Did the Corinthians Become Intoxicated?

Dave Miller, Ph.D.

The first century church of Christ in Corinth was plagued by many problems. One problem was the confusion that accompanied the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Among the concerns pinpointed by Paul was the fact that the Christians were cheapening the significance of the communion by mingling it with a common meal. Apparently, the Christians were having a common meal (like our modern-day “potluck”) prior to their worship.

At this meal, the wealthy members brought much food and drink, while the poor brought little. The wealthy were tending to keep what they brought to themselves. The meal was turning into a situation where some were stuffed while others were hungry. The hungry were feeling ashamed at their poverty. Some were eating their food before the arrival of all the members.

This pre-worship feasting was, in turn, infringing upon the worship period and the proper observance of the Lord’s Supper. Even though they were supposed to be coming together to partake of the Lord’s Supper, observance of the Lord’s Supper was being thwarted by the misconduct occurring during their common meal. Paul insisted that they were not to allow their potluck meal to interfere with the proper observance of the Lord’s Supper. If they could not handle the common meal in a loving and brotherly manner, and if they could not keep it from interfering with the Lord’s Supper, then they should eat their food at home before they come to worship.

It is in this context that Paul issued the following observation: “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:20-21, emp. added). Some have argued that Paul’s use of the term “drunk” refers to a state of intoxication which, in turn, implies that the Christians partook of alcoholic beverages—at least at the Lord’s Supper. It is further asserted that this passage provides divine sanction for a moderate use of alcoholic beverages while condemning only drunkenness.

As with any matter of Bible interpretation, the unbiased mind will weigh all factors before drawing a premature conclusion. Since God chose to communicate His will in the New Testament via Greek, it is sometimes necessary to examine the original vocabulary of a passage in order to make certain that the translators did not misconstrue or misrepresent the originally-intended meaning. Further, the modern reader must remember that English terms (1) can change meaning over time, and (2) often have multiple meanings, making it necessary to ascertain which meaning was intended by the translators. This realization is certainly relevant to the meaning of the term “drunk” which, in English vernacular, can refer to being intoxicated (“He is staggering around as if he is drunk”), or it can be the past participial form of the verb “drink” (e.g., drink, drank, drunk), and hence, simply refer to the condition of consuming any beverage, i.e., becoming full by drinking any liquid (e.g., water, milk, etc.).

The Underlying Greek Term

With regard to the original Greek word that underlies the English word “drunk” (methuei), lexicons confirm the fact that the term possesses the same two distinct meanings that the English word “drunk” possesses. It can refer to being intoxicated, or it can refer to being filled to repletion or satiation, implying fully supplied and completely satisfied—the opposite of empty, hungry, starved, or famished. Hence, “drunken” can simply mean satisfied to the full or well-supplied.

Greek lexicons support these distinct meanings. For example, Bloomfield’s Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament notes passages where “the term does not imply intoxication, but only drinking freely.”[1] Donnegan’s A New Greek and English Lexicon includes the meaning of “to give to drink—to wet thoroughly; to soak.”[2] Ewing’s Greek lexicon includes as the definition for methuo, “I am filled, am plentifully fed,” and gives 1 Corinthians 11:21 as an instance.[3] He defines the derivative term methusko as “I drink freely, and to cheerfulness, though not to drunkenness.”[4] Parkhurst’s Greek lexicon gives three meanings for methuo: the first “to be drunken, inebriated,” the second “to drink freely and to cheerfulness, though not to drunkenness,” and third “to be filled, plentifully fed.”[5] Basing their work on the German work of Passow, Liddell, and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon includes for methuo “to be drenched or soaked with, steeped in any liquid,” and methusko includes “to water, moisten” and “to drink freely.”[6] The latest (ninth) edition includes the additional definition, “to be filled with food.”[7] Hesychius defines methuskomai as playroumai, the normal word for “to fill or make full.”[8] Perschbacher’s New Analytical Greek Lexicon gives as one of the meanings for methusko “to drink freely.”[9] Arndt and Gingrich give as one definition of the same word, “drink freely,” and referring specifically to 1 Corinthians 11:21, they note that methuo is opposed to peinan, “hungry.”[10] Obviously, “hungry” is not the opposite of “intoxicated.”

