No beer for poor Saint John the Baptist

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Saturday, February 09, 2008 by Taylor Marshall | E-mail this post

I'm currently taking a class on the synoptic Gospels with Fr. Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy, O.Cist. who is the Abbot of the Cisterian Monastery in Dallas and is also a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. The course in excellent.

In my research for a term paper, I've been studying the "aramaisms" (Aramaic phrases transliterated in Greek) in the Gospels.

I recently came across this one in Luke:

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink [σικερα]; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit." (Luke 1:15)

In Aramaic sikera or שכרא means beer and it derives from the Akkadian shikaru meaning barley beer.

This means that Saint John the Baptist never enjoyed a glass of wine or even a beer. A small price to pay for being the greatest man "born of women" (cf. Luke 7:28).

Labels: New Testament, Saints, University of Dallas