10/09/2026
Wine for Timothy's stomach
1 Timothy 5:23
Paul tells Timothy not to continue drinking only water, but to use “a little wine” because of his stomach and frequent illnesses. This is one of the clearest biblical passages in which a substance is recommended specifically for a health complaint.
Historical context:
Wine served many functions in ancient Mediterranean societies: beverage, food component, solvent for plant compounds, and sometimes medicinal preparation.
Archaeochemical research has found ancient Egyptian wines containing herbs and tree resins, demonstrating that medicinal wine preparations existed thousands of years ago. Egyptian medical texts also describe herbs being steeped or mixed in wine and other liquids for various ailments.
This helps explain why a first-century recommendation involving wine would not have been unusual.
