| Numbers 6:3
| They shall abstain from wine, and from every thing that may make a man drunk. They shall not drink vinegar of wine, or of any other drink, nor any thing that is pressed out of the grape: nor shall they eat grapes either fresh or dried.
| Drunk. Hebrew shecar, may signify old or palm wine, Leviticus 10:9. --- Drink. Hebrew, "of shecar," which was a clear wine, with perhaps a mixture of sugar. --- Vinegar was a common beverage among the ancients. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 14:16; Ruth 2:14.) The soldiers gave our Saviour some of theirs to drink. The Turks, who are not allowed to drink wine of the grape, make use of various other sorts of made wine. --- Grape, or the liquor procured from grapes, with a mixture of water, after they have served already to make wine. This liquor is called secondary wine by the Greeks, (Menochius) being designed for labourers in winter. (Varro 54, and Colum. 12:40.) Grapes of every description are forbidden to the Nazarites, as they either tend to inebriate, or at least are too luxurious. (Haydock) --- God deigns to give those a rule, who voluntarily consecrate themselves to his service. "What do the Nazarites designate, but the life of those who abstain, and are continent?" (St. Gregory, Mor. 32:23.) (Worthington)
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