To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: RE: Alcoholic Beverages in BH
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 14:38:32 -0400
>===== Original Message From Bill Ross <BillRoss AT norisksoftware.com> =====
><Bill>
>I've been reading Daniel and was struck that Nebuchadnezzar seemed to
>think that a good leader ought to have a steady diet of wine. Does
>anyone know if this was considered a drink that gave political insight?
>
>Did Daniel object because it was wine or because it was the king's
>special wine, or some other reason?
I wouldn't be surprised if the point is that it wasn't kosher wine. This
would
probably be the same issue with the meat. It's a fairly common recourse of
observant Jews to eat vegetarian when there's no reason to think that the
food
they're being offered is kosher.
>
>Also, what nuances might be present in the phrase "daily provision?"
>
>Daniel 1:5 And the king appointed them a *daily provision* of the
>king's meat, and of *the wine which he drank*: so nourishing them three
>years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. {the
>wine.: Heb. the wine of his drink}
They ate regularly, like most people? Did you have something else in mind?
You
can't really stockpile meat, BTW, in a culture without refrigeration--not raw
meat, anyway. So you'd pretty much have to distribute it daily.