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).
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