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grapes in the Bible

Grapes. Photo by Dan-Cristian Pădureț. License: Unsplash.

Hebrew: עֵנָב —transliteration: enab —meaning: a grape

Greek: σταφυλή —transliteration: staphulé —meaning: a grape or a cluster of grapes

The fruit of the vine was extensively cultivated in ancient Israel.

…Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. —Numbers 13:20 NASB excerpt

Nazarites gave up grapes

When an Israelite took a vow to live as a Nazirite (Nazarite) for the Lord, he promised to…

…abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin. —Numbers 6:1-4 NASB excerpt

Grapes in poetic prophecy

…And you drank wine of the blood of grapes. —Deuteronomy 32:14 NASB excerpt

For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter. —Deuteronomy 32:32 NASB

“…gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe” —Rev. 14:18 NASB excerpt

Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave. —Micah 7:1 NASB

He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes. —Genesis 49:11 NASB

He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones. —Isaiah 5:2 NASB

Figurative grapes

Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel;
Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
Over the branches.” —Jeremiah 6:9 NASB

…this proverb concerning the land of Israel…
‘The fathers eat the sour grapes,
But the children’s teeth are set on edge’? —Ezek. 18:2 NASB

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Article Version: May 21, 2021