Pruning the Grapevines

Pruning of the grapevines. Before the arrival of springtime, the keeper of the vineyard prunes off every superficial branch, every branch that is sickly or feeble, so that the sap may flow into the healthy ones that will bear fruit. The branch that is located nearest the trunk or root usually bears the most grapes. JESUS indicates his familiarity with the pruning of the grapevines, in his famous allegory of the vine and the branches: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman [cultivator] Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth [prunes] it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:1-3). In this example, it is the Word that does the pruning. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]