A Little Wine

What was Paul recommending when he told Timothy to “use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake” (1 Timothy 5:23)? Was he suggesting that alcohol is good for our system? The fact is that alcohol does not benefit the stomach at all.

The word “wine” in the Bible means grape juice. The same word is used for both fermented and unfermented juice. The practice of using unfermented grape juice for medicinal purposes in Paul’s day is well documented. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Athenaeus (A.D. 200), and Pliny (A.D. 24-79), each advised the use of sweet grape juice to alleviate stomach disorders.

Both Paul and Peter taught abstinence from alcohol. This is evident from their frequent use of the word “sober” (See 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8; 1 Timothy 3:2, 11; Titus 2:2; 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8). The Greek word translated “sober” in these verses is nepho or nephalios. Nepho means “to abstain from wine” and nephalios means “abstinent in respect to wine.”

By that definition, attested in the writings of Josephus and Philo, Paul admonished in 1 Timothy 3:2 that a bishop must be abstinent in respect to wine. In verse 3 he declared that a bishop must be me paroinon, which literally means “not around wine.” Having so strongly thus instructed Timothy to abstain from alcohol and not even be around it, Paul certainly would not have advised him in the same book to take some for his stomach’s sake. Obviously in Chapter 5 he was recommending unfermented grape juice.