God in the

Winepress:
What Wine Imagery
in the Hebrew Bible
Tells Us about God
by Kessia Reyne Bennett
GOD IN THE WINEPRESS:
WHAT WINE IMAGERY IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
TELLS US ABOUT GOD
An Unpublished Paper
By
Kessia Reyne Bennett
November 2011
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Functions of Wine in the Hebrew Bible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Wine as Regular Drink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Wine in Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Social Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Psychological Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Wine Brings Gladness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Wine Brings Intoxication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
The Significance of Wine as a Vehicle for Metaphor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The God Who Gives and Takes Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

God the Dedicated Yet Disappointed One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
God the Intoxicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
God the Treader of the Winepress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
God in the Winepress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Making Broader Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
i
Introduction
There is an unfortunate tendency to call any investigation into religious matter
theology, without regard for the meaning of the term. In writing this paper I hope to avoid
any such error and instead to live up to the task of true theology as a study of God, however
modest may be my contribution. Therefore, the present research is not a study of viticulture
in ancient Israelite culture, nor does it ask or answer that long-contended Christian question
regarding the morality of alcohol use. This study takes as its subject God, and seeks to be a
theological inquiry. It asks theological questions of the Hebrew Bible, using as its data those
Scripture texts which refer to wine and related terms. The guiding question is: How does the
wine imagery of the Hebrew Bible inform an understanding of God and His character?
To answer this question, a combination of approaches have been used. First, I did a
lexical survey, reviewing every text that uses a word of interest.
1
A reading of these passages
revealed thematic lines running throughout the Hebrew Bible. Next, a review of scholarly
literature provided additional insights into food and drink in the Hebrew Bible, as well as
background information on Israelite viticulture. This was helpful for understanding the
background connotations behind many metaphorical uses of wine terminology. Building on
this work, two passages (Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 63:1-6) were examined more closely for the
theology behind their wine imagery. The reader will notice that a similar progression
structures this paper.
Wine imagery in the Hebrew Bible is a multifaceted gem, and it reveals a
multifaceted Goda Person who blesses with joy and confuses with destruction, who is
1
1
A list of these words can be found in the appendix.
glad and who is wrathful, who gives and takes away, who rules and who suffers. And
perhaps at the end of this study, we will better understand just how that could possibly be so.
Functions of Wine in the Hebrew Bible
As a background to the theological inquiry, let us begin with a survey of wine in the
text of the Hebrew Bible: when it appears, its significance, its variety of uses. Wine shows
up often in biblical narratives, involving such characters as Noah and Lot (who are led by it
into drunkenness and sexual misconduct), Melchizedek (who shares it with Abraham),
Isaac and Jacob, and the lovers of the Song of Solomon. It also appears in the legislative
literature of the Pentateuch, in the wisdom literature, and also vividly in the writings of the
prophets. Reference to wine or related terms (such as drunkenness or winepresses) is made
in almost every book in the Hebrew Bible.
2
Wine as Regular Drink
It appears that wine was one of the staples of an Israelite diet, a part of the so-called
Mediterranean triad (along with bread and oil).
3
While for Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon
beer was the principle alcoholic beverage and wine was a luxury, Israel's soil and climate
were perfect for viticulture.
4
Although the alcoholic strength of wine in ancient Israel is
uncertain, the biblical and archaeological data strongly suggest that wine was part of the
2
2
Exceptions are 1 Kings, Jonah, Malachi, Ruth, and Ezra.
3
Nathan MacDonald, Not Bread Alone: The Uses of Food in the Old Testament (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 60.
4
Magen Broshi, Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls (London: Sheffield Academic, 2001):
145-146.
everyday fare for the typical person.
5
For instance, Deut 29:6 suggests that, in contrast with
the miraculous provision of their desert diet, bread and wine were normal fare. You have
not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am
the Lord.
6
Lamentations 2:12 describes the suffering of the residents of Jerusalem in being
deprived of the basic necessities. They cry to their mothers, Where is bread and wine? as
they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their
mothers bosom. Likewise, in Neh 5:15 bread and wine ( c) parallels the concept
of food allowance found in 5:18. So also Prov 4:17 metaphorically employs the image of
bread and wine to indicate the regular fare of wicked and violent people. Beyond everyday
eating, wine is used for a variety of purposes in the Old Testament: liturgical, social, and
psychological.
Wine in Worship
Even in the pre-Israelite era, wine is linked with worship. Wine appears in the
meeting between Melchizedek and Abraham in what seems to be a worship context (Gen
14:18-20).
