Vine. This well-known and valuable plant is the subject of frequent Biblical notjce and a conspicuous element of ( )riental agriculture.
I. The following Hebrew words denote the vine :
1. Gephen ("Sii), or, more definitely, y^YjAew haii-y('n/in (""'"v!' "??)i "f frequent occurrence in the Bible, and used in a general setise. Indeed, gephen sometimes is applied to a plant that resembles a vine in some particu- lars, as T^"^'^ "|5S {(/ephen sadeh), 2 Kings iv, 39, i.e. probably the colocynth plant [see (iOUi:i>], or CTp 'S3i (gephen sedom), the vine of Sodom, certaiidy not a vine. See Vine of Sodom.
2. Sorek (p^'J), or soreldh (rip'^w), is a term ex- pressive of some choice kind of vine (.Ter. ii, 21 ; Isa. v, 2; Gen. xlix, 11), supposed to be identical with that now called iti Morocco serki and in Persia kishmish, with small round dark berries and soft stones (see Niebuhr, Dcscript. de rArabie, p. 147; and Oedmann. Sainmlung, ii, 97). From the passage in Jeremiah, it is clear that the snrvk denotes not another species of vine, but the common vine which by some process of cultiva- tion attained a high state of excellence.
3. Nazir (~i''t"), originally applied to a Nazarite wlio did not shave his hair, expresses au '• undressed vine"
(jic It P imtnij; of the
VINE
TOl
(A. v.), i.e. one which every seventh and every fiftieth vcar was not pruned (see (ieseniiis, T/ie.foiir.s.v.).
The regular Greek word lor " vine" is u/in-fXoc, "f c;eneric signitication.
(Jrapes are designated by various names: (1.) Eshkol (53'i"X) is either "a cluster," ripe or unripe, like rtice- ?;»/.<.•. or a "single grape" (as iu Isa. Ixv, 8; Mic.vii, 1). {■>.) 'Eiidb (Z'.S); Arab, cjiiob, "a cluster." (3.) Boser (~G'3), sour, i. e. unripe grapes (Isa. xviii, 5). (4.) Ze- iiKirdh (n"i''"2T), "a grape cut off." The " blossom" of tlie vine is called semnddr ("I'I'Cp"), Cant, ii, 13, lo. '• Grape - stones" are probably meant by chartsamiim (C"'2:2in); A.V. " kernel," Numb, vi, i. The "cuticle" of the grape is denominated zd)/ (M\ ibid. ^oc. c«V. ; the " tendrils" by sariyim (n"'5"'l''i'), Joel i, 7. See Gkape.
highly valued, iiine. Verjuice
VINE
The sap was at one time used in med-
Vine of Palestine.
II. The grape-vine ( Vitis vinifera) is supposed to be native on the shores of the Caspian. Its culture "ex- tends from about the twenty-tirst to the fiftieth degree of north latitude, and reaches from Portugal on the west to the confines of India on the east. It is, however, only along the centre of this zone tliat the finest wines are made, those on the north being harsh and austere; and the grapes grown at the south are better adapted for making raisins, unless when they are grown in ele- vated positions or on the slopes of mountains. Liebig states that the wines of warm countries possess no odor; wines grown in France have it in a marked degree; but in the wines from the Rhine the perfume is most in- tense" (Hogg, Ve(]el. Kinr/dom, p. 181). It may be added that not only is it largely and successfully cultivated in the new world of America, but that, carried across the equator, it thrives in Southern Africa and in the Aus- tralian colonies, and may be regarded as the companion of the human family in nearly all the mild and genial regions of its sojourn. 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 intermediate country.
Every part of the vine was, and still continues to be,
pressed from wild grapes is well known for its acidity. The late Sir A. Burnes rnen- tions that in Cabnl tliey use grape powder, obtained by drying and powdering the unripe fruit, as a pleasant acid." When ripe, the i'ruit is everywhere highly es- teemed, both fresh and in its dried state as raisins. The juice of the ripe fruit, called mtisl, is valued as a pleasant beverage. 15y 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 consequence of yield- ing a salt which we now know to be carbonate of potash. The first mention of the vine in Scripture occurs in Gen. ix, 20: "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." Jlany are of opinion that wine was not unknown before the Deluge, and that the patriarch only continued to cultivate the vine after that event, as he "had done before it; but the fathers think that he knew not the force of wine, having never used it before, nor having seen any one use it. The grape- vine is found wild at this day in the neighborhood of Noah's first vineyard, at the foot of M(nmt Ararat. Humboldt found "it on the shores of the Caspian, in Caramania, and in Armenia. It is also a native of tJeorgia and of the northern parts of Persia, but does not extend to India, though several plants of the same family are common among the mountains of the north- ern parts of that rich country.
Egypt is nowadays by no means eminent for its grapes; but the first "time after the planting of Noah's vineyard that we find the vine mentioned in Scripture, it is "the vine of Egypt (Gen. xl, 9-1 1 ; comp. Numb, xx, 5; Psa. Ixxviii, 47). Even although we had not the references in Herodotus, and the tradition ascribing to Osiris the invention of wine, the frequency with which the plant or its fruit is figured on Egyptian monuments shows how important it must once have been. See ViXEVAiiD. The vine, however, was not a native of Egypt, nor does the climate favor it. In ancient times, as^'ve learn from the monuments, great care was taken in its culture, but with comparatively little success; and hence the surprise of tlie spies when sent to survey the promised land at the immense clusters of grapes they fomid. Fearing that their account of their great size would not be credited by persons accustomed to the less productive vines of Egypt, they brought back a cluster of the grapes to convince them, as we learn in Numb, xiii, 23^ 24: "And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two, upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. The place was'called Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence." Some wine, indeed, has been made in Lower Egypt ni different ages, but it was never celebrated either for quality or quantity. From the fortieth chapter of Gen- esis, where the dream of Pliaraoh's chief butler is re- lated, it would appear that the juice of the grape fresh- pressed was drunk by the king, and possibly the Egyp- tian grape-juice at that time was used in the state of vnist. But though the Pliaraohs drank of the " blood of the grape" in this imperfect state, the Ptolemies rev- elled in the raaturer wines of Palestine, Cyprus, and Greece; and one of them, as .Josephns tells ns, among some magnificent gifts sent to the Temple of Jerusalem, renewed Ihe Golden Vine, the symbol of the Jewish na- tion, of which the treasury had been robbed. Rosen- mhller tells us that in the Temple, above and around a gate seventy cubits high, which led from the porch to the holy place, a richly carved vine was extended as a border "and decoration. The branches, tendrils, an<l leaves were of the finest gold, the stalks of the bunches were of the length of the human form, and the bunches hanging upon them were of costly jewels. Herod first placed it there; rich and patriotic Jews from time to time added to its embellishment, one contributing a