VINE, THE qp, gephen), with its fruit, the Grape, my, anub, or t", yayin as well as Wine, is very frequently mentioned in 'Scripture, as might be expected from its being a native of the East, well known to ancient nations and highly esteemed tor its various natural and' artificial products. Homer and Herodotus mention the vine : Theo phrastus and Dioscorides treat of it in several chapters. But long before these times it was known to the Egyptians : representations of the careful culture of the vine, of the treading of the grapes and squeezing out its juice, and of the storing of the wine in jars, being all discoyered in the paintings within their tombs. Though culti vated at such early periods, the vine was not a native of Egypt, nor probably of Syria ; but both European and Asiatic writers mention it as a native of the hilly region on the southern shores of the Caspian, and in the Persian province of Ghilan. In the districts of the Caucasus, as well as in the elevated valley of Cashmere, the vine climbs to the tops of the loftiest trees, and the grapes are of fine quality and large size in many places of the inter mediate country. Every part of the vine was and still continues to be highly valued. The sap was at one time used in medicine. Vetjuice expressed from wild grapes is well known for its acidity. The late Sir A. Burnes mentions that in Caubul they use grape powder. obtained by drying and powdering the unripe fruit, as a pleasant acid. When ripe, the fruit is everywhere highly esteemed, both fresh, and in its dried state as raisins. The juice of the ripe fruit, called must, is valued as a pleasant beverage. By fermentation, wine, alcohol, and vinegar are obtained ; the lees yield tartar ; an oil is sometimes expressed from the seeds ; and the ashes of the twigs were formerly valued in conse quence of yielding a salt, which we now know to be carbonate of potash.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the vine is so frequently mentioned both in the O. and in the N. T., for it was one of the most valuable products of Palestine, and of particularly fine quality in some of the districts. Those of Eshcol, Sorek, Jibmah, Jazer, and Abel, were particularly distinguished. The men sent from ICadesh-barnea to explore the Promised Land brought back as a sign of its fertility—what would be sure to be appreciated by men who had been sojourning in the desert—a bunch of grapes from Eshcol, near IIebron, which they carried between them on a stick, probably to prevent its being bruised, but no doubt also on account of its great size. Modem travellers--as Dandini, Mariti, and Laborde--have described some of the grapes of Palestine as being of large. size. Nan affirms that in Syria he had seen clusters ten or twelve pounds in weight ; and Schulz states that he supped under a vine whose stem was about a foot and a half in diameter, its height about thirty feet, while its branches and branchlets, which had to be supported, formed a tent of upwards of thirty feet square. But this will appear nothing, extra
ordinary to those who have seen the vine at Hamp ton Court, which covers a space of 2200 square feet. And we have it on record that, even in our own country, a bunch of Syrian grapes was pro duced at Welbeck, which weighed nineteen pounds, and measured in length twenty-three inches, and nineteen and a half inches in its greatest diameter. It was sent as a present from the Duke of Port iand to the Marquess of Rockingham, and conveyed a distance of twenty miles, on a staff, by four labourers, two of whom bore it in rotation, thus affording a striking illustration of the proceeding of the spies (Kitto, Physic. Geog. of Palestine, p. cccxxx.) A fruitful vine is often adduced as an emblem of the IIebrew nation, and also the vine that was brought out of Egypt. A period of security and repose is figured by every one sitting under his own vine and fig-tree ; and prosperity by Judah, a lion's whelp, binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine ;' both indications of Eastern manners, where sitting in the shade is most pleasant, and tying cattle in similar situations a common practice. Of the vine there were no doubt seveml varieties, as of all cultivated plants, but that of Sorek is especially distinguished (Gen. xlix. r ; Jer. xi. zr). Rosenmiiller supposes this to be the variety called serik or sorik, which is cultivated not only in Syria, but also in Arabia and in the north of Africa. It appears to be the variety called kishmish, or the Persian bedana, which signifies without seed.' The vine must have been cultivated in very early times, as we are informed in Gen. ix. zo that Noah planted the vine immediately after the deluge ; and bread and wine are mentioned in Gen. xiv. 18. In Egypt also we have early notice of it (Gen. xl. 9, to), as Pharaoh's chief butler saw in a dream a vine with three branches ; and the Israelites complain (Num. xx. 5) that Moses and Aaron had brought them out of Egypt into that dry and barren land, where there were neither figs nor vines. The wines of Syria were in early times also highly esteemed ; and though the growth of the vine has much decreased, from the dimi nished population and the Mohammedan rule, yet travellers still speak with enthusiasm of some of the wines, as of the vino d'oro of Lebanon. As space will not permit us to notice all the pas sages in which the vine, the grape, and wine are mentioned, we must refer to Celsius, Hierobot. vol. i. pp. 400-444; Calmet's Dktionary ; Rosen miiller's Biblical Bot. p. 220 ; and to Kitto's Phy sical _History of Palestine, p. cccxxiv., in all of which the subject is amply discussed and clearly clucidated.—J. F. R.