7
And according to the ceremonial law, wine is used in the worship of Yahweh as
a drink offering on several occasions, including the consecration of the priests (Exod 29:40)
3
5
The frequent references to wine the Old Testament suggest that it was not only the
principal alcoholic beverage, but the principal drink, period. Nathan MacDonald, What Did
the Ancient Israelites Eat?: Diet in Biblical Times (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 22-23;
contra Oded Borowski, Daily Life in Biblical Times (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2003), 70: The most common drinks for quenching thirst were water and milk.
6
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture texts are quoted from the English Standard
Version (2001).
7
Priesthood, blessing, and tithe indicate a worship experience; therefore, the fact that
bread and wine are mentioned in this very compact narrative suggests that perhaps they too
had a worship function.
and the offering of the first-fruits (Lev 23:13). Numbers 15:1-16 specifies that wine ought to
accompany an !: (burnt offering) or a : (sacrifice). Hannah brought a bull, flour, and
wine for an offering when she presented Samuel before the LORD at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:24). It
is also permissible in the tithe celebration described in Deut 14:26, as an element of
rejoicing before the LORD.
Drink offerings (libations) of unspecified liquid are mentioned throughout the cultic
literature of Exodus (25:29, 29:40-41, 30:9, 37:16), Leviticus (23:13, 23:18, 23:27), and
Numbers (4:7, 6:15-17, 15:5ff, 28:7ff, 29:6ff). In the restoration of true worship prophesied
by Ezekiel (45:17), unspecified drink offerings are present. Similarly, we are not told what
drink Jacob used in his offering at Bethel (Gen 35:14). Although these offerings are not
explicitly libations of wine, it likely is wine since wine is the only liquid ever specified for an
offering to Yahweh.
8

Wine in worship was not limited only to true worship, however. Deuteronomy 32:38
prophesies of a time when Israel would pursue false gods and offer them wine as drink
offerings. Isaiah 65:11 condemns those "who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy
mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine (jc::) for Destiny."
Drink offerings, probably of wine, were also set before idols by the Israelites according to
Isaiah (57:6), and Jeremiah (7:18, 19:13, 32:39, 44:17ff), and Ezekiel (20:28). Drink
offerings were presented at King Ahaz's syncretistic worship (2 Ki 16:10-16). Through the
prophet Amos, Yahweh condemns the unjust activities of His people, including that "in the
house of their god they drink wine taken as fines" (2:8, NIV). In Psalm 16:4, David
4
8
There is one possible exception. David poured out to the LORD the precious water
retrieved from Bethlehem by his mighty men (1 Chr 11:18), but although it has theological
significance, this episode is clearly an informal and non-liturgical example.
scornfully refers to the "libations of blood" (c": c!:c:) used in idol worship, but it is not
clear if this is literally referring to blood offerings or if it is a word play off of the blood-like
appearance of wine.
Social Functions
Wine also served social functions. It was used as a gift to secure favor. When Jesse
sends David to Saul at the king's request, he also includes bread, a young goat and wine to
present before the king (1 Sam 16:20). In her generous gift to assuage David's wrath against
her estate and win his favor, Abigail includes two skins of wine (1 Sam 25:18). Ziba the
servant of Mephibosheth successfully employed the same tactic when meeting David many
years later (2 Sam 16:1).
A popular party guest, wine is linked with group celebrations. In 1 Chr 12:40 "there
was joy in Israel," and part of the festivities included fig cakes, raisins, and wine. The
banquets of Xerxes favored wine, as evidenced by its frequent appearance in the book of
Esther (e.g., 1:7, 5:6). Wine is specifically mentioned for its mirthful role in the impious
parties condemned in Isa 5:11-12 and in the careless feasts condemned in Isa 22:12-13.
In fact, the harvest and treading of the grapes was itself an occasion of celebration.
This is demonstrated by the fact that in His punishments of Israel and the nations, the Lord
takes away the singing and festivities associated with the pressing: "And joy and gladness are
taken away from the fruitful field and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are
raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting." (Isa
16:10) "Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made
5
the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is
not the shout of joy." (Jer 48:33)
Psychological Effects
The psychological impact of wine use is also referenced in the Old Testament
literature. As described in Scripture, the two principle effects of wine are cheer and
intoxication. This double-sided nature of literal wine is used to its full advantage in
metaphorical usage by the prophets, an aspect which will be discussed later in the paper. To
first grasp the cultural understanding of wine will enable a greater appreciation for the
prophetic and theological uses.
Wine Brings Gladness
In both literal and figurative uses, Old Testament writers link wine with cheer,
gladness, joy, and pleasure. According to Qoheleth, "Bread is made for laughter, and wine
gladdens life, and money answers everything" (Eccl 10:19). In other places he also speaks of
seeking "how to cheer my body with wine" (2:3) and drinking "wine with a merry
heart" (9:7).
