Grape

Concept

Grapes (Hebrew 'ēnāb) were one of the principal fruits of Canaan and the source of wine, vinegar, raisins, and grape juice. Viticulture features extensively in Scripture as a mark of the land's fertility: the spies brought back a single cluster so large it required two men to carry it on a pole (Num. 13:23). The vine and its fruit become rich symbols throughout the Bible: the vine represents Israel herself (Ps. 80:8–16; Isa. 5:1–7; Hos. 10:1), and Jesus applies the image to himself — "I am the true vine" (John 15:1). The blood of the grape was used in Passover celebrations, and Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper with the cup of the vine as the symbol of his blood of the new covenant (Matt. 26:27–29). The eschatological judgment is portrayed as a vintage where the grapes of wrath are trodden (Rev. 14:18–20; Isa. 63:1–6).