WEB Acts 2:13 Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine." 14 But
Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out
to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this
be known to you, and listen to my words. 15 For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.
The Koine Greek word behind "new wine" is gluekos.
Think "glucose sugar".
I believe a more accurate rendering for this word is "sweet wine" rather than "new wine".
I have heard arguments that this "new wine" is not alcoholic, but I believe these arguments are driven by a mistranslation of the Greek into English.
Since new wine is not alcoholic, then this word gluekos must refer to non-fermented wine, or so the argument goes.
The arguments I've heard are two:
1) The argument is made that the mockers' mocking is merely an insult that means, "These tea-totallers are drunk on grape juice."
and
2) The argument is made that in the one other place where the word is used, in the Septuagint version of Job 32:19, it is somehow to be understood as non-fermented wine.
Concerning the first argument, Peter plainly says the mockers suspected the disciples of being
drunk; he does not treat their mocking as a sarcastic insult; he treats
the mocking as a legitimate accusation, and his response is appropriate: Drinkers tend to drink into the night, and then sleep it off in the
morning. Yes, there could be exceptions to that (as there are to most rules-of-thumb, such as with many of the Proverbs), but regardless of the accuracy of Peter's response, his response is to treat the charge as a serious charge, which he plainly denies.
Concerning the second argument, here's the text from Job:
WEB Job 32:19 Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; it is ready to burst like new wineskins.
“New” wine, that is, “grape juice”, does not cause a new wineskin to
be ready to burst. Rather, the readiness to burst is a result of grape
juice having fermented, causing gasses which blow up the wineskins, like a
helium bottle filling up a balloon. New wineskins have the capacity to
stretch (which is why you don’t put new wine into old wineskins – Mark 2:22);
the only reason the skins would be ready to burst is because they have
stretched to their limits, because of the gasses created by the
fermentation process. Job’s belly is ready to burst; it’s full of gas;
it’s not in the beginning stages of fermentation, but in the later
stages.
If the word is translated properly, as "sweet wine" rather than as "new wine", wine that has fermented to the point of being ready to burst its container, there is no longer any need to explain away the apparent alcoholic nature of "new wine".
Think "glucose sugar".
I believe a more accurate rendering for this word is "sweet wine" rather than "new wine".
I have heard arguments that this "new wine" is not alcoholic, but I believe these arguments are driven by a mistranslation of the Greek into English.
Since new wine is not alcoholic, then this word gluekos must refer to non-fermented wine, or so the argument goes.
The arguments I've heard are two:
1) The argument is made that the mockers' mocking is merely an insult that means, "These tea-totallers are drunk on grape juice."
and
2) The argument is made that in the one other place where the word is used, in the Septuagint version of Job 32:19, it is somehow to be understood as non-fermented wine.
Concerning the first argument, Peter plainly says the mockers suspected the disciples of being drunk; he does not treat their mocking as a sarcastic insult; he treats the mocking as a legitimate accusation, and his response is appropriate: Drinkers tend to drink into the night, and then sleep it off in the morning. Yes, there could be exceptions to that (as there are to most rules-of-thumb, such as with many of the Proverbs), but regardless of the accuracy of Peter's response, his response is to treat the charge as a serious charge, which he plainly denies.
Concerning the second argument, here's the text from Job:
“New” wine, that is, “grape juice”, does not cause a new wineskin to be ready to burst. Rather, the readiness to burst is a result of grape juice having fermented, causing gasses which blow up the wineskins, like a helium bottle filling up a balloon. New wineskins have the capacity to stretch (which is why you don’t put new wine into old wineskins – Mark 2:22); the only reason the skins would be ready to burst is because they have stretched to their limits, because of the gasses created by the fermentation process. Job’s belly is ready to burst; it’s full of gas; it’s not in the beginning stages of fermentation, but in the later stages.
If the word is translated properly, as "sweet wine" rather than as "new wine", wine that has fermented to the point of being ready to burst its container, there is no longer any need to explain away the apparent alcoholic nature of "new wine".