As noted above, the Lord's instructions for the celebratory eating of the tithe in His
presence includes the instruction that those traveling to the place of his Name should "buy
whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then
you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and
rejoice" (Deut 14:26). The wine was to be an element of rejoicing and celebration. So also
the psalmist, when extolling the good provisions of the Lord, celebrates the fact that along
with oil and bread, God provides "wine to gladden the heart of man" (104:15). Yet David
6
poeticized, "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine
abound" (Ps 4:7). These texts speak not only of wine as the bringer of cheer, but even more
importantly of God as the giver of joy, a joy which surpasses that which belongs to wine.
It comes as no surprise, then, that wine was employed as a figure of joy. So God in
Zech 10:7 speaks of His future care for Judah, saying "Then Ephraim shall become like a
mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be
glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord." In the Song of Solomon, wine is used as the
vehicle of comparison when speaking of pleasure. "Let him kiss me," Solomon's beloved
intones, "for your love is better than wine" (1:2). The companions of the couple agree,
saying, "We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine" (1:4, NIV).
Solomon returns the compliment in 4:10, "How much better is your love than wine." Later,
the erotic comparison is made again: "Your mouth is like the best wine. It goes down
smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth" (7:9; see also 8:2). So again, though
wine is extolled for its benefits, God provides benefits which far outweigh those of the
celebrated drink: He gives strength and gladness, He provides love and pleasure. In this way,
wine has become the instrument for pointing upward to a greater, more powerful reality.
Wine Brings Intoxication
However, the Bible is also quite clear that there is a darker side to wine consumption.
The cheer can easily slip into intoxication, something the Hebrew Bible clearly condemns.
9

7
9
There is perhaps one exception to this otherwise universal condemnation. While in
the sayings of King Lemuel wine is forbidden for royalty, "lest they drink and forget what
the law decrees," it is permissible "to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget
their poverty and remember their misery no more" (Prov 31:5-7, NIV).
In the Scriptures, drunkenness is painted in such dark colors as impiety, stupefaction,
sickness, debauchery, obsession, violence, and physical impairment.
On more than one occasion, God rebukes the impiety of drunkenness through His
prophets. The Israelites party all day, they have forgotten God, and He pronounces upon
them a woe. "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong
drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flue and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands" (Isa 5:11-12). A nihilistic impiety is condemned again as God,
who called His people to fasting and repentance, instead overhears them feasting and saying,
"'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'" (Isa 22:13) Even the spiritual leadership of the
chosen people had fallen into ungodly drunkenness. "'Come,' each one cries, 'let me get
wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better'" (Isa
56:12, NIV).
There is an element of obsession to drunkenness as well. There are those who would
pride themselves at being "heroes at drinking wine" (Isa 5:22), but this "strength" is actually
a dependency. Instead of seeking the Lord in humility, drunkards will "gash themselves" for
wine (Hos 7:14). It is one of the reasons that Proverbs so consistently characterizes wine as
a dangerous drug. The wise words of Proverbs paint a troubling picture of the cycle of
confusion and dependency.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has
needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine . . . In the end it
bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your
mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on
top of the rigging. They hit me, you will say, but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I
don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink? (23:29-35)
8
Another of the effects of drunkenness is stupefaction. The physical and mental
senses are dulled and confused. Through the prophet Hosea, God assesses the condition of
His people, saying that "they have forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom, wine, and new
wine, which take away the understanding" (Hos 4:11). There is staggering, sickness, and
mental confusion. "And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and
prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger
when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with
vomit and there is not one spot without filth." (Isa 28:7-8, NIV). It causes forgetfulness.
Wine "is not not for kings, . . . it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong
drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed" (Prov 31:4-5).
Along with impiety, stupefaction, and obsessive behaviors, drunkenness is strongly
linked with debauchery. In the well-known story, Noah's drunkenness led to sexual
immorality in his family (Gen 9:21) and a curse on one of his sons. A few chapters later, the
sexual dysfunction in Lot's family leads to his daughters getting him drunk in order to sleep
with him and by him to bear children (Gen 19:32-34). In the time of Hosea, drunkenness
and debauchery had become a way of life for many people. "When their drink is gone, they
give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame" (Hos 4:18). Among the nations,
God condemned the sexual and social immorality associated with drinking. They "have cast
lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and
have drunk it" (Joel 3:3 [4:3 MT]).
The dangerous power of wine in the psychospiritual and social dimensions is good
reason for spiritual and political leadership to avoid it. In fact, the Scriptures do speak to
this. As was noted above, Proverbs says that wine is not fit for kings or rulers (31:4-5; see
9
also Hos 7:5). God makes it clear elsewhere that it is not fit for serving priests (Lev 10:9;
Ezek 44:21) or for those consecrated to God, such as Nazirites (Num 6:3ff; Judg 13:4ff) and
prophets (Isa 28:7).
The Significance of Wine as a Vehicle for Metaphor
The preceding survey of the uses and effects of wine in the Hebrew Bible has provided
necessary background information for reflection on the metaphorical uses of wine imagery. In
this section the significance of wine as a vehicle for metaphor and theological messages will be
considered. First, the common ideas of or relating to wine in the Hebrew Bible will be identified,
that is, those concepts which the biblical data indicate made a sufficiently common psychic
impression so as to be useful to Old Testament writers in using figurative speech. Next, the
corresponding theological messages behind these ideas will be explored.
The God Who Gives and Takes Away
When the Hebrew spies snuck into Canaan, they were instructed to bring back with them
some of the produce. They returned carrying an enormous cluster of grapes. As they showed off
the impressive produce, they reported, We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with
milk and honey, and this is its fruit! (Num 13:27) The Promised Land was a land of abundance;
Canaan was full of supply, just as God had promised (Exod 3:17; Deut 8:7-9).
10
And when the
Israelites eventually did settle down and enjoy that supply, God required that they tithe this
supply to Him and provide offerings from their increase (e.g., Lev 27:30; Deut 12:17; Deut
14:22-23). If they did, God promised to give them a superabundance (Mal 3:10-11 and Prov
10
10
For texts specifically referencing God blessing the Hebrews with wine, see Deut
7:13, 11:14, and 33:28.
3:10). Wine was itself a blessing
11
but it also represented a larger collection of blessings: security
from pests, safety from enemies, protection against hunger and want, provision for gladness and
joy.
12

God is the great Giver. He gives wine that He might give gladness to the hearts of people
(Ps 104:15), and He originates the pleasure which the two lovers of Song of Solomon compare to
wine (1:2, 1:4, 2:4, 4:10, 5:1, 7:2, 7:9, 8:2). The God who gives is also the God who invites
people to partake in His gifts. In Proverbs 9, lady Wisdom sets her table with wine and calls out
an invitation to dine (vv. 1-6). In Isaiah 55:1, God invites those without resources to enjoy the
supply of His grace: Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no
money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
13

However, God warned the Israelites that in their apostasy the supply which He provided
would be removed. The vines would shrivel, the wine would dry upand along with them
would disappear their joy and security. Isaiah foresaw it: And joy and gladness are taken away
from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader
treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting (Isa 16:10; see also Jer 48:33
and Joel 1:10). All of their agricultural effort would be cursed with futility. You shall sow, but
11
11
It was even included as early as Isaacs blessing of Jacob. May God give you of
the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine (Gen
27:28).
12
A cup (clearly related to beverage and so also to wine) also images Gods provision
in Ps 16:5, 23:5, 116:13.
13
Gods invitation to eat (and so to enjoy supply and gladness) is over and against
the insecurity which would have preoccupied Isaiahs audience. As Gene Rice says, the
prophetic author emphasizes the contrast between the food he offers and the junk food of
the people, which symbolize the fears and anxieties they feed on. Dining with Deutero-
Isaiah, Journal of Religious Thought 37, no. 1 (Spr-Sum 1980), 23.
not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not
drink wine (Mic 6:15; see also Hos 9:2, Amos 5:11, Zeph 1:13). Not only would the literal wine
be taken away, but all that the wine represented: supply, security, gladness, and joy. The literal
juice of the grape represented the good life, the life of enoughand the same God who gave it to
them as a blessing would take it away in punishment.
14

And yetwith Yahweh punishment is accompanied by promise. He foretold of a time
beyond the chastisement when the wine (and so supply and gladness, too) would be restored.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the
goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and
the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more (Jer 31:12).
15

Not only that, but to the people under His wrath God promised an eschatological blessing of
superabundance: so much supply that it could not be contained: The vats shall overflow with
wine and oil (Joel 2:24) as a sign of Gods presence (Joel 2:27) and causing great delight among
the people.
16
This same image of superabundance appears in the final chapter of Amos. After 8
chapters of woes and destruction, God employs the image of wine to communicate the splendid
blessings awaiting the people. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the
plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the
12
14
In Hoseas living parable, God remarks that since His bride attributed His gifts (of
grain, new wine, oil, silver and gold) to others, Therefore I will take away my grain when it
ripens, and my new wine when it is ready (Hos 2:8-9).
15
See also Isa 62:8, Zech 9:17.
16
Once more the theme of joy forms a central aspect of this envisioned restoration.
