Abstinence, Total
Total abstinence in scripture is the renunciation of wine and strong drink, undertaken either by divine statute, by personal or hereditary vow, or by individual purpose of heart. The pattern runs from Aaron and the Nazirite, through Manoah's wife and Samson, to the Rechabites, Daniel, and John the Baptist, and is taken up again by Paul as a voluntary restraint for the sake of a weaker brother.
Wine and Strong Drink Forbidden to the Officiating Priest
The earliest abstinence statute in the Torah is laid on Aaron and his sons in connection with the sanctuary. After the death of Nadab and Abihu, Yahweh speaks directly to Aaron: "Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you⁺ go into the tent of meeting, that you⁺ will not die: it will be a statute forever throughout your⁺ generations" (Lev 10:9). The reason is moral and cognitive — "that you⁺ may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean" (Lev 10:10). The prohibition is total for the duration of priestly service and is named as binding on every generation of priests.
The Nazirite Vow
Numbers 6 establishes the Nazirite as the lay counterpart to the abstaining priest. "When either man or woman will make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, he will separate himself from wine and strong drink; he will drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither will he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried" (Num 6:2-3). The abstention is comprehensive: "All the days of his separation he will eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the kernels even to the husk" (Num 6:4). The law of the Nazirite carries the vow through to its termination at the door of the tent of meeting (Num 6:13). Amos cites the Nazirites alongside the prophets as evidence of Yahweh's gracious provision: "And I raised up of your⁺ sons for prophets, and of your⁺ young men for Nazirites" (Amos 2:11). The institution survives into the second-temple period; after the cleansing of the sanctuary, Judas and his men "stirred up the Nazarites who had fulfilled their days" (1Ma 3:49).
Manoah's Wife and Samson
The Nazirite vow is laid on Samson before his birth, and the abstention extends to his mother during pregnancy. The angel of Yahweh charges Manoah's wife, "Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don't eat any unclean thing" (Judg 13:4); and the charge is repeated to Manoah himself: "She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe" (Judg 13:14). The lifelong terms of the vow are stated of the child: "no razor will come upon his head; for the lad will be a Nazirite to God from the womb" (Judg 13:5). Samson himself acknowledges the vow at the moment of its breach: "A razor has not come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb: if I were shaved, then my strength will go from me" (Judg 16:17). Hannah pledges the same lifelong terms when she vows for Samuel: "I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor will come upon his head" (1Sam 1:11).
Israel in the Wilderness
A national abstention is recalled in Deuteronomy as one of the providential signs of the wilderness years: "You⁺ have not eaten bread, neither have you⁺ drank wine or strong drink; that you⁺ may know that I am Yahweh your⁺ God" (Deut 29:6). The deprivation is theological — its purpose is the recognition of Yahweh.
The Rechabites
The Rechabites are the standing example of a hereditary, voluntary, and lifelong total abstinence. When Jeremiah brings them into a chamber of the temple and sets pots of wine before them, their answer is unconditional: "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, You⁺ will drink no wine, neither you⁺, nor your⁺ sons, forever" (Jer 35:6). The charge from Jonadab governs every part of their life — "neither will you⁺ build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your⁺ days you⁺ will dwell in tents" (Jer 35:7) — and they have kept it: "we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters" (Jer 35:8). Yahweh holds up their fidelity as a rebuke to Judah: "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you⁺, rising up early and speaking; and you⁺ haven't listened to [my Speech]" (Jer 35:14). The Kenite genealogy preserves the line: "These are the Kenites who came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab" (1Chr 2:55).
Daniel
Daniel's abstinence is personal purpose rather than vow: "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself" (Dan 1:8). His proposed regimen is plain: "let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink" (Dan 1:12). In the period of mourning before the vision of the great conflict, the abstention is again total: "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled" (Dan 10:3).
Royal and Wisdom Warnings
The wisdom literature urges abstention on those whose office requires clear judgement. "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to desire strong drink" (Prov 31:4). The proverbs warn the young against the company of drinkers — "Don't be among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh" (Prov 23:20) — and against the seductive look of wine itself: "Don't look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly: At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like an adder" (Prov 23:31-32). Sirach concentrates the same counsel: "Moreover, when at wine, exercise restraint, For wine has destroyed many" (Sir 31:25); "Much wine is a snare to the fool, It diminishes strength and increases wounds" (Sir 31:30). Esther frames the contrasting royal court, where "the drinking was according to the law; none could compel" (Esth 1:8) — a permissive feast that ends the same chapter with the king's heart "merry with wine" (Esth 1:10).
John the Baptist
John the Baptist is the New Testament instance of a lifelong total abstainer. His diet is summarised by Jesus in the same antithesis the people drew against him: "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and you⁺ say, He has a demon" (Luke 7:33).
Abstinence for the Brother's Sake
In the apostolic writings total abstention reappears not as ritual separation but as voluntary self-restraint for the sake of others. Paul's rule is "It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [to do anything] by which your brother stumbles" (Rom 14:21), and he applies the same logic to himself in the Corinthian dispute: "Therefore, if meat causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh forevermore, that I do not cause my brother to stumble" (1Cor 8:13). The principle ranks the brother's standing higher than the abstainer's liberty.