The wedding at Cana (image)

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Following is a hand-colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1968):

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

wine

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 (John 2:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 2:9:

  • Uma: “That leader tasted the water that they brought to him. It was no longer plain water, it had changed into wine. But he did not know where it was from, only the workers knew that. After he tasted that wine, he called the groom,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and he tasted the water which had become wine. He did not know where that wine had come from but the servants who had drawn the water, they knew. Then immediately he called the bridegroom.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the one running the feast, he tasted the water which had been turned into wine. He did not know where the wine had come from. But the servants who had dipped it out, they knew where.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But that-aforementioned leader, he didn’t know where the liquor had come-from, because only the ones who had dipped it from the rice-wine-jar knew. That being so, when he had tasted the water that became liquor, he called the man-getting-married” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That one-in-charge tasted/tried it, what he tasted being a wonderful drink, no longer water. He didn’t know where it had come from, however as for those servants, they knew because they were the ones who had drawn the water which had been transferred to those jars. That one-in-charge called for the man who had married.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The steward tried the water which had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from. It was those who brought the water who knew about it. The steward called for the bridegroom.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 2:9

Most translations have a full stop at the end of verse 8, in keeping with the structure of the Greek. However, it is important that a translation should indicate the meaning of the original in whatever form is most natural for the receptor language. Good News Translation continues the first part of this verse as the last part of the sentence begun in the previous verse. It translates the Greek noun “steward” (verse 9) by the pronoun “he,” since it is more natural in English to have a pronoun, and not a noun, referring back to a pronoun. In this way, the repetition of a long descriptive phrase (the man in charge of the feast) is avoided. The same thing is true of the clause he called the bridegroom, where the pronoun he again translates the Greek noun “steward.”

John does not indicate the amount of the water which now had turned into wine. He may mean either the one jar from which the water was drawn or all six jars. Those who believe that the water was drawn from the well assume that only the water taken to the man in charge of the feast was turned to wine. It is best not to be explicit unless the receptor language demands it, in which case it is suggested that the meaning be “the water from the jar containing the water that had turned into wine.”

The parenthetical explanation in this verse seems almost overly obvious, and hence it may be useful, in fact even necessary, to qualify it by such an introductory expression as “naturally,” for example, “but naturally the servants knew.”

The water which now had turned into wine may require some modification in certain languages, since it may be necessary to specify the agent, for example, “the water which Jesus had caused to become wine.” If the agent is not specified, it might be suggested that the water had become wine in some yet unexplained manner.

It is not possible in some languages to translate literally where this wine had come from, since one cannot speak of “wine coming.” It is necessary in such instances to say “where the servants had gotten this wine” or “from where they had dipped out this wine.”

Because the sentence beginning in the middle of verse 9 continues until almost the end of verse 10, it may be useful to break the sentence after the parenthesis (but, of course, the servants who had drawn out the water knew). Therefore, one may begin the next sentence as “Because of this, he called the bridegroom….”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .