wine

Click here to view graphically

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).

Translation commentary on Proverbs 31:4

Verses 4-7 are the second warning given by Lemuel’s mother. This warning is about the dangers of alcoholic drinks.

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine”: The repetition of “It is not for kings” adds emphasis to the warning; however, a literal translation in English does not really have that effect. Contemporary English Version avoids repeating the phrase, but gets emphasis by rendering the verb “Kings . . . should not get drunk.” Good News Translation also puts the emphasis at the beginning with “Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not. . ..” The expression “drink wine” does not in itself mean “drink to excess” or “get drunk,” and it is debatable whether that meaning should be understood here. However, the verb should probably be rendered as a habitual action: “Kings should not make a habit of drinking wine.” For “wine” see 9.2.

“Or for rulers to desire strong drink”: This line is parallel to the previous line. “Rulers” is the matching term for “kings”, and “strong drink” matches “wine”. For “rulers” see 8.15, and for “strong drink” see 20.1. The Hebrew rendered “strong drink” is derived from a verb meaning “be intoxicated”; so the Good News Translation rendering “alcohol” is quite correct. But as a term parallel to “wine”, something like “beer” (Scott, New International Version) or “liquor” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible) is also acceptable. The word that stands in the Hebrew text before “strong drink” may mean something like “where” or “or”; however, most translations understand a verb like “desire”, “crave,” “love,” or “want” here, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this interpretation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

king

Click here to view graphically

Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 31:4

31:4–7

In this paragraph, Lemuel’s mother advises him about the harm that results when a king or ruler craves alcoholic beverages (31:4–5). She also advises him about the appropriate use of such beverages (31:6–7).

31:4

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

4a It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine,

4b
or for rulers to crave strong drink,

31:4a

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine: This line means that kings should not drink wine. In Hebrew, the repetition of the phrase not for kings adds emphasis to the advice. In some languages, it may be effective to keep the repetition. For example:

It is not right for kings, O Lemuel. It is not right when kings drink wine.
-or-
What is not right for kings, O Lemuel?….

In other languages, it may be more natural to emphasize the advice in other ways. For example:

Kings should not drink wine, Lemuel (New Century Version)
-or-
Listen to me, ⌊my son⌋ Lemuel. Be careful not to drink wine.

By itself, this line seems to advise kings to avoid drinking any wine. But in context with the parallel line and with 31:5, it probably implies that kings should avoid drinking too much. Some versions make this explicit. For example:

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Take care, ⌊my son⌋ , O Lemuel. Kings should not drink ⌊too much⌋ wine (The Voice)

wine: The word wine refers specifically to an alcoholic drink made from grape juice. See how you translated this word in 9:2.

31:4b

or for rulers to crave strong drink: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rulers is a general term that refers to government leaders.

The phrase strong drink refers to other alcoholic drinks. These include beer made from barley and wine made from dates, figs, or pomegranates. Together the words “wine” and strong drink refer to any kind of intoxicating drink made from grain or fruit. See how you translated these two words in 20:1. Some other ways to translate this line are:

and rulers should not desire beer (New Century Version)
-or-
Or for rulers to desire intoxicating drink (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
or for those who govern to crave strong liquor (Revised English Bible)

General Comment on 31:4a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these lines. For example:

Kings and leaders should not get drunk or even want to drink. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. (Good News Translation)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.