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POSTED ON2016-12-29 BY ADMIN

Deut. 14:26 Shekhar – meaning sweet drink or strong

drink in Bible?
Deuteronomy 14:26 simply refers to wine and fruit-cider (yayin and
shekhar) at a feast. The Hebrew text does not specify ‘hard’ cider.

Hard cider recieves no specific endorsement.

See also: Bible says be sober again and again.

Grape juice already called yayin (wine) in the press.

(Broad meaning of wine (yayin) – documente.)

Shekhar: noun, fruit-cider; juice from dates, palms, or various fruits

(generally other than grapes), whether it be unfermented sweet cider, or
else fermented – (i.e. vinegar or any kind of intoxicating hard cider);
sometimes even the fruit itself (Hebrew, Strong’s number: 7941).

In Deut. 14:26, shekhar would signify sweet drinks (yayin and shekhar;
wine and ‘similar drink’ NKJV). For example, certain types of shekhar
(sakar) were permitted amongst the Arabs, and other types of it were not,
because of alcohol. Nazarites had no type of wine or shekhar at all –
whether alcoholic or not – not even vinegar, nor grapes, nor raisins. The
breadth of meaning is apparent throughout the Vulgate and NKJV
translations.

S. Reynolds says it was broad: ‘it is unjustifiable to claim that shekar

must essentially [exclusively] be an intoxicating drink.’

Stephen M. Reynolds, 2003, The Biblical Approach to Alcohol, p. 31.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
CIDER: Expressed juice of apples. Apples are ground to a fine pulp and
then pressed. Hard (alcoholic) cider is fermented in vats for up to three
months before being filtered and aged (see fermentation). Sweet cider is
unfermented and either drunk fresh (as in the U.S.) or mellowed in
pressurized tanks first (particularly in Europe). Most cider in the U.S. is
now pasteurized. Juice that is pasteurized, treated with a preservative,
and often clarified before being hermetically sealed in cans or bottles is
marketed as apple juice.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2008, p. 406, Cider.

The Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature

The Cyclopaedia of biblical literature says shekhar was much broader
than ‘strong drink’:

1. ‘Luscious, saccharine drink or SWEET SYRUP, especially sugar or

honey of dates, or of the palm-tree ; also, by accommodation,
occasionally the sweet fruit itself…’
2. ‘Date or PALM WINE in its fresh and unfermented state…’
‘The Mohammedan traveller (A.D. 850) says that “palm wine, if drunk
fresh, is sweet like honey; but if kept, it turns to vinegar”…’
3. ‘Fermented or intoxicating palm wine… became applied to other
kinds of intoxicating drink, whether made from fruit or from grain.’
John Kitto & James Taylor, 1849, Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature,
‘DRINK, STRONG’, p. 267-268.

Shekhar: Relation to Sweetness

‘If drunk fresh, is sweet like honey.’ Compare: ‘bitter shall be the sweet-
drink [shekhar] to those who drink it.’ (Isaiah 24:9)

Frederick Richard Lees, 1868, Temperance Bible Commentary, p. 165.

F. Lees says shekhar was broad: ‘comes from an Oriental root for ‘sweet-
juice,’ and is the undoubted original of the European words (Greek, Latin,
Teutonic, and Spanish) for sugar. It is used to this day in Arabia for palm-
juice and palm-wine, whether fresh or fermented.’
Frederick Richard Lees, 1869, Textbook of Temperance, p. 122.

Shekhar: Relation to Quenching Thirst or Drunkenness

The related verb shakar means to satisfy, i.e. drink sufficiently to quench
the thirst (e.g. Hag. 1:6) – which could be said of having of wine, milk, etc.
(Song. 5:1). But sometimes this verb can also mean somebody is
becoming tipsy, or worse.

‘You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have
enough. You drink, but never have your fill [shakar]. You put on clothes,
but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes
in it.’

Hag. 1:6 NIV

‘…I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk [shakar] my

wine and my milk.’