In addition to abundant lexicographical evidence, other Greek authorities confirm the meaning of “full.” Bloomfield’s notes on the Greek New Testament reports: “It is rightly remarked by the ancient Commentators, that the ratio oppositi requires the word to be interpreted of satiety in both drinking and eating. We need not understand any drunkenness or gluttony; nay, the words of the verse following, me gar oikias—pinein, forbid this.”[11] Nugent’s The Primitives of the Greek Tongue gives five expressions for methusko, four of which have nothing to do with being drunk: “to make drunk, to fill, to soak, to pour out abundantly, to drown.”[12] Commenting on methuo in John 2:10 in his Critica Sacra, Edward Leigh notes that it “is laid hold on by some that love to lay too fast hold on the cup, as though here were something in favor of drunkenness; But the word signifieth only a more liberal use of the creature to mirth and honest delight.”[13] He also states: “This word is not always taken in the worst part, as Gen. 9:21, but is used for large drinking unto mirth, but with sobriety.”[14] Edgar Taylor translates the passage as “one is hungry, and another is filled to excess,”[15] while Hugo McCord’s translation has “one is hungry, and another has drunk freely.”[16] In his An Attempt Toward Revising Our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures, William Newcome (Archbishop of Armagh) notes that the term “may denote abundance without excess,” and that it “does not necessarily import drunkenness.”[17] Thomas Wilson’s Complete Christian Dictionary explains methuo as, “This word signifieth to drink large unto mirth, but with sobriety.”[18]

Interestingly, even Homer’s Iliad verifies this meaning of the term (xvii. 390) by applying it to an ox hide that has been saturated with grease. Pope’s translation has “Th’ extended surface, drunk with fat and gore.”[19] Cowper’s translation has “A huge ox-hide drunken with slipp’ry lard.”[20] Obviously, the ox hide was not intoxicated, but merely soaked or drenched with lard.

English Commentators

Scores of commentators over the centuries have also verified the translation of “filled” as the authentic meaning of the word in 1 Corinthians 11:21. In his commentary on the term as it occurs in John 2:10, Joseph Trapp states: “Well drunk. i.e., cheerfully, not to excess, or intemperately. The original word is often so used.”[21] In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, John Calvin observed: “The inequality he describes hyperbolically, when he says, that some are drunken and others are hungry, for some had the means of stuffing themselves well, while others had slender fare. Thus, the poor were exposed to the derision of the rich, or at least they were exposed to shame.”[22] In his translation of the epistles, James Macknight renders the phrase “one, verily, is hungry, and another is filled,” and his explanatory paraphrase reads, “one verily is hungry, on that occasion, and another is plentifully fed.”[23]

Doddridge paraphrases the line “and so while one poor brother, for want of suitable provisions, is hungry, another eats and drinks to excess.”[24] He paraphrases the same term in John 2 as “drank plentifully.”[25] In his “Key to the Symbolical Language of Scripture,” Wemyss notes that “sometimes drunkenness is used in a good sense—for being replenished or satisfied with good things.”[26] In his Recensio Synoptica, Bloomfield explains that methuei “requires this word to be interpreted of repletion . . . It is not, however, necessary to suppose any excess of drinking, but merely drinking to satiety.”[27]

The Greek Old Testament (LXX)

The case for the meaning of “full” is cinched when one examines occurrences of the term in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The translators used methuo numerous times to refer to the state of being filled, satiated, satisfied, and replete—with no hint of intoxication. Sir Lancelot Lee Brenton’s version of Genesis 43:34 concerning Joseph’s brothers reads: “And they drank and were filled with drink (emethustheisan)”[28]; The NASV and NIV rightly render the term “drank freely.” Deuteronomy 32:42 reads “I will make my weapons drunk (methuso) with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, it shall glut itself with the blood of the wounded.”[29] Observe that “drunk” refers to the quantity of blood (i.e., drenched) and parallels “devour” and “glut.” Psalm 36:8 reads, “They shall be fully satisfied (methustheisontai) with the fatness of your house; and thou shalt cause them to drink of the full stream of thy delights.”[30] “Fully satisfied” parallels “full stream,” referring to satiation, not intoxication. Psalm 65:9-10 reads “Thou hast visited the earth, and saturated (emethusas) it; thou hast abundantly enriched it. The river of God is filled with water . . .  Saturate (methuson) her furrows, multiply her fruits.”[31] Song of Solomon 5:1 states: “I have eaten my bread with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; yea, brethren, drink abundantly (methustheite).”[32]

In Isaiah 34, the Septuagint uses the term twice with the meaning of “filled,” “soaked” or “drenched.” Brenton renders verses 5-7 into English as:

My sword has been made drunk (emethusthei) in heaven. . . The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is glutted with fat, with the blood of goats and lambs: for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bosor, and a great slaughter in Idumea. . . and the land shall be soaked (methustheisetai) with blood, and shall be filled with their fat.[33]

Observe that the Lord’s sword was bathed or drenched in blood (not intoxicated), even as the corresponding phrase identifies the same sword as “filled” with blood. Likewise, due to the slaughter occurring, the land is both “soaked” with blood and “filled” with fat. The notion of intoxication, even figuratively, is foreign to the text.

