Hos. xiv. 7.WINE of Libanus. Hosea speaks of this Wine: The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Libanon. The Wines of those sides of Mount Libanus that had a good Exposition were heretofore much esteemed. They commend that of Biblos; and Gabriel Sionita assures us, that even to this Day the Wines of Libanus are in good Reputation. But some think,1 that the Hebrew Text, Wine of Libanus, may signify a sweet-scented Wine, Wine in which Perfumes are mixt, or other Drugs, to make it more palatable, and of a better Flavour. Odoriferous Wines were not unknown to Cant. viii. 2.the Hebrews. In the Canticles mention is made of a medicated Wine, Vinum conditum, Wine mixt with Perfumes. The Author of the Book of Wisdom takes notice of Wisd. ii. 7.a precious sort of Wine, which probably was perfumed. Let us fill our selves with costly wine and ointments. Nectar was also a Wine of the same Nature. The Hebrew Word Nectar,2 signifies, to be perfumed.
The Wines of Palestine being heady, they were used to qualify them with Water, that they might be drank without any Prov. ix. 2, 5. Psal. lxxv. 8. Bel. 11. Rev. xviii. 6. Bud. de Asse, l. 15.Inconvenience. She hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. And In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, ---- it is full of mixture. The Priests of Bel said to the King of Babylon, “Sir, do you mingle “ the Wine yourself, and set the Meat “ upon the Altar of Bel. “ In the Cup “ of the Whore, mingle as much again “ as she has mingled for others.” Fulgentius says, in the second Book of his Mythologicks, that the Wine of Sarepta, a City of Phœnicia, was so strong, that the greatest Drinkers could hardly drink above a Pint of it in a Month. The Word there is Sextarius which according to Budæus, was about a Pint of Paris. But a Man might drink two Sextarii at a Meal, without any Inconvenience, as appears from the ancient Writers.
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