Drunkenness
VIEW:47 DATA:01-04-2020
DRUNKENNESS.See Wine and Strong Drink.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
drunk?'n-nes (רוה, rāweh, שׁכּרון, shikkārōn, שׁתי, shethı̄; μέθη, méthē):
I. Its Prevalance
The Bible affords ample proof that excessive drinking of intoxicants was a common vice among the Hebrews, as among other ancient peoples. This is evident not only from individual cases of intoxication, as Noah (Gen_9:21), Lot (Gen_19:33, Gen_19:15), Nabal (1Sa_25:36), Uriah made drunk by David (2Sa_11:13), Amnon (2Sa_13:28), Elah, king of Israel (1Ki_16:9), Benhadad, king of Syria, and his confederates (1Ki_20:16), Holofernes (Judith 13:2), etc., but also from frequent references to drunkenness as a great social evil. Thus, Amos proclaims judgment on the voluptuous and dissolute rulers of Samaria ?that drink wine in (large) bowls? (Amo_6:6), and the wealthy ladies who press their husbands to join them in a carousal (Amo_4:1); he also complains that this form of self-indulgence was practiced even at the expense of the poor and under the guise of religion, at the sacrificial meals (Amo_2:8; see also Isa_5:11, Isa_5:12, Isa_5:22; Isa_28:1-8; Isa_56:11 f). Its prevalence is also reflected in many passages in the New Testament (e.g. Mat_24:49; Luk_21:34; Act_2:13, Act_2:15; Eph_5:18; 1Th_5:7). Paul complains that at Corinth even the love-feast of the Christian church which immediately preceded the celebration of the Eucharist, was sometimes the scene of excessive drinking (1Co_11:21). It must, however, be noted that it is almost invariably the well-to-do who are charged with this vice in the Bible. There is no evidence to prove that it prevailed to any considerable extent among the common people. Intoxicants were then an expensive luxury, beyond the reach of the poorer classes. See DRINK, STRONG.
II. Its Symptoms and Effects
These are most vividly portrayed: (1) some of its physical symptoms (Job_12:25; Psa_107:27; Pro_23:29; Isa_19:14; Isa_28:8; Isa_29:9; Jer_25:16); (2) its mental effects: exhilaration (Gen_43:34), jollity and mirth (1 Esdras 3:20), forgetfulness (1 Esdras 3:20), loss of understanding and balance of judgment (Isa_28:7; Hos_4:11); (3) its effects on man's happiness and prosperity: its immediate effect is to make one oblivious of his misery; but ultimately it ?biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder,? and leads to woe and sorrow (Pro_23:29-32) and to poverty (Pro_23:21; compare Pro_21:17; Ecclesiasticus 19:1); hence, wine is called a ?mocker? deceiving the unwise (Pro_20:1); (4) its moral and spiritual effects: it leads to a maladministration of justice (Pro_31:5; Isa_5:23), provokes anger and a contentious, brawling spirit (Pro_20:1; Pro_23:29; 1 Esdras 3:22; Ecclesiasticus 31:26, 29 f), and conduces to a profligate life (Eph_5:18; ?riot,? literally, profligacy). It is allied with gambling and licentiousness (Joe_3:3), and indecency (Gen_9:21 f). Above all, it deadens the spiritual sensibilities, produces a callous indifference to religious influences and destroys all serious thought (Isa_5:12).
III. Attitude of the Bible to the Drink Question
Intemperance is condemned in uncompromising terms by the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as by the semi-canonical writings. While total abstinence is not prescribed as a formal and universal rule, broad principles are laid down, especially in the New Testament, which point in that direction.
1. In the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, intemperance is most repugnant to the stern ethical rigorism of the prophets, as well as to the more utilitarian sense of propriety of the ?wisdom? writers. As might be expected, the national conscience was but gradually quickened to the evil of immoderate drinking. In the narratives of primitive times, excessive indulgence, or at least indulgence to the point of exhilaration, is mentioned without censure as a natural thing, especially on festive occasions (as in Gen_43:34 the Revised Version, margin). But a conscience more sensitive to the sinfulness of overindulgence was gradually developed, and is reflected in the denunciations of the prophets and the warning of the wise men (compare references under I and II, especially Isa_5:11 f,22; Isa_28:1-8; Pro_23:29-33). Nowhere is the principle of total abstinence inculcated as a rule applicable to all. In particular cases it was recognized as a duty. Priests while on duty in the sanctuary were to abstain from wine and strong drink (Lev_10:9; compare Eze_44:21). Nazirites were to abstain from all intoxicants during the period of their vows (Num_6:3 f; compare Amo_2:12), yet not on account of the intoxicating qualities of wine, but because they represented the simplicity of the older pastoral life, as against the Canaanite civilization which the vine symbolized (W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel, 84 f). So also the Rechabites abstained from wine (Jer_35:6, Jer_35:8, Jer_35:14) and social conveniences, because they regarded the nomadic life as more conducive to Yahweh-worship than agricultural and town life, with its temptations to Baal-worship. In Daniel and his comrades we have another instance of voluntary abstinence (Dan_1:8-16). These, however, are isolated instances. Throughout the Old Testament the use of wine appears as practically universal, and its value is recognized as a cheering beverage (Jdg_9:13; Psa_104:15; Pro_31:7), which enables the sick to forget their pains (Pro_31:6). Moderation, however, is strongly inculcated and there are frequent warnings against the temptation and perils of the cup.
2. Deutero-Canonical and Extra-Canonical Writings
In Apocrypha, we have the attitude of prudence and common sense, but the prophetic note of stern denunciation is wanting. The path of wisdom is the golden mean. ?Wine is as good as life to men, if thou drink it in its measure;... wine drunk in season and to satisfy is joy of heart, and gladness of soul: wine drunk largely is bitterness of soul, with provocation and conflict? (Ecclesiasticus 31:27-30 the Revised Version (British and American)). A vivid picture of the effects of wine-drinking is given in 1 Esdras. 3:18-24. Stronger teaching on the subject is given in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. The use of wine is permitted to him who can use it temperately, but abstinence is enjoined as the wiser course (Testament to the Twelve Patriarchs, Jud 1:16:3).
3. In the New Testament
In the New Testament, intemperance is treated as a grave sin. Only once, indeed, does our Lord explicitly condemn drunkenness (Luk_21:34), though it is implicitly condemned in other passages (Mat_24:49 = Luk_12:45). The meagerness of the references in our Lord's teaching is probably due to the fact already mentioned, that it was chiefly prevalent among the wealthy, and not among the poorer classes to whom our Lord mainly ministered. The references in Paul's writings are very numerous (Gal_5:21; Eph_5:18, et al.). Temperance and sobriety in all things are everywhere insisted on (e.g. Act_24:25; Gal_5:23; 2Pe_1:6). A bishop and those holding honorable position in the church should not be addicted to wine (1Ti_3:2 f; Tit_1:7 f; Tit_2:2 f). Yet Jesus and His apostles were not ascetics, and the New Testament gives no rough-and-ready prohibition of strong drink on principle. In contrast with John the Baptist, who was a Nazirite from birth (Luk_1:15), Jesus was called by His enemies a ?wine-bibber? (Mat_11:19). He took part in festivities in which wine was drunk (Joh_2:10). There are indications that He regarded wine as a source of innocent enjoyment (Luk_5:38 f; Luk_17:8). To insist on a distinction between intoxicating and unfermented wine is a case of unjustifiable special pleading. It must be borne in mind that the drink question is far more complex and acute in modern than in Biblical times, and that the conditions of the modern world have given rise to problems which were not within the horizon of New Testament writers. The habit of excessive drinking has spread enormously among the common people, owing largely to the cheapening of alcoholic drinks. The fact that the evil exists today in greater proportions may call for a drastic remedy and a special crusade. But rather than defend total abstinence by a false or forced exegesis, it were better to admit that the principle is not formally laid down in the New Testament, while maintaining that there are broad principles enunciated, which in view of modern conditions should lead to voluntary abstinence from all intoxicants. Such principles may be found, e.g. in our Lord's teaching in Mat_16:24 f; Mar_9:42 f, and in the great Pauline passages - Rom_14:13-21; 1Co_8:8-13.
IV. Drunkenness in Metaphor
Drunkenness very frequently supplies Biblical writers with striking metaphors and similes. Thus, it symbolizes intellectual or spiritual perplexity (Job_12:25; Isa_19:14; Jer_23:9), bewilderment and helplessness under calamity (Jer_13:13; Eze_23:33). It furnishes a figure for the movements of sailors on board ship in a storm (Psa_107:27), and for the convulsions of the earth on the day of Yahweh (Isa_24:20). Yahweh's ?cup of staggering? is a symbol of affliction, the fury of the Lord causing stupor and confusion (Isa_51:17-23; compare Isa_63:6; Jer_25:15; Eze_23:33; Psa_75:8). The sword and the arrow are said to be sodden with drink like a drunkard with wine (Deu_32:42; Jer_46:10). In the Apocalypse, Babylon (i.e. Rome) is portrayed under the figure of a ?great harlot? who makes kings ?drunken with the wine of her fornication?; and who is herself ?drunken with the blood of the saints, and ... of the martyrs of Jesus? (Rev_17:2, Rev_17:6).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Drunkenness
Denunciations of this vice are contained both in the Old and New Testakment. St. Paul expressly includes drunkards among those who shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. This vice became peculiarly shameless at Rome about the time of the Christian aera. The surrounding nations, too, were drunkards.. Drunken shabits were to afford a presumption against a person accused before the Church courts. Still, the vice flourished among the Christians. Jerome warns the priests never to smell of wine. Revellings and drunkenness were deemed allowable in commemorating the martyrs. The first distinct Church enactment against drunkenness appears in the canons of the Council of Tours. The West, however, seems to have been the chief home of gluttony and drunkenness. A canon of the Council of Autun, A.D. 670, enacted that no gluttonous or drunken priest should touch the sacrament or say the mass under pain of losing his dignity. The Council of Berkhamstead enacted that if a priest be so drunk that he cannot fulfil his office he should be deposed by the bishop. In regard to drunkenness in the Church in Britain, Boniface says: "It is also said in your parishes drunkenness is a too common evil, so that not only do the bishops not forbid it, but themselves, drinking too much, become intoxicated, and compel others to do so, offering them larger beakers." In the Carlovingian period civil penalties or disabilities began to be inflicted for drunkenness. SEE TEMPERANCE.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
drunk?'n-nes (רוה, rāweh, שׁכּרון, shikkārōn, שׁתי, shethı̄; μέθη, méthē):
I. Its Prevalance
The Bible affords ample proof that excessive drinking of intoxicants was a common vice among the Hebrews, as among other ancient peoples. This is evident not only from individual cases of intoxication, as Noah (Gen_9:21), Lot (Gen_19:33, Gen_19:15), Nabal (1Sa_25:36), Uriah made drunk by David (2Sa_11:13), Amnon (2Sa_13:28), Elah, king of Israel (1Ki_16:9), Benhadad, king of Syria, and his confederates (1Ki_20:16), Holofernes (Judith 13:2), etc., but also from frequent references to drunkenness as a great social evil. Thus, Amos proclaims judgment on the voluptuous and dissolute rulers of Samaria ?that drink wine in (large) bowls? (Amo_6:6), and the wealthy ladies who press their husbands to join them in a carousal (Amo_4:1); he also complains that this form of self-indulgence was practiced even at the expense of the poor and under the guise of religion, at the sacrificial meals (Amo_2:8; see also Isa_5:11, Isa_5:12, Isa_5:22; Isa_28:1-8; Isa_56:11 f). Its prevalence is also reflected in many passages in the New Testament (e.g. Mat_24:49; Luk_21:34; Act_2:13, Act_2:15; Eph_5:18; 1Th_5:7). Paul complains that at Corinth even the love-feast of the Christian church which immediately preceded the celebration of the Eucharist, was sometimes the scene of excessive drinking (1Co_11:21). It must, however, be noted that it is almost invariably the well-to-do who are charged with this vice in the Bible. There is no evidence to prove that it prevailed to any considerable extent among the common people. Intoxicants were then an expensive luxury, beyond the reach of the poorer classes. See DRINK, STRONG.