In Joel 2:21-23, the earth and all of her inhabitants are called to be happy and rejoice
because of the food that God once more has supplied. L. Juliana M. Claassens, The God
Who Provides: Biblical Images of Divine Nourishment (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004), 66.
mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of
my people Israel . . . they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens
and eat their fruit. (Amos 9:13-14)
17
The great Giver employs the image of wine to
communicate the awesomeness of His coming gifts.
God the Dedicated Yet Disappointed One
According to Isaiah 5, he had an ideal locationa very fertile hilland he worked it
by the sweat of his own brow. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice
vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it. This dedicated
vintner did all that could have been done to produce the best grapes for the best wine. What
more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? And yet the crop was
disappointing. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes (vv. 1-2, 4). Any such
farmer would have been grieved, but this was no ordinary farmer. For the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for
justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (v. 7)
In describing the building up of a vineyard, the Scriptures reveal a God dedicated to His
people, not a haphazard or negligent caretaker, but a deity who personally planned, planted, and
provided for a people of righteousness. And yet He is disappointed! God describes what He will
do in light of this unthinkable result: He will turn the vineyard into a wasteland (vv. 5-6).
18
Yet
13
17
A nearly identical idea is also Joel 3:18 (4:18 MT). And in that day the mountains
shall drip sweet wine.
18
Victor H. Matthews sees in this destruction an echo of the flood narrative. The
only solution is the complete destruction of the vine and a return to the chaos that existed
prior to the establishment of the vineyard (compare the flood epic of Genesis 6-9).
Treading the Winepress: Actual and Metaphorical Viticulture in the Ancient Near East,
Semeia 86 (1999), 28.
because His provision was perfect, the justice of God is vindicated even in the destruction He is
bringing. This image of God as the dedicated yet disappointed vintner reveals the perfection of
His character
19
and explains the shocking thing He is about to do in bringing destruction upon
His chosen people.
God the Intoxicator
The Hebrew Bible paints a fairly complete picture of the intoxicating effects of wine, as
described above. Drunkenness leads to impiety, obsession, stupefaction and staggering, and
debauchery. These concepts are used powerfully in the prophetic corpus to characterize the
administration of Gods wrath upon the nations. He would make the wicked drink from His cup
of the wine of His wrath. Instead of the pleasant superabundance of blessing, God would give an
unpleasant overabundance of wine, a cup of horror and desolation (Ezek 23:33). As the
psalmist so vividly described, For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well
mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the
dregs (Ps 75:8). It was a dangerous drink to be sure!
20
14
19
Robert P. Carroll would disagree, preferring a reading of Isaiah as a case of sour
grapes in which he sees a wrecking notion which would deconstruct any sense of YHWHs
justice in the prophetic discourses and which would raise fundamental problems about the
prophetic construction of the idea of the idea of divine justice as a basis for the destruction
of the community. YHWHs Sour Grapes: Images of Food and Drink the Prophetic
Discourses of the Hebrew Bible, Semeia 86 (1999), 31. However, this subversion of the
expressed meaning of the text does not hold up in light of the consistent message of the
prophets: Gods work here is one to restore justice. Further, if the hypothesis set forward in
the present paper is true, then Gods astonishing self-sacrifice immunizes Him from such
accusations.
20
As Jon L. Berquist aptly points out, Gods wine is dangerous for a simple reason:
Gods justice is dangerous to all those who live in violation of Gods choices for life in this
world because the cup of wrath is a cup that restores justice to the world. Ancient Wine,
New Wineskins: The Lords Supper in Old Testament Perspective (St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 1991),
59, 57.
This wine and cup imagery is prevalent in the writings of the prophets. This cup of Gods
wrath was administered to Jerusalem (Isa 51:17-22; Ps 60:3), to Judah (Ezek 23:31-34; Hab
2:15-17; Zech 12:2), to Edom (Jer 49:12; Obad 16; Lam 4:21), to Moab (Jer 48:26), to Babylon
(Jer 51:39, 57), and to the nations (Isa 49:36; Jer 25:15-29; Jer 51:7). God repeatedly expressed
His disdain for inebriation, and now the intoxicating effect of His wine plays ironically on the
characteristics of human drunken immorality. As was demonstrated earlier, drunkenness is
strongly linked to impiety. The impiety of this human-induced drunkenness was to be turned
upon its head as Yahweh makes men metaphorically drunk with the acts of His righteous
wrath. The forgetfulness caused by wine would be overcome by Gods startling reminder of
His reality and righteousness.
The obsessive compulsions of the drunkard will also be played ironically by God.
Though they seek obsessively for wine, they will resist the wine of Gods wrath.
Nevertheless, He makes them drink it all, to the dregs (Isa 51:17).