Jeremiah 26:10 provides another example of the use of methuo as filled: “The sword of the Lord shall devour, and be glutted, and be drunken (methustheisetai) with their blood.”[34] As “devour” suggests the idea of eating, so “glutted” and “drunken” connote being filled, stuffed, or gorged. Jeremiah 31:25 reads: “For I have saturated (emethusa) every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.”[35] Notice that “saturated” and “filled” are synonyms. Lamentations 3:15 is a comparable use: “He has filled me with bitterness, he has drenched (emethuse) me with gall.”[36]

Haggai 1:6 provides a clear comparison where God warned the Israelites to “consider your ways”: “Ye have sown much, but brought in little; Ye have eaten, and are not satisfied; Ye have drunk, and are not satisfied with drink (methein).”[37] Hosea 14:8 makes clear that the term may be used to apply to being filled with food—not drink: “They shall return, and dwell under his shadow; they shall live and be satisfied (methustheisontai) with corn.”[38] Additional occurrences of methuo in the Septuagint that further verify the meaning of “full” include Isaiah 49:26, Jeremiah 32:27, Jeremiah 38:14, and Ezekiel 39:19. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament demonstrates unmistakably that methuo was frequently used to refer to consuming liquid or food to the point of being filled—with the notion of intoxication being entirely absent from the text.

The Latin

Latin bears out this same distinction. Latin translations of the Old Testament have generally followed the Septuagint by using the Latin verbs inebrio and inebrior. These are the words from which we get “inebriate.” English dictionaries uniformly define “inebriate” to mean “intoxicate.” Yet the Latin contains the same broad meaning as the Greek to include both the specific notion of intoxication as well as the broader notion of satiation, fullness, and saturation.

For example, in his A Copious and Critical Latin-English Dictionary, based on the German-Latin dictionaries of Dr. William Freund, Joseph Riddle defines the noun ebrius in the primary sense of “one who finished drinking, is saturated with drink; in which sense it corresponds to saturate.” He then gives the first definition as “Drunken, intoxicated, inebriated” and the second definition as “Gorged, drenched, soaked.”[39] The same author defines inebrio first as “To make drunk,” and then as “To fill or saturate with liquor” and “to fill, fill up.”[40] Lest the reader assume that “liquor” inevitably refers to an intoxicating drink, the same lexicon defines the Latin term “liquor” as “Fluidity, fluidness . . . A liquid or fluid substance, e.g., water, milk, oil . . . To be liquid, to melt, to be flowing.”[41]

In their A New Latin-English School-Lexicon based on the Latin-German lexicon of Dr. C.F. Ingerslev, G.R. Crooks, and A.J. Schem have as the first meaning of inebrio “To make drunk, to inebriate,” and for the second meaning “to saturate” and “to fill full.”[42] F.P. Leverett’s edition of A New and Copious Lexicon of the Latin Language defines inebrio as “To inebriate, make drunk” and then as “to fill, impregnate or saturate with a liquid . . . in general, to fill, fill up.”[43] Additional Latin lexicons could be cited that define the terms in a comparable fashion.

The Latin rendering of the Greek equivalent methuo is further underscored by the Latin Vulgate’s handling of Psalm 23:5.[44] Placed into English, the passage reads: “Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!” The bold words are from the Latin phrase calix meus inebrians. Was the psalmist thanking God for enabling him to become inebriated/intoxicated? Or was he thanking God for providing him with the necessities of life? The latter question is the contextually correct one. The familiar KJV rendering reads: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” The NASB, RSV, and ESV render it: “Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” Hence, the intended meaning of the Latin inebrians (present active participle of inebrio) is that the psalmist’s “chalice” filled or satisfied him. No hint of intoxication is present or intended in the use of the Latin term. The same may be said regarding the meaning of methusko in 1 Corinthians 11:21.

CONTEXT

In addition to this significant linguistic evidence to establish the fact that “drunk” in 1 Corinthians 11:21 does not refer to intoxication, contextual indicators in the passage confirm the same conclusion. First, observe that the phrase in which the word “drunk” is found contrasts the term with the word “hungry.” The contrast is not between being intoxicated and not being intoxicated; the contrast is between being hungry vs. filled. Paul was distressed that some of the members were being insensitive to those members who had little or no victuals, as they selfishly filled their stomachs in the presence of fellow Christians who lacked such provision, perhaps due to poverty or some other hindrance. “Drunk,” i.e., filled, likely refers to being filled with both adequate food and drink.

Second, notice that in scolding the insensitive members, he rhetorically asked, “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?” (11:22). If “drunk” refers to some of the members becoming intoxicated, Paul would have been guilty of urging them to get drunk at home—not in the presence of fellow members. But the Bible clearly condemns drunkenness, anytime, anywhere (Galatians 5:21; 1 Peter 4:3). Paul was driving at the fact that, rather than embarrass the members who had little or no food at the church meal by selfishly indulging in their presence without sharing, it would be better not to have the meal together at all, but rather to confine meals to their homes.

Third, verse 22 includes the words, “Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?” The word “nothing” suggests that even as “drunk” is contrasted with “hungry,” so it is contrasted with “nothing.” Hence, one member had plenty to eat and drink, while another member was hungry and had nothing.

CONCLUSION

There is no indication of intoxicating beverages in 1 Corinthians 11. The notion must be imported into the text by the interpreter due to bias or assumption.

EndnotES

[1] S.T. Bloomfield (1840), A Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans), p. 257.

[2] James Donnegan (1836), A New Greek and English Lexicon (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, & Co.), p. 829.

[3] Greville Ewing (1827), A Greek and English Lexicon (Chesterfield, OH: General Bookbinding), third edition, p. 583.

[4] Ibid., p. 583.

[5] John Parkhurst (1804), A Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London: T. Davison), p. 422.

[6] Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1846), A Greek-English Lexicon (New York: Harper & Brothers), p. 897.

[7] Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1996), A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 1091, italics in orig.

[8] Hesychius (1867), Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (Janae: Sumptibus Hermanni Dufftii), p. 1022.

[9] Wesley Perschbacher (1990), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), p. 268.

[10] William Arndt and F.W. Gingrich (1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Lit

         erature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press), second edition, pp. 499,640.

[11] S.T. Bloomfield (1832), The Greek Testament (Cambridge: J. Smith), 2:140, italics in orig.

[12] Thomas Nugent (1748), The Primitives of the Greek Tongue (London: J. Nourse), p. 124.

[13] Edward Leigh (1650), Critica Sacra (London: Abraham Miller & Roger Daniel), p. 165.

[14] Ibid., p. 252, italics in orig., emp. added.

[15] Edgar Taylor (1840), The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (London: William Pickering), p. 337, emp.

added.

[16] Hugo McCord (1989), McCord’s New Testament Translation of the Everlasting Gospel (Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman

University), third edition, p. 327, emp. added.

[17] William Newcome (1796), An Attempt Toward Revising Our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures (Dublin: John

Exshaw), 1:376, 2:120.

[18] Thomas Wilson (1661), A Complete Christian Dictionary (London: E. Cotes), p. 176, emp. added.

[19] Homer (1721), The Iliad, trans. Pope (London: T. Johnson), 5:16.

[20] Homer (1820), The Iliad, trans. William Cowper (London: Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy), fifth edition, p. 322.

[21] Joseph Trapp (1805), Explanatory Notes upon the Four Gospels (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 297.

[22] John Calvin (1848), Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation

Society), 1:370, italics in orig., emp. added.

[23] James Macknight (1810), Apostolical Epistles (Boston, MA: W. Wells & T.B. Wait), 2:179, emp. added.

[24] Philip Doddridge (1807), The Family Expositor (Charlestown, MA: S. Etheridge), 4:304.

[25] Philip Doddridge (1763), The Family Expositor (London: Buckland, et al.), 1:147.

[26] Thomas Wemyss (1840), A Key to the Symbolical Language of Scripture (Edinburgh: Thomas Clark), 26:147, emp. added.

[27] S.T. Bloomfield (1828), Recensio Synoptica, Annotationis Sacrae (London: C. & J. Rivington), 6:539, italics in orig.

[28] Lancelot Brenton (1879), The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament (London: Samuel Bagster  Sons), p. 60, emp. added.

[29] Ibid., p. 277, emp. added.

[30] Ibid., p. 718, emp. added.

[31] Ibid., p. 735, emp. added.

[32] Ibid., p. 832, emp. added.

[33] Ibid., p. 868, emp. added.

[34] Ibid., p. 934, emp. added.

[35] Ibid., p. 952, emp. added.

[36] Ibid., p. 976, emp. added.

[37] Ibid., p. 1112, emp. added.

[38] Ibid., p. 1080, emp. added.

[39] Joseph Riddle (1849), A Copious and Critical Latin-English Lexicon (London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans), pp.

439-440.

[40] Ibid., p. 641.

[41] Ibid., p. 746.

[42] G.R. Crooks and A.J. Schem (1861), A New Latin-English School-Lexicon (Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott), p. 462.

[43] F.P. Leverett (1837), A New and Copious Lexicon of the Latin Language (London: Richard James Kennett), p. 425.

[44] parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me inpinguasti in oleo caput meum et calix meus inebrians

         quam praeclarus est.

[1] S.T. Bloomfield (1840), A Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans), p. 257.

[1] James Donnegan (1836), A New Greek and English Lexicon (Boston, MA: Hilliard, Gray, & Co.), p. 829.

[1] Greville Ewing (1827), A Greek and English Lexicon (Chesterfield, OH: General Bookbinding), third edition, p. 583.

[1] Ibid., p. 583.

[1] John Parkhurst (1804), A Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London: T. Davison), p. 422.

[1] Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1846), A Greek-English Lexicon (New York: Harper & Brothers), p. 897.

[1] Henry Liddell and Robert Scott (1996), A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 1091, italics in orig.

[1] Hesychius (1867), Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon (Janae: Sumptibus Hermanni Dufftii), p. 1022.

[1] Wesley Perschbacher (1990), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), p. 268.

[1] William Arndt and F.W. Gingrich (1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Lit

         erature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press), second edition, pp. 499,640.

[1] S.T. Bloomfield (1832), The Greek Testament (Cambridge: J. Smith), 2:140, italics in orig.

[1] Thomas Nugent (1748), The Primitives of the Greek Tongue (London: J. Nourse), p. 124.

[1] Edward Leigh (1650), Critica Sacra (London: Abraham Miller & Roger Daniel), p. 165.

[1] Ibid., p. 252, italics in orig., emp. added.

[1] Edgar Taylor (1840), The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (London: William Pickering), p. 337, emp.

added.

[1] Hugo McCord (1989), McCord’s New Testament Translation of the Everlasting Gospel (Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman

University), third edition, p. 327, emp. added.

[1] William Newcome (1796), An Attempt Toward Revising Our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures (Dublin: John

Exshaw), 1:376, 2:120.

[1] Thomas Wilson (1661), A Complete Christian Dictionary (London: E. Cotes), p. 176, emp. added.

[1] Homer (1721), The Iliad, trans. Pope (London: T. Johnson), 5:16.

[1] Homer (1820), The Iliad, trans. William Cowper (London: Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy), fifth edition, p. 322.

[1] Joseph Trapp (1805), Explanatory Notes upon the Four Gospels (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 297.

[1] John Calvin (1848), Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation

Society), 1:370, italics in orig., emp. added.

[1] James Macknight (1810), Apostolical Epistles (Boston, MA: W. Wells & T.B. Wait), 2:179, emp. added.

[1] Philip Doddridge (1807), The Family Expositor (Charlestown, MA: S. Etheridge), 4:304.

[1] Philip Doddridge (1763), The Family Expositor (London: Buckland, et al.), 1:147.

[1] Thomas Wemyss (1840), A Key to the Symbolical Language of Scripture (Edinburgh: Thomas Clark), 26:147, emp. added.

[1] S.T. Bloomfield (1828), Recensio Synoptica, Annotationis Sacrae (London: C. & J. Rivington), 6:539, italics in orig.

[1] Lancelot Brenton (1879), The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament (London: Samuel Bagster  Sons), p. 60, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 277, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 718, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 735, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 832, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 868, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 934, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 952, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 976, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 1112, emp. added.

[1] Ibid., p. 1080, emp. added.

[1] Joseph Riddle (1849), A Copious and Critical Latin-English Lexicon (London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans), pp.

439-440.

[1] Ibid., p. 641.

[1] Ibid., p. 746.

[1] G.R. Crooks and A.J. Schem (1861), A New Latin-English School-Lexicon (Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott), p. 462.

[1] F.P. Leverett (1837), A New and Copious Lexicon of the Latin Language (London: Richard James Kennett), p. 425.

[1] parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me inpinguasti in oleo caput meum et calix meus inebrians

         quam praeclarus est.