Song. 5:1 NIV

Jerome’s Vulgate translation made a distinction

Jerome (in the Latin Vulgate c. 400 A.D.) made a distinction in the range
of meanings. He said: ‘Now every intoxicating drink is in Hebrew called
shechar.’ However, he did NOT think everything called shechar was
intoxicating – e.g. Deut. 14:26. He said it was better for Christians to
avoid drinking whatever ‘disturbs the balance of the mind’. Indeed, the
Vulgate often rendered shekhar differently where the context did not
require a meaning of intoxication, probably to avoid potential
misunderstanding. It often borrowed the Hebrew term shekhar itself
(Latin ‘siceram’) – e.g. Deut. 14:26; 29:6; Judg. 13:4,7,14 – rather than
using ‘ebriatas’ as for some other passages. Sometimes Jerome rendered
shekhar as ‘ebrietas’, but mostly where a context supports the idea of
intoxication – e.g. Lev. 10:9 and 1 Sam. 1:15. (Technically, this Latin term
ebrietas may be used even of water Ps. 65:9.) In Lev. 10:9 the context
specifies that drinking makes us unable to distinguish between the holy
and the unholy. So in that instance, Jerome could not help ‘but suspect
poison’ as he put it.
(Incidentally, the Vulgate simply rendered shekhar as wine (Latin ‘vinum’)
but only a few times – e.g. Num. 28:7. As with shekhar, the term ‘vinum’
was not always alcoholic – e.g. Lam. 2:12 Vulgate.)

Jerome, Latin Vulgate Bible translation.

Jerome, Letter LII. To Nepotian.

Wycliffe’s translation made a distinction (c. 1395)

The Wycliffe Bible (based on the Vulgate) made the same distinction. It
seems to be responsible for bringing ‘cider’ into the popular English
language (formerly: ‘sidur’). Hence the Wycliffe Bible itself has been
called the ‘Cider Bible’. English dictionaries (especially American) still let
cider be either unfermented or fermented.

But eventually the English term ‘cider’ became connected especially to

apple-cider. This may be partly why some English translators have
considered other terms than this. For many passages, a modern translator
may prefer the term ‘similar-drink’, ‘sweet-drink’, or ‘fruit-cider’. Today’s
English dictionaries would probably not even have any entry for ‘cider’ if
Jerome had thought ‘ebriatas’ were suitable for Deut. 14:26 and all!

Wycliffe Bible translation

Tyndale’s translation made a distinction (c. 1530)

Yet Tyndale’s translation (based on the Hebrew) also made a distinction
in the range of meanings, from good drynke to stronge drynke (‘stronge
drynke’ in Lev. 10:9; Num 6:3; Deut. 29:6 – but ‘good drynke’ in Num. 28:7;
Deut. 14:26). After Tyndale, the KJV subjectively imposed ‘strong drink’
throughout, yet the NKJV again used more objective terms like ‘similar
drink’.

Tyndale Bible translation

New King James Version makes a distinction

The New King James Version (from Numbers through Judges) generally
renders shekhar as ‘similar drink’ within the phrase ‘wine or similar drink’.
For Num. 28:7, it simply has ‘drink’, being more objective than ‘strong
drink’. But it has ‘strong drink’ in Lev. 10:9 where the context supports
the idea of intoxication.

In conclusion, the Hebrew term shekhar was a broad term, evidently

being unfermented or fermented. See further documentation by John
Kitto, Frederick Lees, Lyman Abbott, Benjamin Parsons, Stephen
Reynolds.

NKJV references to Shekhar

‘DRINK, strong’ —
‘Sweet drink (what satiates or intoxicates), shekar.’

Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible, ‘DRINK, strong’.

Shekhar: Relation to Arabic Term

Edward William Lane notes some types of it were lawful and some types
forbidden.

Edward William Lane, 1863, Arabic English Lexicon, Book 1, p. 1391.