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).

complete verse (Job 32:19)

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

  • Kupsabiny: “If I do not get a chance to speak
    my head may break like a gourd that has milk in it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Look! My belly is like wine kept [under] a lid.
    Like grape juice in a new bag that has swollen completely.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I am like a new skin container of wine that is ready to burst.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 32:19

Behold, my heart is like wine that has no vent: heart translates the Hebrew for “belly,” as in the previous verse. The wine here is said to have no vent. Wine that is fermenting releases gas. If there is no escape for the gas, the pressure will build up and burst the container. Elihu is suggesting that his insides are like this, not from wine but from unexpressed words.

In the second line Elihu uses the simile like new wineskins. If the Hebrew word used here means wineskins, this is the only place in the Old Testament where it has that meaning. The sense of wineskins is based mainly on the word for wine in the first line. New English Bible follows the Septuagint in changing the word translated new in this line to read “blacksmith’s bellows,” and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this with a “C” rating, a rare decision on the part of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. However, all modern translations consulted are close to Revised Standard Version, which is the form recommended here. The comparison is between Elihu’s urge to speak and the pressure of the bursting wineskin, and Good News Translation brings this out clearly by saying “If I don’t get a chance to speak, I will burst like a wineskin full of new wine.” Good News Translation suggests that the wine is fermenting, by the expression “new wine.” In languages in which wineskins are unknown, translators may be able to use a substitute expression. If wineskins is expressed through a loan word and a descriptive phrase, it may still be advisable to provide a note. In cases where the use of wineskins is totally unfamiliar, we may translate, for example, “See how I am bursting to speak. I am like a bag that will hold no more.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .