wine

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).

In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)

In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).

In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine, wine (Japanese honorifics), filled with new wine, and wine (Gen 27:28).

drink

In Telugu different verbs for humans drinking (tāgu / తాగు) and animals drinking (cēḍu / చేడు) are required.

wine (Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

The Greek that is translated as “wine” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-sake (お酒), combining “wine / alcoholic drink” (sake) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also wine.

complete verse (Genesis 19:32)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 19:32:

  • Kankanaey: “Let’s (dual) make- him -drunk then we (dual) will sleep-with-him so-that our (inc) descendants will continue by-means-of father.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Let’s give our father new wine to drink and sleep with him. Then [we] will get children from our own father.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(It)-would-be good that we (incl.) have- our father -drink wine until he becomes-drunk, then we (incl.) could-sleep/lay-down with him so-that we (incl.) can-have-a-child through him.'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Let’s make our father drink wine until he gets drunk. Then we can have sex with him without him knowing it. In that way he will cause us to become pregnant and we can bear children.'” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 19:32

Come, let us make our father …: Come is here used as a command to set a thought into action, and it appeals for the younger sister’s participation. New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation say “Come on,” New English Bible, Revised English Bible “Come now.” In some languages this may be expressed “Help me now,” “Let’s go together.” For a similar usage see 11.4.

Make … drink wine translates a causative form of the Hebrew verb to drink; but the purpose is not merely to get Lot to drink, but to get him to drink so much that he will become drunk and unaware of what he is doing. Therefore in translation it is often necessary to make this point clear by saying something like Good News Translation “Let’s get our father drunk,” or “Let’s make our father drink wine until he gets drunk.” If the translation of wine is a problem, the Good News Translation model may be better to follow.

And we will lie with him: that is, “we will sleep with him” or “we will have sex with him.” This expression is used five times in verses 32-35 and should most often be rendered by an equivalent figurative or indirect phrase that will be acceptable for public reading.

That we may preserve offspring through our father: this clause states the purpose of the older daughter’s proposal. Her desire is to preserve their father’s line, and the plan was to be carried out without the father’s awareness.

Preserve offspring is literally “keep seed alive.” We may render this clause “so we can give birth to his children,” “so that we can give him descendants,” or “so that we will have children by means of our father.” A typical translation of the last part of this verse is “In this way we-two can give birth to children to continue his name.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .