grapes Summary and Overview

GRAPES , the fruit of the vine. Gen 49:11. When fully ripe and dried they are called "raisins." 1 Sam 25:18; 1 Sam 30:12; 2 Sam 16:1; 1 Chr 12:40. The soil and climate of Palestine are pre-eminently well suited to the growth of the vine, and it has always been among the principal productions of the country. In Judaea especially particular districts were famed for the excellency of their grapes; as En-gedi and the vales of Eshcol and Sorek. The word "Sorek" is not only the name of a region in the tribe of Judah, but also signifies the noblest variety of the vine and its clusters, which there abounded. This grape was white, with delicious juice, and with seeds so small and soft as to be almost imperceptible. In Persia the best raisins are made of this grape. It is of this that the celebrated Kishmich wine of Shiraz is made. Very fine grapes were in old times, as at present, produced on Mount Lebanon and at Helbon or Aleppo. Travellers agree in relating that Palestine, even in its present state of subjugation to the Mussulmans, who are forbidden to use wine, produces clusters of 12 pounds' weight each, the single grapes of which are as large as plums. They tell us that the clusters of Judaea, a few miles westward from Jerusalem, are larger than any in Europe, and that they have often seen clusters of such size that it was impossible for a single man to carry one of them uninjured for any distance. Brocard informs us in his Travels that the best vines grow in the environs of Bethlehem, in the vale of Rephaim (between Bethlehem and Jerusalem), and in the traditional vale of Eshcol, near Hebron. The grapes of the Holy Land, with the exception of the Sorek, above mentioned, are mostly red or black. Hence the juice is called "the blood of the grape," translated, in our version, "red wine." Isa 27:2. Besides wine and raisins, there is made from grapes a syrup called dibs, which "is obtained by boiling down the juice of the ripe grapes to a third of its bulk, when it becomes as thick as treacle, but is of a lighter color. The Moslems are very fond of dibs, which they eat with bread, drink with water, and use largely in confectionery. The Hebrew name debash ('honey') is identical, and it is this syrup, and not bees' honey, which is understood to be meant by the honey which Jacob sent down as a present to the governor of Egypt, Gen 43:11, and in which the men of Tyre traded from the land of Israel. Eze 27:17." -- Tristram. The Jews were expressly required by their law not to gather the grapes until the vine was three years old, Lev 19:23, and to leave some on the vines and some on the ground. Lev 19:10; and it was the privilege of the poor and dependent to gather these for their own use, provided they were eaten on the ground. They were not allowed to take any away. Deut 23:24; Deut 24:21. The grapes thus left were called "the gleanings," and as they hung, here and there one, on the vines or lay scattered on the ground, they were strikingly emblematical of the depopulation of a city or country, Isa 17:6; Isa 24:13; Jer 6:9; Jer 49:9; Ob. 5. See Vine, Vineyard, Wine, Winepress,