ענב, the fruit of the vine. There were fine vineyards and
excellent grapes in the promised land. The bunch of grapes which was cut
in the valley of Eshcol, and was brought upon a staff between two men to
the camp of Israel at Kadeshbarnea, Num. xiii, 23, may give us some
idea, of the largeness of the fruit in that country. It would be easy to
produce a great number of witnesses to prove that the grapes in those
regions grow to a prodigious size. By Calmet, Scheuchzer, and Harmer,
this subject has been exhausted. Doubdan assures us, that in the valley
of Eshcol were clusters of grapes to be found of ten or twelve pounds.
Moses, in the law, commanded that when the Israelites gathered their
grapes, they should not be careful to pick up those that fell, nor be so
exact as to leave none upon the vines: what fell, and what were left
behind, the poor had liberty to glean, Lev. xix, 10; Deut. xxiv, 21, 22.
For the same beneficent purpose the second vintage was reserved: this,
in those warm countries, was considerable, though never so good nor so
plentiful as the former. The wise son of Sirach says, “I waked up last
of all, as one that gleaneth after grape gatherers. By the blessing of
the Lord, I profited, and filled my wine-press like a gatherer of
grapes,” Ecclus. xxxiii, 16. It is frequent in Scripture to describe a
total destruction by the similitude of a vine, stripped in such a
manner, that there was not a bunch of grapes left for those who came to
glean. The prophecy, “He shall wash his clothes in wine, and his
garments in the blood of the grape,” Gen. xlix, 11, means that he shall
reside in a country where grapes were in abundance. The vineyards of
Engedi and of Sorek, so famous in Scripture, were in the tribe of Judah;
and so was the valley of Eshcol, whence the spies brought those
extraordinary clusters. “It appears,” says Manti, “that the cultivation
of the vine was never abandoned in this country. The grapes, which are
white, and pretty large, are, however, not much superior in size to
those of Europe. This peculiarity seems to be confined to those in this
neighbourhood; for at the distance of only six miles to the south, is
the rivulet and valley called Escohol, celebrated in Scripture for its
fertility, and for producing very large grapes. In other parts of Syria,
also, I have seen grapes of such an extraordinary size, that a bunch of
them would be a sufficient burden for one man. It is not at all
surprising, therefore, that when the spies, sent by Moses to reconnoitre
the promised land, returned to give him an account of its fertility, it
required two of them to carry a bunch of grapes, which they brought with
them suspended from a pole placed upon their shoulders.” Many eye
witnesses assure us, that in Palestine the vines, and bunches of grapes,
are almost of an incredible size. “At Beidtdjin,” says Schultz, a
“village near Ptolemais, we took our supper under a large vine, the stem
of which was nearly a foot and a half in diameter, the height about
thirty feet, and covered with its branches and shoots (for the shoots
must be supported) a hut of more than fifty feet long and broad. The
bunches of these grapes are so large that they weigh from ten to twelve
pounds, and the grapes may be compared to our plumbs. Such a bunch is
cut off and laid on a board, round which they seat themselves, and each
helps himself to as many as he pleases.” Forster, in his Hebrew
Dictionary, (under the word Eshcol,) says, that he knew at Nurnburg, a
monk of the name of Acacius, who had resided eight years in Palestine,
and had also preached at Hebron, where he had seen bunches of grapes
which were as much as two men could conveniently carry.
The wild grapes, אבשים, are the fruit of the wild or bastard vine; sour
and unpalatable, and good for nothing but to make verjuice. In Isaiah v,
2–4, the Lord complains that he had planted his people as a choice vine,
excellent as that of Sorek; but that its degeneracy had defeated his
purpose, and disappointed his hopes: when he expected that it should
bring forth choice fruit, it yielded only such as was bad; not merely
useless and unprofitable grapes, but clusters offensive and noxious. By
the force and intent of the allegory, says Bishop Lowth, “good grapes”
ought to be opposed “to fruit of a dangerous and pernicious quality,”
as, in the application of it, to judgment is opposed tyranny, and to
righteousness oppression. Hasselquist is inclined to believe that the
prophet here means the _solanum incanum_, “hoary nightshade,” because it
is common in Egypt and Palestine, and the Arabian name agrees well with
it. The Arabs call it _aneb el dib_, “wolf’s grapes.” The prophet could
not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this; for it grows
much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them. It is likewise a
vine. Jeremiah uses the same image, and applies it to the same purpose,
in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah’s parable, in his
flowing and plaintive manner: “I planted thee a Sorek, a scion perfectly
genuine. How then art thou changed, and become to me the degenerate
shoot of a strange vine!” Jer. ii, 21. From some sort of poisonous
fruits of the grape kind, Moses, Deut. xxxii, 32, 33, has taken those
strong and highly poetical images with which he has set forth the future
corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory
which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of
Isaiah:--
“Their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are grapes of gall;
And their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the poison of dragons,
And the deadly venom of aspics.”
excellent grapes in the promised land. The bunch of grapes which was cut
in the valley of Eshcol, and was brought upon a staff between two men to
the camp of Israel at Kadeshbarnea, Num. xiii, 23, may give us some
idea, of the largeness of the fruit in that country. It would be easy to
produce a great number of witnesses to prove that the grapes in those
regions grow to a prodigious size. By Calmet, Scheuchzer, and Harmer,
this subject has been exhausted. Doubdan assures us, that in the valley
of Eshcol were clusters of grapes to be found of ten or twelve pounds.
