Eshcol

Meaning: bunch; brave

This is the name of a biblical man and a valley.

1. A young Amoritish chief who joined Abraham in the recovery of Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:13, 24)

2. A valley in which the spies obtained a fine cluster of grapes (Numbers 13:23-24; “the brook Eshcol,” King James Version; “the valley of Eshcol,” Revised King James Version), which they took back with them to the camp of Israel as a specimen of the fruits of the Promised Land

   On their way back they explored the route which led into the south (the Negeb) by the western edge of the mountains at Telilat el-'Anab, i.e., “grape-mounds”, near Beersheba.

   “In one of these extensive valleys, perhaps in Wady Hanein, where miles of grape-mounds even now meet the eye, they cut the gigantic clusters of grapes, and gathered the pomegranates and figs, to show how goodly was the land which the Lord had promised for their inheritance.” (Palmer’s Desert of the Exodus)