II. Its Symptoms and Effects
These are most vividly portrayed: (1) some of its physical symptoms (Job_12:25; Psa_107:27; Pro_23:29; Isa_19:14; Isa_28:8; Isa_29:9; Jer_25:16); (2) its mental effects: exhilaration (Gen_43:34), jollity and mirth (1 Esdras 3:20), forgetfulness (1 Esdras 3:20), loss of understanding and balance of judgment (Isa_28:7; Hos_4:11); (3) its effects on man's happiness and prosperity: its immediate effect is to make one oblivious of his misery; but ultimately it ?biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder,? and leads to woe and sorrow (Pro_23:29-32) and to poverty (Pro_23:21; compare Pro_21:17; Ecclesiasticus 19:1); hence, wine is called a ?mocker? deceiving the unwise (Pro_20:1); (4) its moral and spiritual effects: it leads to a maladministration of justice (Pro_31:5; Isa_5:23), provokes anger and a contentious, brawling spirit (Pro_20:1; Pro_23:29; 1 Esdras 3:22; Ecclesiasticus 31:26, 29 f), and conduces to a profligate life (Eph_5:18; ?riot,? literally, profligacy). It is allied with gambling and licentiousness (Joe_3:3), and indecency (Gen_9:21 f). Above all, it deadens the spiritual sensibilities, produces a callous indifference to religious influences and destroys all serious thought (Isa_5:12).
III. Attitude of the Bible to the Drink Question
Intemperance is condemned in uncompromising terms by the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as by the semi-canonical writings. While total abstinence is not prescribed as a formal and universal rule, broad principles are laid down, especially in the New Testament, which point in that direction.
1. In the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, intemperance is most repugnant to the stern ethical rigorism of the prophets, as well as to the more utilitarian sense of propriety of the ?wisdom? writers. As might be expected, the national conscience was but gradually quickened to the evil of immoderate drinking. In the narratives of primitive times, excessive indulgence, or at least indulgence to the point of exhilaration, is mentioned without censure as a natural thing, especially on festive occasions (as in Gen_43:34 the Revised Version, margin). But a conscience more sensitive to the sinfulness of overindulgence was gradually developed, and is reflected in the denunciations of the prophets and the warning of the wise men (compare references under I and II, especially Isa_5:11 f,22; Isa_28:1-8; Pro_23:29-33). Nowhere is the principle of total abstinence inculcated as a rule applicable to all. In particular cases it was recognized as a duty. Priests while on duty in the sanctuary were to abstain from wine and strong drink (Lev_10:9; compare Eze_44:21). Nazirites were to abstain from all intoxicants during the period of their vows (Num_6:3 f; compare Amo_2:12), yet not on account of the intoxicating qualities of wine, but because they represented the simplicity of the older pastoral life, as against the Canaanite civilization which the vine symbolized (W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel, 84 f). So also the Rechabites abstained from wine (Jer_35:6, Jer_35:8, Jer_35:14) and social conveniences, because they regarded the nomadic life as more conducive to Yahweh-worship than agricultural and town life, with its temptations to Baal-worship. In Daniel and his comrades we have another instance of voluntary abstinence (Dan_1:8-16). These, however, are isolated instances. Throughout the Old Testament the use of wine appears as practically universal, and its value is recognized as a cheering beverage (Jdg_9:13; Psa_104:15; Pro_31:7), which enables the sick to forget their pains (Pro_31:6). Moderation, however, is strongly inculcated and there are frequent warnings against the temptation and perils of the cup.
2. Deutero-Canonical and Extra-Canonical Writings
In Apocrypha, we have the attitude of prudence and common sense, but the prophetic note of stern denunciation is wanting. The path of wisdom is the golden mean. ?Wine is as good as life to men, if thou drink it in its measure;... wine drunk in season and to satisfy is joy of heart, and gladness of soul: wine drunk largely is bitterness of soul, with provocation and conflict? (Ecclesiasticus 31:27-30 the Revised Version (British and American)). A vivid picture of the effects of wine-drinking is given in 1 Esdras. 3:18-24. Stronger teaching on the subject is given in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. The use of wine is permitted to him who can use it temperately, but abstinence is enjoined as the wiser course (Testament to the Twelve Patriarchs, Jud 1:16:3).
