wine

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).

In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)

In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).

In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine and wine (Gen 27:28).

grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Revelation 6:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 6:6:

  • Uma: “When that black horse appeared, I heard what was like a person speaking from among those four living things, saying: ‘The wage of one day is enough to buy just one liter of rice, or just three liters of corn. But the price of oil and grapes/wine stays unchanged.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then I heard something like a voice come from the middle of the four angels of-different-kind, it said, ‘Only one coconut shell full of grain or three coconut shells full of millet is to be bought for the wages of one days work. But oil and the water of the grape that-one-drinks shall not be destroyed.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then it seemed as if someone was speaking in the midst of the four creatures. He said, ‘three salmons of wheat can be bought for a day’s wages, and only one ganta and three salmons of barley can be bought for a day’s wages. But don’t you change the price of oil and wine.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I then heard a voice that seemed to come from the middle of the four living creatures which said, ‘In the future there shall be famine on the earth, so the salary of a person for one-day, it will only suffice for what he will eat on that day, hulled-rice or corn. But don’t (pl.) make-more-expensive the cooking-oil and grape juice (lit. water of grapes–fermented or not).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I heard like speech, the sound of it seeming-to-come-from where those four created living beings were, saying, ‘Only one small-can of wheat flour will be able to be bought for the wages of a day’s hire. In the same way, only three small-cans of sebaba flour will be able to be bought for that same amount. But don’t cause the olibo oil and drink from juice of the ubas fruit to become lacking!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I heard then the one who sat in the midst of where the four stood speak. He said: ‘One kilo of wheat is valued at what a person can earn in one day. Three kilos of barley is valued at what a person can earn in one day. But oil and wine will not be increased in price,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 6:6

What seemed to be a voice: as in 4.6a, “as it were,” here what seemed to be is said in order to indicate that it was a sound like that produced by a human voice, “what sounded like a (human) voice.”

In the midst of the four living creatures: this implies quite specifically that the speaker was not one of the four living creatures but was in their midst—possibly on the throne itself.

A quart of wheat: the Greek dry measure translated quart is equivalent to about a quart in the English system, and a little over a liter in the metric system. Where flour is measured by weight, the translation can be “two pounds” or “one kilogram” (to be precise, a liter of wheat flour weighs 570 grams). However, translators may use a suitable local equivalent, if that is considered natural and is less anachronistic than pounds or kilograms. Both wheat and barley in this verse refer to flour, not to the grain itself. Barley was cheaper than wheat and was eaten not only by the poor but also by domestic work animals.

A denarius: as the RSV footnote and the TEV text indicate, the denarius was the standard daily wage for a rural worker (see Matt 20.2). This was a very high price for a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley, perhaps as much as ten times the normal price, and indicates a severe shortage as a result of war. This can be indicated by translating “A whole day’s wages for only a quart (or, two pounds) of wheat” or “It takes the wages of a hard day’s work to buy only a quart of wheat.”

Do not harm oil and wine: the command is addressed to the horseman, and its effect is to limit the severity of the famine. Although some commentators suggest that oil and wine were really luxury items, it seems more probable to take them as staples, needed for a normal diet at that time (see Deut 7.13; 11.14). It is not easy to determine the precise meaning of the verb “(not) to harm,” which is also used of plants in 7.3; 9.4. The problem here is to determine whether oil and wine are the products themselves, in which case something like “do not diminish the supply of oil and wine” is meant, or else it may mean “do not adulterate the oil and wine” (that is, lower their quality by adding water to them). But oil and wine may refer to olive trees and grapevines (Good News Translation), in which case the meaning is “spare the olive trees and the grapevines.” Swete comments: “The oliveyards and vineyards are not to suffer to such an extent as seriously to interfere with the supply.” The first possibility is preferred by Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, “do not cause a scarcity of oil and wine”; also New Jerusalem Bible “do not tamper with the oil or the wine”; the second possibility is the choice of Revised English Bible, “do not damage the olive and the vine” (also Barclay). No one can be dogmatic, but perhaps the second possibility is the better one.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .