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Selected Verse: Isaiah 5:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 5:2	Strong Concordance	And he fenced [05823] it, and gathered out the stones [05619] thereof, and planted [05193] it with the choicest vine [08321], and built [01129] a tower [04026] in the midst [08432] of it, and also made [02672] a winepress [03342] therein: and he looked [06960] that it should bring forth [06213] grapes [06025], and it brought forth [06213] wild grapes [0891].
	King James	And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
fenced--rather, "digged and trenched" the ground to prepare it for planting the vines [MAURER]. choicest vine--Hebrew, sorek; called still in Morocco, serki; the grapes had scarcely perceptible seeds; the Persian kishmish or bedana, that is, "without seed" (Gen 49:11). tower--to watch the vineyard against the depredations of man or beast, and for the use of the owner (Mat 21:33). wine-press--including the wine-fat; both hewn, for coolness, out of the rocky undersoil of the vineyard. wild grapes--The Hebrew expresses offensive putrefaction, answering to the corrupt state of the Jews. Fetid fruit of the wild vine [MAURER], instead of "choicest" grapes. Of the poisonous monk's hood [GESENIUS]. The Arabs call the fruit of the nightshade "wolf grapes" (Deu 32:32-33; Kg2 4:39-41). JEROME tries to specify the details of the parable; the "fence," angels; the "stones gathered out," idols; the "tower," the "temple in the midst" of Judea; the "wine-press," the altar.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

fenced--rather, "digged and trenched" the ground to prepare it for planting the vines [MAURER].

choicest vine--Hebrew, sorek; called still in Morocco, serki; the grapes had scarcely perceptible seeds; the Persian kishmish or bedana, that is, "without seed" (Gen 49:11).

tower--to watch the vineyard against the depredations of man or beast, and for the use of the owner (Mat 21:33).

wine-press--including the wine-fat; both hewn, for coolness, out of the rocky undersoil of the vineyard.

wild grapes--The Hebrew expresses offensive putrefaction, answering to the corrupt state of the Jews. Fetid fruit of the wild vine [MAURER], instead of "choicest" grapes. Of the poisonous monk's hood [GESENIUS]. The Arabs call the fruit of the nightshade "wolf grapes" (Deu 32:32-33; Kg2 4:39-41). JEROME tries to specify the details of the parable; the "fence," angels; the "stones gathered out," idols; the "tower," the "temple in the midst" of Judea; the "wine-press," the altar.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And he fenced it - Margin, 'Made a wall about it.' The word used here is supposed rather to mean "to dig about, to grub," as with a pick-axe or spade. - "Gesenius." It has this signification in Arabic, and in one place in the Jewish Talmud. - "Kimchi." The Vulgate and the Septuagint understands it of making a hedge or fence, probably the first work in preparing a vineyard. And as 'a hedge' is expressly mentioned in Isa 5:5, it seems most probable that that is its meaning here. And gathered out the stones ... - That it might be easily cultivated. This was, of course, a necessary and proper work. And planted it with the choicest vine - Hebrew, 'With the sorek.' This was a choice species of vine, the grapes of which, the Jewish commentators say, had very small and scarcely perceptible stones, and which, at this day, is called "serki" in Morocco; in Persia, "kishmis." - "Gesenius." And built a tower - For the sake of watching and defending it. These towers were probably placed so as to overlook the whole vineyard, and were thus posts of observation; compare the note at Isa 1:8; see also the note at Mat 21:33. And also made a wine-press - A place in which to put the grapes for the purpose of expressing the juice; see the note at Mat 21:33. And he looked - He waited in expectation; as a farmer waits patiently for the vines to grow, and to bear grapes. Wild grapes - The word used here is derived from the verb באשׁ bâ'ash, "to be offensive, to corrupt, to putrify;" and is supposed by Gesenius to mean "monk's-hood," a poisonous herb, offensive in smell, which produces berries like grapes. Such a meaning suits the connection better than the supposition of grapes that were wild or uncultivated. The Vulgate understands it of the weed called "wild vine - labruscas." The Septuagint translates it by "thorns," ἄκανθας akanthas. That there were vines in Judea which produced such poisonous berries, though resembling grapes, is evident; see Kg2 4:39-41 : 'And one went out into the fields to gather pot herbs, and he found a field vine, and he gathered from it wild fruit.' Moses also refers to a similar vine; Deu 32:32-33 : 'For their vine is as the vine of Sodom; their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters are bitter.' Hasselquist thinks that the prophet here means the "nightshade." The Arabs, says he, call it "wolf-grapes." It grows much in vineyards, and is very pernicious to them. Some poisonous, offensive berries, growing on wild vines, are doubtless intended here. The general meaning of this parable it is not difficult to understand; compare the notes at Mat 21:33. Jerome has attempted to follow out the allegory, and explain the particular parts. He says, 'By the metaphor of the vineyard is to be understood the people of the Jews, which he surrounded or enclosed by angels; by gathering out the stones, the removal of idols; by the tower, the temple erected in the midst of Judea; by the wine-press, the altar.' There is no propriety, however, in attempting thus minutely to explain the particular parts of the figure. The general meaning is, that God had chosen the Jewish people; had bestowed great care on them in giving them his law, in defending them, and in providing for them; that he had omitted nothing that was adapted to produce piety, obedience, and happiness, and that they had abused it all, and instead of being obedient, had become exceedingly corrupt.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
He gathered - He removed all hindrances, and gave them all the means of fruitfulness. A tower - For the residence of the keepers.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And gathered out the stones "And he cleared it from the stones" - This was agreeable to the husbandry: "Saxa, summa parte terrae, et vites et arbores laeduct; ima parte refrigerant;" Columell. de arb. 3: "Saxosum facile est expedire lectione lapidum;" Id. 2:2. "Lapides, qui supersunt, [al. insuper sunt], hieme rigent, aestate fervescunt; idcirco satis, arbustis, et vitibus nocent;" Pallad. 1:6. A piece of ground thus cleared of the stones Persius, in his hard way of metaphor, calls "exossatus ager," an unboned field; Sat. 6:52. The choicest vine "Sorek" - Many of the ancient interpreters, the Septuagint, Aquila, and Theod., have retained this word as a proper name; I think very rightly. Sorek was a valley lying between Ascalon and Gaza, and running far up eastward in the tribe of Judah. Both Ascalon and Gaza were anciently famous for wine; the former is mentioned as such by Alexander Trallianus; the latter by several authors, quoted by Reland, Palaest., p. 589 and 986. And it seems that the upper part of the valley of Sorek, and that of Eshcol, where the spies gathered the single cluster of grapes, which they were obliged to bear between two upon a staff, being both near to Hebron were in the same neighborhood, and that all this part of the country abounded with rich vineyards. Compare Num 13:22, Num 13:23; Jdg 16:3, Jdg 16:4. P. Nau supposes Eshcol and Sorek to be only different names for the same valley. Voyage Noveau de la Terre Sainte, lib. iv., chap. 18. See likewise De Lisle's posthumous map of the Holy Land. Paris, 1763. See Bochart, Hieroz. ii., Colossians 725. Thevenot, i, p. 406. Michaelis (note on Jdg 16:4 (note), German translation) thinks it probable, from some circumstances of the history there given, that Sorek was in the tribe of Judah, not in the country of the Philistines. The vine of Sorek was known to the Israelites, being mentioned by Moses, Gen 49:11, before their coming out of Egypt. Egypt was not a wine country. "Throughout this country there are no wines;" Sandys, p. 101. At least in very ancient times they had none. Herodotus, 2:77, says it had no vines and therefore used an artificial wine made of barley. That is not strictly true, for the vines of Egypt are spoken of in Scripture, Psa 78:47; Psa 105:33; and see Gen 40:11, by which it should seem that they drank only the fresh juice pressed from the grape, which was called οινος αμπελινος; Herodot., 2:37. But they had no large vineyards, nor was the country proper for them, being little more than one large plain, annually overflowed by the Nile. The Mareotic in later times is, I think, the only celebrated Egyptian wine which we meet with in history. The vine was formerly, as Hasselquist tells us it is now, "cultivated in Egypt for the sake of eating the grapes, not for wine, which is brought from Candia," etc. "They were supplied with wine from Greece, and likewise from Phoenicia," Herodot., 3:6. The vine and the wine of Sorek therefore, which lay near at hand for importation into Egypt, must in all probability have been well known to the Israelites, when they sojourned there. There is something remarkable in the manner in which Moses, Gen 49:11, makes mention of it, which, for want of considering this matter, has not been attended to; it is in Jacob's prophecy of the future prosperity of the tribe of Judah: - "Binding his foal to the vine, And his ass's colt to his own sorek; He washeth his raiment in wine, And his cloak in the blood of grapes." I take the liberty of rendering שרקה sorekah, for שרקו soreko, his sorek, as the Masoretes do by pointing עירה iroh, for עירו iro, his foal. עיר ir, might naturally enough appear in the feminine form; but it is not at all probable that שרק sorek ever should. By naming particularly the vine of Sorek, and as the vine belonging to Judah, the prophecy intimates the very part of the country which was to fall to the lot of that tribe. Sir John Chardin says, "that at Casbin, a city of Persia, they turn their cattle into the vineyards after the vintage, to browse on the vines." He speaks also of vines in that country so large that he could hardly compass the trunks of them with his arms. Voyages, tom. iii., p. 12, 12mo. This shows that the ass might be securely bound to the vine, and without danger of damaging the tree by browsing on it. And built a tower in the midst of it - Our Savior, who has taken the general idea of one of his parables, Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1, from this of Isaiah, has likewise inserted this circumstance of building a tower; which is generally explained by commentators as designed for the keeper of the vineyard to watch and defend the fruits. But for this purpose it was usual to make a little temporary hut, (Isa 1:8), which might serve for the short season while the fruit was ripening, and which was removed afterwards. The tower therefore should rather mean a building of a more permanent nature and use; the farm, as we may call it, of the vineyard, containing all the offices and implements, and the whole apparatus necessary for the culture of the vineyard, and the making of the wine. To which image in the allegory, the situation the manner of building, the use, and the whole service of the temple, exactly answered. And so the Chaldee paraphrast very rightly expounds it: Et statui eos (Israelitas) ut plantam vineae selectae et aedificavi Sanctuarium meum in medio illorum. "And I have appointed the Israelites as a plant of a chosen vine, and I have built my sanctuary in the midst of them." So also Hieron. in loc. Aedificavit quoque turrim in medio ejus; templum videlicet in media civitate. "He built also a tower in the midst of it, viz., his own temple in the midst of the city." That they have still such towers or buildings for use or pleasure, in their gardens in the East, see Harmer's Observations, 2 p. 241. And also made a wine-press therein. "And hewed out a lake therein" - This image also our Savior has preserved in his parable. יקב yekeb; the Septuagint render it here προληνιον, and in four other places ὑποληνιον, Isa 16:10; Joe 3:13; Hag 2:17; Zac 14:10, I think more properly; and this latter word St. Mark uses. It means not the wine-press itself, or calcatorium, which is called גת gath, or פורה purah; but what the Romans called lacus, the lake; the large open place or vessel, which by a conduit or spout received the must from the wine-press. In very hot countries it was perhaps necessary, or at least very convenient, to have the lake under ground, or in a cave hewed out of the side of the rock, for coolness, that the heat might not cause too great a fermentation, and sour the must. Vini confectio instituitur in cella, vel intimae domus camera quadam a ventorum ingressu remota. Kempfer, of Shiras wine. Amaen. Exot. p. 376. For the wind, to which that country is subject, would injure the wine. "The wine-presses in Persia," says Sir John Chardin, "are formed by making hollow places in the ground, lined with masons' work." Harmer's Observations, i., p. 392. See a print of one in Kempfer, p. 377. Nonnus describes at large Bacchus hollowing the inside of a rock, and hewing out a place for the wine-press, or rather the lake: - Και σκοπελους ελαχηνε· πεδοσκαφεος δε σιδηρου Θηγαλεῃ γλωχινι μυχον κοιληνατο πετρης· Λειηνας δε μετωπα βαθυνομενων κενεωνων Αφρον [f. ακρον] εΰστραφυλοιο τυπον ποιησατο λενου. Dionysiac. lib. xii., 50:331. "He pierced the rock; and with the sharpen'd tool Of steel well-temper'd scoop'd its inmost depth: Then smooth'd the front, and form'd the dark recess In just dimensions for the foaming lake." And he looked "And he expected" - Jeremiah, Jer 2:21, uses the same image, and applies it to the same purpose, in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah's parable, in his flowing and plaintive manner: - "But I planted thee a sorek, a scion perfectly genuine: How then art thou changed, and become to me the degenerate shoots of the strange vine!" Wild grapes "poisonous berries" - באשים beushim, not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous. By the force and intent of the allegory, to good grapes ought to be opposed fruit of a dangerous and pernicious quality; as, in the explication of it, to judgment is opposed tyranny, and to righteousness, oppression. גפן gephen, the vine, is a common name or genus, including several species under it; and Moses, to distinguish the true vine, or that from which wine is made, from the rest. calls it, Num 6:4, גפן היין gephen haiyayin, the wine-vine. Some of the other sorts were of a poisonous quality, as appears from the story related among the miraculous acts of Elisha, Kg2 4:39-41. "And one went out into the field to gather potherbs; and he found a Seld vine, and he gathered from it wild fruit, his lapful; and he went and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. And they poured it out for the men to eat: and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death in the pot, O man of God; and they could not eat of it. And he said, Bring meal, (leg. קחו kechu, nine MSS., one edition), and he threw it into the pot. And he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing hurtful in the pot." From some such sorts of poisonous fruits of the grape kind Moses has taken these strong and highly poetical images, with which he has set forth the future corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of Isaiah: Deu 32:32, Deu 32:33. "Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of gall; Their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, And the cruel venom of aspics." "I am inclined to believe," says Hasselquist, "that the prophet here, Isa 5:2-4, means the hoary nightshade, solanum incanum; because it is common in Egypt, Palestine, and the East; and the Arabian name agrees well with it. The Arabs call it anab el dib, i.e., wolf grapes. The באושים beushim, says Rab. Chai., is a well known species of the vine, and the worst of all sorts. The prophet could not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this; for it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them; wherefore they root it out: it likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk;" Travels, p. 289. See also Michaelis Questions aux Voyageurs Danois, No. 64.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

And gathered out the stones "And he cleared it from the stones" - This was agreeable to the husbandry: "Saxa, summa parte terrae, et vites et arbores laeduct; ima parte refrigerant;" Columell. de arb. 3: "Saxosum facile est expedire lectione lapidum;" Id. 2:2. "Lapides, qui supersunt, [al. insuper sunt], hieme rigent, aestate fervescunt; idcirco satis, arbustis, et vitibus nocent;" Pallad. 1:6. A piece of ground thus cleared of the stones Persius, in his hard way of metaphor, calls "exossatus ager," an unboned field; Sat. 6:52.

The choicest vine "Sorek" - Many of the ancient interpreters, the Septuagint, Aquila, and Theod., have retained this word as a proper name; I think very rightly. Sorek was a valley lying between Ascalon and Gaza, and running far up eastward in the tribe of Judah. Both Ascalon and Gaza were anciently famous for wine; the former is mentioned as such by Alexander Trallianus; the latter by several authors, quoted by Reland, Palaest., p. 589 and 986. And it seems that the upper part of the valley of Sorek, and that of Eshcol, where the spies gathered the single cluster of grapes, which they were obliged to bear between two upon a staff, being both near to Hebron were in the same neighborhood, and that all this part of the country abounded with rich vineyards. Compare Num 13:22, Num 13:23; Jdg 16:3, Jdg 16:4. P. Nau supposes Eshcol and Sorek to be only different names for the same valley. Voyage Noveau de la Terre Sainte, lib. iv., chap. 18. See likewise De Lisle's posthumous map of the Holy Land. Paris, 1763. See Bochart, Hieroz. ii., Colossians 725. Thevenot, i, p. 406. Michaelis (note on Jdg 16:4 (note), German translation) thinks it probable, from some circumstances of the history there given, that Sorek was in the tribe of Judah, not in the country of the Philistines.

The vine of Sorek was known to the Israelites, being mentioned by Moses, Gen 49:11, before their coming out of Egypt. Egypt was not a wine country. "Throughout this country there are no wines;" Sandys, p. 101. At least in very ancient times they had none. Herodotus, 2:77, says it had no vines and therefore used an artificial wine made of barley. That is not strictly true, for the vines of Egypt are spoken of in Scripture, Psa 78:47; Psa 105:33; and see Gen 40:11, by which it should seem that they drank only the fresh juice pressed from the grape, which was called οινος αμπελινος; Herodot., 2:37. But they had no large vineyards, nor was the country proper for them, being little more than one large plain, annually overflowed by the Nile. The Mareotic in later times is, I think, the only celebrated Egyptian wine which we meet with in history. The vine was formerly, as Hasselquist tells us it is now, "cultivated in Egypt for the sake of eating the grapes, not for wine, which is brought from Candia," etc. "They were supplied with wine from Greece, and likewise from Phoenicia," Herodot., 3:6. The vine and the wine of Sorek therefore, which lay near at hand for importation into Egypt, must in all probability have been well known to the Israelites, when they sojourned there. There is something remarkable in the manner in which Moses, Gen 49:11, makes mention of it, which, for want of considering this matter, has not been attended to; it is in Jacob's prophecy of the future prosperity of the tribe of Judah: -

"Binding his foal to the vine,

And his ass's colt to his own sorek;

He washeth his raiment in wine,

And his cloak in the blood of grapes."

I take the liberty of rendering שרקה sorekah, for שרקו soreko, his sorek, as the Masoretes do by pointing עירה iroh, for עירו iro, his foal. עיר ir, might naturally enough appear in the feminine form; but it is not at all probable that שרק sorek ever should. By naming particularly the vine of Sorek, and as the vine belonging to Judah, the prophecy intimates the very part of the country which was to fall to the lot of that tribe. Sir John Chardin says, "that at Casbin, a city of Persia, they turn their cattle into the vineyards after the vintage, to browse on the vines." He speaks also of vines in that country so large that he could hardly compass the trunks of them with his arms. Voyages, tom. iii., p. 12, 12mo. This shows that the ass might be securely bound to the vine, and without danger of damaging the tree by browsing on it.

And built a tower in the midst of it - Our Savior, who has taken the general idea of one of his parables, Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1, from this of Isaiah, has likewise inserted this circumstance of building a tower; which is generally explained by commentators as designed for the keeper of the vineyard to watch and defend the fruits. But for this purpose it was usual to make a little temporary hut, (Isa 1:8), which might serve for the short season while the fruit was ripening, and which was removed afterwards. The tower therefore should rather mean a building of a more permanent nature and use; the farm, as we may call it, of the vineyard, containing all the offices and implements, and the whole apparatus necessary for the culture of the vineyard, and the making of the wine. To which image in the allegory, the situation the manner of building, the use, and the whole service of the temple, exactly answered. And so the Chaldee paraphrast very rightly expounds it: Et statui eos (Israelitas) ut plantam vineae selectae et aedificavi Sanctuarium meum in medio illorum. "And I have appointed the Israelites as a plant of a chosen vine, and I have built my sanctuary in the midst of them." So also Hieron. in loc. Aedificavit quoque turrim in medio ejus; templum videlicet in media civitate. "He built also a tower in the midst of it, viz., his own temple in the midst of the city." That they have still such towers or buildings for use or pleasure, in their gardens in the East, see Harmer's Observations, 2 p. 241.

And also made a wine-press therein. "And hewed out a lake therein" - This image also our Savior has preserved in his parable. יקב yekeb; the Septuagint render it here προληνιον, and in four other places ὑποληνιον, Isa 16:10; Joe 3:13; Hag 2:17; Zac 14:10, I think more properly; and this latter word St. Mark uses. It means not the wine-press itself, or calcatorium, which is called גת gath, or פורה purah; but what the Romans called lacus, the lake; the large open place or vessel, which by a conduit or spout received the must from the wine-press. In very hot countries it was perhaps necessary, or at least very convenient, to have the lake under ground, or in a cave hewed out of the side of the rock, for coolness, that the heat might not cause too great a fermentation, and sour the must. Vini confectio instituitur in cella, vel intimae domus camera quadam a ventorum ingressu remota. Kempfer, of Shiras wine. Amaen. Exot. p. 376. For the wind, to which that country is subject, would injure the wine. "The wine-presses in Persia," says Sir John Chardin, "are formed by making hollow places in the ground, lined with masons' work." Harmer's Observations, i., p. 392. See a print of one in Kempfer, p. 377.

Nonnus describes at large Bacchus hollowing the inside of a rock, and hewing out a place for the wine-press, or rather the lake: -

Και σκοπελους ελαχηνε· πεδοσκαφεος δε σιδηρου

Θηγαλεῃ γλωχινι μυχον κοιληνατο πετρης·

Λειηνας δε μετωπα βαθυνομενων κενεωνων

Αφρον [f. ακρον] εΰστραφυλοιο τυπον ποιησατο λενου.

Dionysiac. lib. xii., 50:331.

"He pierced the rock; and with the sharpen'd tool

Of steel well-temper'd scoop'd its inmost depth:

Then smooth'd the front, and form'd the dark recess

In just dimensions for the foaming lake."

And he looked "And he expected" - Jeremiah, Jer 2:21, uses the same image, and applies it to the same purpose, in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah's parable, in his flowing and plaintive manner: -

"But I planted thee a sorek, a scion perfectly genuine: How then art thou changed, and become to me the degenerate shoots of the strange vine!"

Wild grapes "poisonous berries" - באשים beushim, not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous. By the force and intent of the allegory, to good grapes ought to be opposed fruit of a dangerous and pernicious quality; as, in the explication of it, to judgment is opposed tyranny, and to righteousness, oppression. גפן gephen, the vine, is a common name or genus, including several species under it; and Moses, to distinguish the true vine, or that from which wine is made, from the rest. calls it, Num 6:4, גפן היין gephen haiyayin, the wine-vine. Some of the other sorts were of a poisonous quality, as appears from the story related among the miraculous acts of Elisha, Kg2 4:39-41. "And one went out into the field to gather potherbs; and he found a Seld vine, and he gathered from it wild fruit, his lapful; and he went and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. And they poured it out for the men to eat: and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death in the pot, O man of God; and they could not eat of it. And he said, Bring meal, (leg. קחו kechu, nine MSS., one edition), and he threw it into the pot. And he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing hurtful in the pot."

From some such sorts of poisonous fruits of the grape kind Moses has taken these strong and highly poetical images, with which he has set forth the future corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of Isaiah: Deu 32:32, Deu 32:33.

"Their vine is from the vine of Sodom,

And from the fields of Gomorrah:

Their grapes are grapes of gall;

Their clusters are bitter:

Their wine is the poison of dragons,

And the cruel venom of aspics."

"I am inclined to believe," says Hasselquist, "that the prophet here, Isa 5:2-4, means the hoary nightshade, solanum incanum; because it is common in Egypt, Palestine, and the East; and the Arabian name agrees well with it. The Arabs call it anab el dib, i.e., wolf grapes. The באושים beushim, says Rab. Chai., is a well known species of the vine, and the worst of all sorts. The prophet could not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this; for it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them; wherefore they root it out: it likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk;" Travels, p. 289. See also Michaelis Questions aux Voyageurs Danois, No. 64.

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³⁹ And one [0259] went out [03318] into the field [07704] to gather [03950] herbs [0219], and found [04672] a wild [07704] vine [01612], and gathered [03950] thereof wild [07704] gourds [06498] his lap [0899] full [04393], and came [0935] and shred [06398] them into the pot [05518] of pottage [05138]: for they knew [03045] them not.
⁴⁰ So they poured out [03332] for the men [0582] to eat [0398]. And it came to pass, as they were eating [0398] of the pottage [05138], that they cried out [06817], and said [0559], O thou man [0376] of God [0430], there is death [04194] in the pot [05518]. And they could [03201] not eat [0398] thereof.
⁴¹ But he said [0559], Then bring [03947] meal [07058]. And he cast [07993] it into the pot [05518]; and he said [0559], Pour out [03332] for the people [05971], that they may eat [0398]. And there was no harm [01697] [07451] in the pot [05518].

³² For their vine [01612] is of the vine [01612] of Sodom [05467], and of the fields [07709] of Gomorrah [06017]: their grapes [06025] are grapes [06025] of gall [07219], their clusters [0811] are bitter [04846]:
³³ Their wine [03196] is the poison [02534] of dragons [08577], and the cruel [0393] venom [07219] of asps [06620].

³³ Hear [191] another [243] parable [3850]: There was [2258] a certain [444] [5100] householder [3617], which [3748] planted [5452] a vineyard [290], and [2532] hedged [5418] it [846] round about [4060], and [2532] digged [3736] a winepress [3025] in [1722] it [846], and [2532] built [3618] a tower [4444], and [2532] let [1554] it [846] out [1554] to husbandmen [1092], and [2532] went into a far country [589]:

¹¹ Binding [0631] his foal [05895] unto the vine [01612], and his ass's [0860] colt [01121] unto the choice vine [08321]; he washed [03526] his garments [03830] in wine [03196], and his clothes [05497] in the blood [01818] of grapes [06025]:

⁸ And the daughter [01323] of Zion [06726] is left [03498] as a cottage [05521] in a vineyard [03754], as a lodge [04412] in a garden of cucumbers [04750], as a besieged [05341] city [05892].

⁵ And now go to; I will tell [03045] you what I will do [06213] to my vineyard [03754]: I will take away [05493] the hedge [04881] thereof, and it shall be eaten up [01197]; and break down [06555] the wall [01447] thereof, and it shall be trodden down [04823]:

² And he fenced [05823] it, and gathered out the stones [05619] thereof, and planted [05193] it with the choicest vine [08321], and built [01129] a tower [04026] in the midst [08432] of it, and also made [02672] a winepress [03342] therein: and he looked [06960] that it should bring forth [06213] grapes [06025], and it brought forth [06213] wild grapes [0891].
³ And now, O inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389], and men [0376] of Judah [03063], judge [08199], I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard [03754].
⁴ What could have been done [06213] more to my vineyard [03754], that I have not done [06213] in it? wherefore [04069], when I looked [06960] that it should bring forth [06213] grapes [06025], brought it forth [06213] wild grapes [0891]?

³³ Their wine [03196] is the poison [02534] of dragons [08577], and the cruel [0393] venom [07219] of asps [06620].

⁴ All the days [03117] of his separation [05145] shall he eat [0398] nothing that is made [06213] of the vine [03196] tree [01612], from the kernels [02785] even to the husk [02085].

²¹ Yet I had planted [05193] thee a noble vine [08321], wholly a right [0571] seed [02233]: how then art thou turned [02015] into the degenerate plant [05494] of a strange [05237] vine [01612] unto me?

¹⁰ All the land [0776] shall be turned [05437] as a plain [06160] from Geba [01387] to Rimmon [07417] south [05045] of Jerusalem [03389]: and it shall be lifted up [07213], and inhabited [03427] in her place, from Benjamin's [01144] gate [08179] unto the place [04725] of the first [07223] gate [08179], unto the corner [06434] gate [08179], and from the tower [04026] of Hananeel [02606] unto the king's [04428] winepresses [03342].

¹⁷ I smote [05221] you with blasting [07711] and with mildew [03420] and with hail [01259] in all the labours [04639] of your hands [03027]; yet ye turned not to me, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

¹³ Put [07971] ye in the sickle [04038], for the harvest [07105] is ripe [01310]: come [0935], get you down [03381]; for the press [01660] is full [04390], the fats [03342] overflow [07783]; for their wickedness [07451] is great [07227].

¹⁰ And gladness [08057] is taken away [0622], and joy [01524] out of the plentiful field [03759]; and in the vineyards [03754] there shall be no singing [07442], neither shall there be shouting [07321]: the treaders [01869] shall tread out [01869] no wine [03196] in their presses [03342]; I have made their vintage shouting [01959] to cease [07673].

⁸ And the daughter [01323] of Zion [06726] is left [03498] as a cottage [05521] in a vineyard [03754], as a lodge [04412] in a garden of cucumbers [04750], as a besieged [05341] city [05892].

¹ And [2532] he began [756] to speak [3004] unto them [846] by [1722] parables [3850]. A certain man [444] planted [5452] a vineyard [290], and [2532] set [4060] an hedge about [5418] it, and [2532] digged [3736] a place for the winefat [5276], and [2532] built [3618] a tower [4444], and [2532] let [1554] it [846] out [1554] to husbandmen [1092], and [2532] went into a far country [589].

¹¹ And Pharaoh's [06547] cup [03563] was in my hand [03027]: and I took [03947] the grapes [06025], and pressed [07818] them into Pharaoh's [06547] cup [03563], and I gave [05414] the cup [03563] into Pharaoh's [06547] hand [03709].

³³ He smote [05221] their vines [01612] also and their fig trees [08384]; and brake [07665] the trees [06086] of their coasts [01366].

⁴⁷ He destroyed [02026] their vines [01612] with hail [01259], and their sycomore trees [08256] with frost [02602].

⁴ And it came to pass afterward [0310], that he loved [0157] a woman [0802] in the valley [05158] of Sorek [07796], whose name [08034] was Delilah [01807].

³ And Samson [08123] lay [07901] till midnight [02677] [03915], and arose [06965] at midnight [02677] [03915], and took [0270] the doors [01817] of the gate [08179] of the city [05892], and the two [08147] posts [04201], and went away [05265] with them, bar [01280] and all, and put [07760] them upon his shoulders [03802], and carried them up [05927] to the top [07218] of an hill [02022] that is before [06440] Hebron [02275].

²³ And they came [0935] unto the brook [05158] of Eshcol [0812], and cut down [03772] from thence a branch [02156] with one [0259] cluster [0811] of grapes [06025], and they bare [05375] it between two [08147] upon a staff [04132]; and they brought of the pomegranates [07416], and of the figs [08384].

²² And they ascended [05927] by the south [05045], and came [0935] unto Hebron [02275]; where Ahiman [0289], Sheshai [08344], and Talmai [08526], the children [03211] of Anak [06061], were. (Now Hebron [02275] was built [01129] seven [07651] years [08141] before [06440] Zoan [06814] in Egypt [04714].)