Again, the idea of wine and drunkenness are employed to describe the effects of Gods
wrath upon those who experience it or observe it: stupefaction, utter confusion, staggering,
sickness. For instance, in His word against Egypt, God has mingled within her a spirit of
confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in
his vomit (Isa 19:14).
21
In fact, the very sight of Gods work will stupefy onlookers.
The wine of Gods wrath also plays on the debauchery theme as well. His wine
causes the nations to expose themselves to the world. Whereas wine was causing people to
treat each other immorallygetting them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness-
15
21
For other texts which describe the stupefying and sickening effects of Gods wrath,
see also Isa 29:9, Jer 48:26, Jer 51:7, Jer 51:39; Ps 60:3 (60:5 MT).
Gods wine would turn the tables. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup
in the Lords right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your
glory (Hab 2:15-16). The Lord punishes the evildoers for their crimes against humanity,
and couches it in wine language which paints a picture more comprehensive than could be
accomplished using words unmediated by metaphor.
God the Treader of the Winepress
The wine imagery of Gods punishment extends beyond the picture of God making
the nations to drink from His cup. It also pictures Gods judgment of the wicked as God
treading people in a winepress. Lamentations grieves the Lords work of destruction in this
image: The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst; he summoned an assembly
against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin
daughter of Judah (1:15). God, the righteous Sovereign, treads the wicked in His wrath.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats
overflow, for their evil is great (Joel 3:13).
Summary
The Hebrew Bible uses every part of the life cycle of wine to craft theological
messages, and God is pictured as participating in each stage of that cycle. He plans and
plants a vineyard, He gives vineyards and wine as a blessing (and takes them away as well),
He treads grapes in the winepress to make the wine, and He makes people drink His wine.
The word pictures produced by the Scriptures image for the listener-reader a multifaceted
God. He blesses with joy and confuses with destruction, He is glad and He is wrathful, He
16
gives and takes away, He blesses and He punishes, He is a devoted caretaker and a ruling
sovereign.
Initially these pairings seem incongruous. I believe, however, that a closer
examination of the punishment by the Lord as imaged in Isa 53 and Isa 63:1-6 may lend a
coherence to this theology. The focus of this research is not detailed exegesis, but theological
reflection on a theme; accordingly, the following analysis is rudimentary and only
formulates a hypothesis. To this task we now turn.
God in the Winepress
The image of God in the winepress is a vivid one, startling and bloody. Listen to this
description from Isa 63:1-6 of the Lords day of vengeance.
Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is
splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in
righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who
treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no
one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their
lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all of my apparel. For the day of
vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come. I looked, but there
was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm
brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my
anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
A majestic figure comes marching in with garments stained from treading the
winepress. When asked about it, he says that he has indeed been treading the winepress,
17
trampling people in his anger and their blood has stained his clothes.
22
The blood-like color
of grape juice intensifies the metaphor.
23
It was, he explains, an act of righteousness, salvation, vengeance, and redemption.
Already this violates the typical theological dichotomy created between punishment and
salvation. It was redemption and execution at the same time.
24
The only agent capable of
either redemption or executive punishment is Yahweh Himself.
25
It is the Lord Himself who
treads the winepress in His wrath and accomplishes redemption. Further, based upon the
18
22
Although I am certainly in sympathy with this theology, some commentators
overextend what they know of Christs self-sacrifice to completely cover over His
executionary judgments. For example, Yet the stain is not the stain of grapes but the stain
of His own blood. He trod the winepress alone; forgiveness could come only through the
shedding of His blood. John W. Klotz, The Vine, the Fig Tree, and the Olive: A Study in
Biblical Symbolism, Concordia Journal 6, no. 6 (1980): 257. But the text is very clear that
the blood of the nations stains His garments.
23
This comparison between blood and grape juice has been established in earlier
Bible passages. In Jacobs blessing on Judah, he parallels wine with the blood of
grapes (Gen 49:11). The same blood-wine connection is made in Deut 32:14 when Moses
sings about the foaming wine made from the blood of the grape and in Isa 49:26 when
God says that Israels oppressors will be drunk with their own blood as with wine. It is
true that the Bible does not always mention the color of wine, but when it does, it is red.
Carey Ellen Walsh, The Fruit of the Vine: Viticulture in Ancient Israel (Winona Lake, IN:
Eisenbrauns, 2000), 108.
24
In fact, evidence suggests that the wine motif is part of yet a larger table theme
that runs throughout the Hebrew Bible, and that in the Old Testament the table is the locus
for judgment and vindication. MacDonald, Not Bread Alone, 194.
