Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lew Reich" <lbr AT sprynet.com>]

In English, "wine" means grape juice that has fermented.  In the Talmud, at
least "yayin" does not appear to carry that meaning; according to the
Encyclopaedia Judaica (16:538) newly pressed wine, prior to fermentation,
was known as "yayin mi-gat" ("wine from the vat" Sanhedrin 70a); wine from
the previous year was "yayin yashan" ("old wine'), and that from earlier
vintages, "yayin noshan" ("old, very old"), the last being usually diluted
by one third with water in order to reduce its potency.  Rashi, in
commenting on Num 6:3, notes that it is specifically yayin when it is yashan
that is m'shakayr (related to the term shaykhor-in v. 3) - causes
intoxication.

These usages suggest that (by the time of the Talmud, anyhow) "yayin" was
not necessarily what we think of as wine, that is, fermented grape juice.
That might explain the use of the term "khomets yayin" to specify that it
was the fermented type of yayin that was being referred to rather than that
which had not yet fermented.

Lewis Reich


-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Yohanan bin-Dawidh
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 8:57 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Meaning of "Yayin" as found in Numbers 6:3

Shalom l'kulam:

Since Pesakh and Hag HaMatsoth are soon to be upon us, I wanted to discuss
the Hebrew word "yayin" as found in Sefer Shemoth (Exodus) 29:40. And then
the use of the same word found in Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:3, which uses
"yayin" alone and then with the Hebrew "khomets" to form "khomets yayin".

According to the medieval-Karaite scholar, Dawidh bin-Avraham al-Fasi , in
his Kitab Jami' al-Alfaz, we find that "khomets" is anything that has
soured. Items that have soured would be things such as leaven (itself),
wine, vinegar, and a few oats such as wheat, spelt, barley, oats, rye,
millet (which can readily become sour). We also have the term "se'or" to
deal with, which al-Fasi defines as being any mixture that has become
fermented, such sourdough starter. And then we contend with the word
"mahmeset"  which according al-Fasi is a mixture of "khomets" or "se'or"
with another item.

My interest in this study, and your opinios truly lies with "yayin", for
traditionally this word has been understood to be wine; however, in Sefer
Bamidbar 6:3 we see the use of "khomets yayin", which some translate as
"vinegar of wine", but could easily be seen as "soured yayin", i.e. "wine",
especially if we look at other Semitic variants of the Hebrew word "yayin"
such as "yin" (in Ugaritic); "wayin" (in Arabic); and "inu" (in
Akkadian).The Arabic variant holds the meaning of "black grape, which could
suggest that "yayin" is merely a type of grape. But then there is the
argument that "yayin" stems from the Hebrew verb "yayan" which means  "to
boil up" or "to ferment"

Thoughts and ideas please?

Yohanan bin-Dawidh
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