Moses, in the law, commanded that when the Israelites gathered their
grapes, they should not be careful to pick up those that fell, nor be so
exact as to leave none upon the vines: what fell, and what were left
behind, the poor had liberty to glean, Lev. xix, 10; Deut. xxiv, 21, 22.
For the same beneficent purpose the second vintage was reserved: this,
in those warm countries, was considerable, though never so good nor so
plentiful as the former. The wise son of Sirach says, “I waked up last
of all, as one that gleaneth after grape gatherers. By the blessing of
the Lord, I profited, and filled my wine-press like a gatherer of
grapes,” Ecclus. xxxiii, 16. It is frequent in Scripture to describe a
total destruction by the similitude of a vine, stripped in such a
manner, that there was not a bunch of grapes left for those who came to
glean. The prophecy, “He shall wash his clothes in wine, and his
garments in the blood of the grape,” Gen. xlix, 11, means that he shall
reside in a country where grapes were in abundance. The vineyards of
Engedi and of Sorek, so famous in Scripture, were in the tribe of Judah;
and so was the valley of Eshcol, whence the spies brought those
extraordinary clusters. “It appears,” says Manti, “that the cultivation
of the vine was never abandoned in this country. The grapes, which are
white, and pretty large, are, however, not much superior in size to
those of Europe. This peculiarity seems to be confined to those in this
neighbourhood; for at the distance of only six miles to the south, is
the rivulet and valley called Escohol, celebrated in Scripture for its
fertility, and for producing very large grapes. In other parts of Syria,
also, I have seen grapes of such an extraordinary size, that a bunch of
them would be a sufficient burden for one man. It is not at all
surprising, therefore, that when the spies, sent by Moses to reconnoitre
the promised land, returned to give him an account of its fertility, it
required two of them to carry a bunch of grapes, which they brought with
them suspended from a pole placed upon their shoulders.” Many eye
witnesses assure us, that in Palestine the vines, and bunches of grapes,
are almost of an incredible size. “At Beidtdjin,” says Schultz, a
“village near Ptolemais, we took our supper under a large vine, the stem
of which was nearly a foot and a half in diameter, the height about
thirty feet, and covered with its branches and shoots (for the shoots
must be supported) a hut of more than fifty feet long and broad. The
bunches of these grapes are so large that they weigh from ten to twelve
pounds, and the grapes may be compared to our plumbs. Such a bunch is
cut off and laid on a board, round which they seat themselves, and each
helps himself to as many as he pleases.” Forster, in his Hebrew
Dictionary, (under the word Eshcol,) says, that he knew at Nurnburg, a
monk of the name of Acacius, who had resided eight years in Palestine,
and had also preached at Hebron, where he had seen bunches of grapes
which were as much as two men could conveniently carry.
The wild grapes, אבשים, are the fruit of the wild or bastard vine; sour
and unpalatable, and good for nothing but to make verjuice. In Isaiah v,
2–4, the Lord complains that he had planted his people as a choice vine,
excellent as that of Sorek; but that its degeneracy had defeated his
purpose, and disappointed his hopes: when he expected that it should
bring forth choice fruit, it yielded only such as was bad; not merely
useless and unprofitable grapes, but clusters offensive and noxious. By
the force and intent of the allegory, says Bishop Lowth, “good grapes”
ought to be opposed “to fruit of a dangerous and pernicious quality,”
as, in the application of it, to judgment is opposed tyranny, and to
righteousness oppression. Hasselquist is inclined to believe that the
prophet here means the _solanum incanum_, “hoary nightshade,” because it
is common in Egypt and Palestine, and the Arabian name agrees well with
it. The Arabs call it _aneb el dib_, “wolf’s grapes.” The prophet could
not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this; for it grows
much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them. It is likewise a
vine. Jeremiah uses the same image, and applies it to the same purpose,
in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah’s parable, in his
flowing and plaintive manner: “I planted thee a Sorek, a scion perfectly
genuine. How then art thou changed, and become to me the degenerate
shoot of a strange vine!” Jer. ii, 21. From some sort of poisonous
fruits of the grape kind, Moses, Deut. xxxii, 32, 33, has taken those
strong and highly poetical images with which he has set forth the future
corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory
which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of
Isaiah:--
“Their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are grapes of gall;
And their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the poison of dragons,
And the deadly venom of aspics.”