25
See, for example, Isa 45:22-25.
close parallel with the messianic prophecy of Gen 49:11,
26
it is reasonable to assume that
the figure in Isa 63 is Christ.
27

Another feature of note in this passage is the presence of reflexive action. Notice
verse 5: ::::c :: :# ::: j:c !# c:::# : !# c:#. I
looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold. My
own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. The presence of the hitpolel
(c:::#) already suggests reflexive action, and the remainder of the verse demonstrates
such action, as the actor brought himself salvation and had to uphold himself. This reflexive
element is surprising to find in a passage about the Lord executing judgment on others,
because it suggests that, at least in some sense, God is both the agent and the object of
executionary judgment.
This is quite interesting, especially in comparison with Isa 53, the messianic passage
par excellence. More greatly detailed exegesis and lexical study would be beneficial, but
reading this chapter through the lens of the wine motif so prevalent in Isaiah reveals an
intriguing possibility, namely that Isa 53 pictures the suffering servant Christ as being
trodden in the winepress of Gods wrath.
19
26
Just like the man in Isa 63:1-6, the blessing of Jacob upon Judah (patriarch of the
Messianic line) says that his clothes would be saturated with wine. He has washed his
garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
27
Such a reading is strongly supported by New Testament texts such as Rev 14:14-20
and Rev 19:11-21.
Here is some cursory evidence to that end. Tracing some of the metaphorical images
through the chapter, we see Christ compared to a a young plant (;:)
28
and he is like a root
out of dry ground (: !: :::#)
29
(v. 2). The text says that He was smitten (::) (v.
4), pierced () (v. 5), and crushed (:) (vv. 5, 10). He was cut off (:) (v. 8). He
was made a guilt offering (c:)
30
(v. 10) and poured out (":) (v. 12). Is Isaiah tracing
the cycle of the grape as it is made into wine? Christ is a grape plant growing up out of dry
ground; He is cut off from the vine, crushed, and poured out as an offering. If so, then
paired together Isa 53 and 63 present yet another paradoxical coupling, and with it a
powerful theological insight.
God, in the Person of Christ, is the punisher and yet also the punished. In the
eschatological, final judgment, Christ administers the necessary justice against the
persistently wicked, but on the cross He first experienced this punishment Himself. He who
will one day tread the winepress of the nations, has been trodden in that press Himself for
our sake.

20
28
This same word is used elsewhere in Scripture to represent cedars (Ezek 17:22, Ps
80:12) and, in support of the present hypothesis, it is also used to mean a vine (Hos 14:7).
29
:: root, is used elsewhere in the HB to mean a fruit-bearing plant (e.g., Isa
27:6) and is sometimes translated specifically as vine (e.g., Ezek 17:7-10).
30
Although food offerings, burnt offerings, and freewill offerings included wine
(along with flour and oil), the guilt offering did not stipulate any such drink component.
This fact challenges my proposed hypothesis. On the other hand, when they were offered in
worship, wine and grain came already processed, so the grapes came as an offering having
already been crushed. In this vein, often the wine is referred to metonymically as the fulness
or produce of the winepress (see Num 18:27-30; Deut 15:14).
Making Broader Connections
The theological dimensions of the wine imagery in the Old Testament have been
explored; the task now is to connect this wine imagery theology with the broader categories
of Christian doctrine. Such a project is strengthened by the theological wine metaphors in
the New Testament as well, which uses wine as a metaphor for Christ's reconciling blood
(e.g., Matthew 26:28), eschatological reunion of believers with Christ (Matthew 26:29), the
corrupting influence of the apocalyptic harlot (e.g., Revelation 14:8), God's wrath against
the wicked (e.g., Revelation 14:10, 17-20).
The theology of wine metaphors in the Old Testament demonstrate the justice of
God's judgments. God, the dedicated yet disappointed vintner of Isaiah 5, has provided
every goodness and every advantage to His covenant people, yet still they produce
wickedness instead of righteousness. The picture of God as vintner is an apologetic for His
negative judgments in that it demonstrates that the persistent wickedness of the unrighteous
cannot be attributed to any deficiency in God or His provision. His judgment against them
is just.
The wine motif in the Old Testament defends God against another false charge, that
He is an empathic but ineffective deity. Images of God blessing, giving, sharing, and
promising are present, but they are accompanied by images of God punishing, taking, and
forcing. This God does not merely hope for the triumph of justice and righteousness; He
enacts it. Descriptions of all God's works as "divine empathy" fall short of the biblical
21
description especially as they neutralize His destruction of evil,
31
but the God in the
winepress punishes the wicked and establishes a future of security and celebration. Isaiah 53
and 63 tell us poignantly that God is familiar with our suffering, but while He is empathic
He is also decisive. Tracing the contours of the wine imagery in the Old Testament outlines
a full picture of God's justice: it is actively self-giving, yet effective unto righteousness.
Christ as both priest and sacrifice is a well-known biblical image of atonement. It is
an intriguing image because it fuses two related yet separate concepts into one person, into a
paradoxical oneness. This priest-sacrifice image speaks powerfully to the sufficiency of
Christ in securing mercy for fallen humanity. Likewise another paradoxical fusion illustrates
the nature and character of God as related to the punishment of persistently rebellious
sinners: Christ as both the one treading the winepress and the fruit being trodden. This
provides a striking picture of substitutionary atonement. In using the same imagery to
depict both Christ's eschatological destruction of the wicked and also His own self-sacrifice
at Calvary, the concept of substitutionary atonement is painted in vivid colors. The
Christian reader of Isaiah sees that Christ first bore the punishment that He will mete out at
the end of time. Wine imagery in the Hebrew Bible tells of a God who executes punishment
from His inarguable sovereignty---but not without first experiencing that very punishment
Himself.
Thus the old Marcionite heresy receives another blow. We must not view the God
who takes away as different from or separate from the God who gives, nor the God of
22
31
For an example of such theology, see Edward Farley, Divine Empathy: A Theology of
God (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1996). Farley says directly that there is a single metaphor
for Gods activity, the metaphor of divine empathy. Indeed this leads to a weak eschatology
wherein divine judgment is basically non-existent and is composed of natural, negative
consequences (Farley, 309).
gladness as different from the God of wrath. Nor ought we to misread the character of the
God who punishes: He is the same God who took on our punishment and experienced it
Himself first so that all who would might be spared. And when the New Testament Christ
picks up the cup and says This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins, He is hearkening back to the blood-soaked image of the
winepress in Isaiah. There is a unity in God's character and a compassion in His sovereign
purposes.
Conclusion
The guiding aim of this research was to explore how the wine imagery of the
Hebrew Bible informs an understanding of God and His character. The Scriptures do indeed
reveal a rich picture of God, His thoughts, feelings, and actions, from flashing in anger, to
tenderly planting vines; from removing joy to supplying it in superabundance; from Christ
treading the wicked to Christ being tread in the winepress. Utilizing sophisticated metaphors
of wine to communicate theology, the Hebrew Bible points us to a Person who blesses with
joy and confuses with destruction, who is glad and who is wrathful, who gives and takes
awayand thus masterfully builds a theology of a perfectly just and radically merciful God.
23
Bibliography
Berquist, Jon L. Ancient Wine, New Wineskins: The Lords Supper in Old Testament Perspective.
St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 1991.
Borowski, Oded. Daily Life in Biblical Times. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.
Broshi, Magen. Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls. New York: Sheffield Academic, 2001.
Carroll, Robert P. YHWHs Sour Grapes: Images of Food and Drink the Prophetic
Discourses of the Hebrew Bible. Semeia 86 (1999): 113-131.
Claassens, L. Juliana M. The God Who Provides: Biblical Images of Divine Nourishment.
Nashville: Abingdon, 2004.
Farley, Edward. Divine Empathy: A Theology of God. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1996.
Klotz, John W. The Vine, the Fig Tree, and the Olive: A Study in Biblical Symbolism.
Concordia Journal 6, no. 6 (1980): 256-260.
MacDonald, Nathan. Not Bread Alone: The Uses of Food in the Old Testament. New York:
Oxford University, 2008.
_________. What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat?: Diet in Biblical Times. Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2008.
Matthews, Victor H. Treading the Winepress: Actual and Metaphorical Viticulture in the
Ancient Near East. Semeia 86 (1999): 19-32.
Rice, Gene. Dining with Deutero-Isaiah. Journal of Religious Thought 37, no. 1 (Spr-Sum
1980): 23-30.
Walsh, Carey Ellen. The Fruit of the Vine: Viticulture in Ancient Israel. Winona Lake, IN:
Eisenbrauns, 2000.
24
Appendix
Below are listed the words which I used in my initial lexical study of wine in the Hebrew Bible,
followed by a very brief definition drawn from the Brown, Drivers, Briggs Lexicon of the Old
Testament.
Word Definition
::
winepress
_
wine
:_
wine vat, winepress.
:tn
mixture, i.e., mixed wine
jcnn
mixed drink
:tn
mixture (i.e., wine mixed with spices)
jc:
libation
jc:
drink offering
j_c:
pour out
:c
imbibe, drink largely
cc:
sweet wine
;
spice; wine (that is) spice (i.e., spiced wine)
:v
strong drink
_:v
be or become drunk
v:
must, fresh, or new wine
25