יין

Forms

יַיִן (yayin) noun, masculine^[1][2] Construct יֵין, also יַיִן (Psalm 60:5, Song of Songs 8:2), with suffixes יֵינִי, יֵינָם; masculine.^[2][4] The Samaria ostraca write yn, with the diphthong contracted as in the northern dialect, while an ostracon from Arad has yyn.^[5][6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *wayn- (“grapes, vine, wine”),^[8][9] a West Semitic word kept in Ugaritic yn (“wine”),^[10] Phoenician yn (“wine”),^[11] Arabic وَيْن (wayn, “black grapes”),^[2][9] Sabaean wyn (“vineyard”)^[9] and Ge'ez ወይን (wayn, “vine, wine, grapes”).^[2][9] Akkadian īnu is found only in lexical texts, as a word from the West Semitic side according to Hommel (reported by BDB) and Noonan, while Jensen argued the opposite;^[2][12][13] the East Semitic word for grape, vine and wine was karānu.^[12]

Beyond Semitic the same culture word is found in Hittite wiyana-, in Mycenaean Greek wo-no, in Ancient Greek οἶνος (oînos) and Latin vīnum, in Armenian, in Georgian and in Hattic.^[12][10] Noonan argues that this spread and the lack of a Semitic etymology point to a non-Semitic origin; he thinks an Indo-European source unlikely, since the word is very old and reached the Kartvelian languages too, and places its origin in the eastern Mediterranean or the southern Caucasus, where the vine was first cultivated.^[12] Klein leaves the ultimate origin open,^[14] and HALOT records a derivation from the Hittite word.^[13] Gesenius–Buhl, after Lagarde, already called it a non-Semitic word and the source of the classical ones,^[4] and Hommel, cited by BDB, compared Georgian.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dated records are the Samaria ostraca, of the 9th or early 8th century BC, dockets for deliveries of nbl yn yšn, “a jar of old wine”.^[15][6][16] In the Bible the word is in the archaic Blessing of Jacob, where Judah kibbēs bayyayin ləḇušô, “washes his garment in wine” (Genesis 49:11), his eyes dark from wine (49:12), and in the Song of Moses, where the enemies' wine is serpents' venom (Deuteronomy 32:33).^[17][1]

Semantic evolution

In the Bible wine is an everyday drink, offered with bread (Genesis 14:18), a trade good (Ezekiel 27:18) and a store kept in fortresses (2 Chronicles 11:11); it makes the heart glad (Psalm 104:15).^[2] It was poured as a drink offering in the prescribed ritual (Exodus 29:40, Numbers 15:5).^[2] It is often named as the drink that makes drunk, beside שֵׁכָר (šēḵār, “beer, strong drink”), and was forbidden to the Nazirite, the Rechabites and priests on duty in the sanctuary.^[2] Gesenius–Buhl distinguishes it, as the fermented juice of the grape, from תִּירוֹשׁ (tîrôš).^[4] The ostraca of Arad, from the 6th century BC, order rations of wine for the Kittim: ntn lktym yyn, “give the Kittim wine”.^[18][7]

The Septuagint renders it with Ancient Greek οἶνος (oînos), the Vulgate with Latin vīnum, and the Peshitta and the Targums with words for wine from the root ḥmr.^[12][1] The Dead Sea Scrolls use it 110 times, 23 of them in 11Q19.^[19] The word lives on as Modern Hebrew יין (yáyin).^[8]

Timeline

• 9th or early 8th century BC – yn in the Samaria ostraca.^[15][6]
• Archaic Hebrew poetry – the Blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:11–12) and the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:33).^[17][1]
• Classical Biblical Hebrew – 37 occurrences from Genesis to Kings; drink offerings in the Priestly laws.^[1][2]
• 6th century BC – yyn in the Arad ostraca.^[18][7]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it with Ancient Greek οἶνος (oînos).^[20][1]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 110 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[21][19]

Meanings

Noun

1. wine, as a drink for refreshment and feasting.^[2][13]
2. wine as a libation or offering.^[2]
3. wine as an intoxicant; drunkenness.^[2]
4. (by extension) a banquet, a wine feast: mišteh hayyayin.^[2]

Descendants

• Yiddish יין (yayin)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. יַיִן
3. ^ Højgaard, Christian Canu; Naaijer, Martijn; Schorch, Stefan (2023), Text-Fabric Dataset of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Zenodo, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7734632
4. ^ a b c Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. יַיִן
5. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 78
6. ^ a b c Davies, Graham I. (1991), Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions: Corpus and Concordance, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 3.005
7. ^ a b c Davies, Graham I. (1991), Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions: Corpus and Concordance, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 2.001
8. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b c d Kogan, Leonid (2015), Genealogical Classification of Semitic: The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 124
10. ^ a b del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, 3rd ed., transl. W. G. E. Watson, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. yn
11. ^ Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), Phoenician-Punic Dictionary, Leuven: Peeters (OLA 90), p. s.v. yn
12. ^ a b c d e Noonan, Benjamin J. (2019), Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact, University Park: Eisenbrauns (Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 14), p. 112
13. ^ a b c Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. יַיִן
14. ^ Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. יַיִן
15. ^ a b Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 76
16. ^ Davies, Graham I. (1991), Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions: Corpus and Concordance, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 3.006
17. ^ a b Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 69
18. ^ a b Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 77
19. ^ a b Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
20. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
21. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143