wine for a wedding feast, and people drink alcoholic wine to celebrate with. You can celebrate with it legitimately if you can do it by faith and God gives you space.

This could be the rendition in a few places, see below for more details.

It's probably not a good thing to do regularly as a soldier, and doing it in front of just anyone might make a brother fall. He might fall if he was an alcoholic or he might fall just like Paul says about eating meat in front of some brothers.

True.

It might just be like the verse implies, that it's good for your health (in moderation). Maybe in spite of the provision of God, that people move from the rest in the course of their trials, and they become afflicted and sometimes need natural remedies, which seems to be what he's saying.

Again, true.

For you who are more familiar with the biblical languages, does it give any indicators about the term "wine" that make it seem non-alcoholic?

In the OT there are a couple words commonly used:
(1) tiyrowsh (38x in OT) meaning grape juice or fermented wine;
(2) yayin (141x in OT) meaning fermented wine implying intoxication.


In the NT we have:
(1) oinos (33x in NT) simply means wine; but lexicons indicate this perhaps had Hebrew origin from the word yayin -- you got it: fermented. (btw, at the wedding of Cana, this is the wine that Jesus made; and this is the wine that Paul prescribed for Timothy.)
(2) gleukos (gee wonder what that means!!) (1x in NT) which is a sweet wine -- in Greek this is either a fresh juice, but the word is used more of a saccharine (and therefore highly inebriating) fermented wine.
(*) we also see oinophlugia (1x in NT), which derives from oinos, and means an overflow, or excess (1 Pet 4:13), of wine, ie: drunkenness.

Overall, there is no use that could simply mean grape juice while leaving out fermentation; but some uses seem to imply the juice aspects. Most of the usage of wine in the Bible not only can be, but certainly is implied to be, fermented. There are also indications of varying levels of fermentation, or ability to intoxicate. Normal wine used for dinners, for instance, probably were not very strong, but would have been lightly fermented to sterilize the drink.

 

[HolySpiritWOF]

This is true; drunkenness is what is taught against in the Bible.

In the OT there are a couple words commonly used:
(1) tiyrowsh (38x in OT) meaning grape juice or fermented wine;
(2) yayin (141x in OT) meaning fermented wine implying intoxication.

In the NT we have:
(1) oinos (33x in NT) simply means wine; but lexicons indicate this perhaps had Hebrew origin from the word yayin -- you got it: fermented. (btw, at the wedding of Cana, this is the wine that Jesus made; and this is the wine that Paul prescribed for Timothy.)
(2) gleukos (gee wonder what that means!!) (1x in NT) which is a sweet wine -- in Greek this is either a fresh juice, but the word is used more of a saccharine (and therefore highly inebriating) fermented wine.
(*) we also see oinophlugia (1x in NT), which derives from oinos, and means an overflow, or excess (1 Pet 4:13), of wine, ie: drunkenness.

Overall, there is no use that could simply mean grape juice while leaving out fermentation; but some uses seem to imply the juice aspects. Most of the usage of wine in the Bible not only can be, but certainly is implied to be, fermented. There are also indications of varying levels of fermentation, or ability to intoxicate. Normal wine used for dinners, for instance, probably were not very strong, but would have been lightly fermented to sterilize the drink.

amen..... thank you for this excellent info.... i think this is what most of us have been agreeing with..... wine has medicinal purposes..... JESUS made the best wine for a wedding celebration..... the BIBLE tells us not to get drunk.....

 

[PastorMike]

Do not be afraid to drink a glass of wine. There are over 100 scriptures where wine is taken without comdemnation. Only a few that prohibit; And even those have an explanation taking a stand against getting drunk or encouraging leaders, kings or judges to not partake because of their position.

Teach your children not to be drunks. Don't lie to them about wine being a sin. Don't confuse them with a: "I dont know"

For those who can't be sure ?

Wow; You need to stand in confidence. The Bible is clear. The subject is well covered. It is far more clear than the eating of meat issue. Yet again; the bible is clear. Meat not sacraficed to idols is okay.

On the other hand, back then they had limited choices of what to drink, (probably water, milk or wine mostly) we have possibly thousands of drinks that we can easily access without ever drinking wine... Just my opinion...

 

[mhkh]

They boiled water to purify it. They had a hundred teas and juices to pick from. They wanted wine, and they wanted good wine. And like meat, there was nothing wrong with it.

We live in a time when men are weak and seek excuses. Or just refuse to take a stand on anything. Feeling that if they don't stand for anything, their lives will have less conflict. Looking for the easy way out of every question.

Weakness from the people of the church is bad enough. Weakness from the leadership is really sad. Teach with Boldness and Confidence. The Word of God is clear.

Please don't take my words as a slam. Pray for strength and wisdom. God will answer that prayer.

Christians often fall for the worlds standards...
When the Government teachs the message of don't drink or smoke; What are they leaving out ? How about don't lie, cheat, steal, be a pervert, or murder. etc. ?

Your a good person because you dont smoke, drink and recycle. That is the world's message.

I don't care if my adult children have a cigarette, a beer, or forget to recycle. I want them to be kind to their fellow man, keep God's commandments, and stand for whats right.

 

[PastorMike]

They boiled water to purify it. They had a hundred teas and juices to pick from. They wanted wine, and they wanted good wine. And like meat, there was nothing wrong with it.

We live in a time when men are weak and seek excuses. Or just refuse to take a stand on anything. Feeling that if they don't stand for anything, their lives will have less conflict. Looking for the easy way out of every question.

Weakness from the people of the church is bad enough. Weakness from the leadership is really sad. Teach with Boldness and Confidence. The Word of God is clear.

Please don't take my words as a slam. Pray for strength and wisdom. God will answer that prayer.

Christians often fall for the worlds standards...
When the Government teachs the message of don't drink or smoke; What are they leaving out ? How about don't lie, cheat, steal, be a pervert, or murder. etc. ?

Your a good person because you dont smoke, drink and recycle. That is the world's message.

I don't care if my adult children have a cigarette, a beer, or forget to recycle. I want them to be kind to their fellow man, keep God's commandments, and stand for whats right.

You really think so, you have no concept, you try to promote drinking alcohol but you don't understand where people are at... it is a shame and a disgrace to come into a Christian forum not knowing who you are talking to and tell people they are strong and mature believers if they are able to take a drink and smoke a cigarette...

And you suggest that I pray for strength and wisdom...

You need to be careful that you don't cause your weaker brother to fall, it would be better that a millstone be put around your neck and be cast into the sea that to cause one of God's children to fall...

I work with alcoholics every day, picking them up when they fall... trying to comfort them and encourage them and believing God with them from deliverance for their addictions...

Why don't you consider others instead of trying to justify your drinking alcohol...

 

[PastorMike]

And as for the boiled water and hundreds of teas and juices I would love to know where you got that from...