Beer worked wonders for biblical heroes, new translation concludes

From The Church Times-

ANCIENT Israelites drank beer as well as wine, and the brew was even acceptable as an offering to God, a biblical scholar has argued.

The Associate Professor of Theology at the Roman Catholic Xavier University in Louisi ana, Michael Homan, believes that the Hebrew word shekhar has been mistranslated in English Bibles to mean liquor or strong drink, when it should be translated as beer.

He said that the mistranslation was clue in part to academic snob bishness, which led scholars to scorn beer drinkers but celebrate the wine-drinking culture.

In an article in the current issue of the Biblical Archaeology Review, Professor Homan writes: “This has led many Bible scholars actively to distance biblical heroes from a beer drinking world, much like some Christians prefer to believe that Jesus drank unfermented grape juice despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

The difficulty of finding archaeological evidence of beer drinking — owing to the fact that most of the tools used were also used in bread-making, and that beer was drunk fresh and not stored — had meant that the amount of beer drinking in Israeli society had been under estimated.

“Ancient Israelites, with the possible exception of a few teetotal ling Nazirites and their moms, proudly drank beer — and lots of it . . . all social classes drank it. Its con sumption in ancient Israel was en­couraged, sanctioned and inti ately linked with their religion,” he argues.

Unlike today’s brews, ancient beers did not include hops, but were made from creating a barley “cake”, which was placed in water, to which yeast was added, causing fermentation.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=101436