QUESTION:  In Scripture what is the difference between wine and strong drink?

In most English Bibles, “wine” and “strong drink” translate two different beverage categories—not simply “low alcohol vs high alcohol.”

1) “Wine” (OT yayin; plus tirosh “new wine”)

• Hebrew yayin (יַיִן) is the standard OT word for fermented grape wine—i.e., wine as a normal agricultural product that can also intoxicate.

• Hebrew tirosh (תִּירוֹשׁ) is “must / fresh grape juice / new wine” (freshly pressed; it can be at the pre-fermentation or early fermentation stage depending on context).

So, “wine” in English can cover fermented grape wine (yayin) and sometimes new/fresh wine (tirosh) depending on the verse/translation.

2) “Strong drink” (OT shekar; NT sikera)

• Hebrew shekar (שֵׁכָר) is an intoxicating beverage other than standard grape wine—often associated with beer-like drinks or fermented beverages from grain, dates, honey, etc. Lexicons gloss it as “intoxicating/strong drink.”

• Greek sikera (σίκερα) (Luke 1:15) is basically a transliteration of shekar and refers to fermented intoxicants, not distilled spirits (distillation isn’t what’s in view).

3) How Scripture uses the pair “wine and strong drink”

You’ll often see them paired as a merism for “alcoholic beverages in general”:

• Allowed in some contexts (e.g., festival use): Deut 14:26 (“wine or strong drink”).

• Forbidden in specific holy-service contexts (e.g., priests on duty): Lev 10:9 (“wine or strong drink”).

• Warned against for its dangers (e.g., drunkenness/folly): Prov 20:1; Isa 5:11.

Bottom line

• Wine = ordinarily grape-based wine (and sometimes “new wine/must,” depending on the underlying Hebrew).

• Strong drink = other intoxicating drinks (often beer-like or fruit/honey/grain fermentations), frequently treated as the more “hard-hitting” category, though still fermented, not modern distilled liquor.