3. In the New Testament
In the New Testament, intemperance is treated as a grave sin. Only once, indeed, does our Lord explicitly condemn drunkenness (Luk_21:34), though it is implicitly condemned in other passages (Mat_24:49 = Luk_12:45). The meagerness of the references in our Lord's teaching is probably due to the fact already mentioned, that it was chiefly prevalent among the wealthy, and not among the poorer classes to whom our Lord mainly ministered. The references in Paul's writings are very numerous (Gal_5:21; Eph_5:18, et al.). Temperance and sobriety in all things are everywhere insisted on (e.g. Act_24:25; Gal_5:23; 2Pe_1:6). A bishop and those holding honorable position in the church should not be addicted to wine (1Ti_3:2 f; Tit_1:7 f; Tit_2:2 f). Yet Jesus and His apostles were not ascetics, and the New Testament gives no rough-and-ready prohibition of strong drink on principle. In contrast with John the Baptist, who was a Nazirite from birth (Luk_1:15), Jesus was called by His enemies a ?wine-bibber? (Mat_11:19). He took part in festivities in which wine was drunk (Joh_2:10). There are indications that He regarded wine as a source of innocent enjoyment (Luk_5:38 f; Luk_17:8). To insist on a distinction between intoxicating and unfermented wine is a case of unjustifiable special pleading. It must be borne in mind that the drink question is far more complex and acute in modern than in Biblical times, and that the conditions of the modern world have given rise to problems which were not within the horizon of New Testament writers. The habit of excessive drinking has spread enormously among the common people, owing largely to the cheapening of alcoholic drinks. The fact that the evil exists today in greater proportions may call for a drastic remedy and a special crusade. But rather than defend total abstinence by a false or forced exegesis, it were better to admit that the principle is not formally laid down in the New Testament, while maintaining that there are broad principles enunciated, which in view of modern conditions should lead to voluntary abstinence from all intoxicants. Such principles may be found, e.g. in our Lord's teaching in Mat_16:24 f; Mar_9:42 f, and in the great Pauline passages - Rom_14:13-21; 1Co_8:8-13.
IV. Drunkenness in Metaphor
Drunkenness very frequently supplies Biblical writers with striking metaphors and similes. Thus, it symbolizes intellectual or spiritual perplexity (Job_12:25; Isa_19:14; Jer_23:9), bewilderment and helplessness under calamity (Jer_13:13; Eze_23:33). It furnishes a figure for the movements of sailors on board ship in a storm (Psa_107:27), and for the convulsions of the earth on the day of Yahweh (Isa_24:20). Yahweh's ?cup of staggering? is a symbol of affliction, the fury of the Lord causing stupor and confusion (Isa_51:17-23; compare Isa_63:6; Jer_25:15; Eze_23:33; Psa_75:8). The sword and the arrow are said to be sodden with drink like a drunkard with wine (Deu_32:42; Jer_46:10). In the Apocalypse, Babylon (i.e. Rome) is portrayed under the figure of a ?great harlot? who makes kings ?drunken with the wine of her fornication?; and who is herself ?drunken with the blood of the saints, and ... of the martyrs of Jesus? (Rev_17:2, Rev_17:6).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Drunkenness
Denunciations of this vice are contained both in the Old and New Testakment. St. Paul expressly includes drunkards among those who shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. This vice became peculiarly shameless at Rome about the time of the Christian aera. The surrounding nations, too, were drunkards.. Drunken shabits were to afford a presumption against a person accused before the Church courts. Still, the vice flourished among the Christians. Jerome warns the priests never to smell of wine. Revellings and drunkenness were deemed allowable in commemorating the martyrs. The first distinct Church enactment against drunkenness appears in the canons of the Council of Tours. The West, however, seems to have been the chief home of gluttony and drunkenness. A canon of the Council of Autun, A.D. 670, enacted that no gluttonous or drunken priest should touch the sacrament or say the mass under pain of losing his dignity. The Council of Berkhamstead enacted that if a priest be so drunk that he cannot fulfil his office he should be deposed by the bishop. In regard to drunkenness in the Church in Britain, Boniface says: "It is also said in your parishes drunkenness is a too common evil, so that not only do the bishops not forbid it, but themselves, drinking too much, become intoxicated, and compel others to do so, offering them larger beakers." In the Carlovingian period civil penalties or disabilities began to be inflicted for drunkenness. SEE TEMPERANCE.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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