09. Principal Vegetable Products

Principal Vegetable Products Vines and Vineyards

1. Palestine was very much celebrated for its vines, and for the wine which they afforded; they still grow exceedingly well, from one end of the country to the other; and both the clusters and the grapes are often of very large size (Num 13:23). Clusters weighing ten or twelve pounds, and grapes as large as prunes, are mentioned by travellers. The varieties differ, of course, in size, as well as in quality, and the largest are not necessarily the best. A small white grape is, indeed, considered the best that grows in that quarter, and may be the celebrated “vine of Sorek.” The grapes of Palestine are mostly black and red varieties; hence the wine was generally red, whence arose the phrase “blood of grapes” (Gen 49:11; Deu 32:14; Isa 27:2).

2. Vineyards—The modes of cultivation were, and still are, various. In general the sides of hills were preferred; and Lebanon was particularly famous for its vines and wines (Hos 14:7). The hill-side vineyards often rose in successive terraces, faced with stone, which collected and retained the soil brought down from the higher parts by the rains; this continues to be the prevalent mode for all kinds of cultivation in Lebanon, and there are still large traces of it in the hills of Palestine (Isa 5:1; Jer 31:5; Joe 3:18; Amo 9:13; Mic 1:6). In Lebanon, and some other parts, the vine is allowed to run along the ground, like the cucumber (Eze 17:6-7). Sometimes several vines are so planted as to support one another, by being fastened together at the top, so as to form a kind of cone. In other cases they grow without support, having stout stems and extensive branches, which the Israelites used often to prop and train, so as to form a pleasant shade. Hence, “sitting under one’s own vine,” is a frequent phrase for a state of repose and comfort (1Ki 4:25; Hos 2:12; Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10). In many of the vineyards there are still watch-towers of stone, round or square, from ten to fifteen or twenty feet high, in which keepers are stationed, during the season of the grape, to protect the fruit from injury or pillage (Isa 5:2; Mat 21:33). The passing traveller was allowed to pluck and eat grapes from the way-side vineyards, but not to carry them away in his vessel (Deu 23:24). Many minute allusions to processes in the culture of the vine manifest the very great attention which was paid to it by the ancient Hebrews. There are fine allegories based upon this culture in Psa 80:8-15; Isa 5:1-7; Isa 27:2-6; Mat 21:33-41.

Wine-Press

3. Vintage—Grapes may always be had after June, but the regular vintage does not begin until the middle of September, and is not over everywhere until the middle of November. The gleanings of the vineyard, as well as of the corn-field, were left to the poor (Lev 19:10). The vintage was a season of gladness (Jdg 9:27; Isa 16:10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33); and, with loud shouts and other signs of rejoicing, the grapes were plucked off and carried to the wine-press, which was generally in the vineyard (Isa 5:2; Hag 2:16; Zec 14:10; Mat 21:33; Rev 14:19-20). The Wine-presses were either formed with stones, and covered with an insoluble cement, or were, in certain situations, hewn out of the rock, forming an elevated reservoir, into which the grapes were thrown, and were trodden upon by men to press out the juice. The expressed juice flowed through gratings or apertures into a lower receptacle outside, or into large vessels of stone or earthenware. From the Egyptian paintings, we see that a beam was temporarily erected over the press, from which thongs were suspended, by which the men held on as they trod the grapes, and which must have been a great support to them in their work. Although laborious, this work was performed with great animation—with songs, and with a shout or cry, peculiar to the occasion; and was sometimes accompanied by instrumental music (Isa 16:9-10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:32-33).

Olive Tree

4. The Olive Tree—The olive rarely becomes a large tree, and its dull whitish foliage does not deserve the name of verdure; but there was no tree more honored by the Israelites, or more truly valuable to them. It was an object of special culture in plantations or ^“ olive yards,” for the sake of the valuable oil obtained from the fruit. This oil is drawn, not from the kernel, as with most other vegetable oils, but from the fleshy part (pericarp) of the fruit. Vast quantities were obtained and it was not only used profusely, with food, for light, and for anointings, but large quantities remained for traffic with the Tyrians and others (Eze 27:17). The oil, like the juice of the grape, appears to have been extracted by treading (Mic 6:15). The fruit itself does not seem to have been commonly eaten. The olive is an evergreen tree, and although small, singly, two or three trunks frequently rise from the same root. It is from twenty to thirty feet high, and the branches are numerous and very widely extended. The Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, was so named from the numerous olive trees that once grew there; and some remarkable old olive trees are still found thereon.

5. The Fig Tree—Fig trees were common in Palestine. They are tall but irregular trees, whose expanded shade was deemed very pleasant (1Ki 4:25; Mic 4:4). The fig tree sprouts at the vernal equinox, and affords three crops of fruit, the first of which (called the Untimely Fig) appears before the leaves in spring, and ripens about the end of June (Mat 21:19; Mark 11:13); this has the best flavor (Jer 24:2), and is eaten green. The others are dried in the sun, and preserved in masses, or, as they are called in the Bible, “cakes” of figs (1Sa 25:18; 1Sa 30:12; 2Ki 20:7; 1Ch 12:40).

Sycamore Fig

6. The Sycamore, or rather the Sycamore Fig Tree, is not the common sycamore. It is a large tree, with leaves like the mulberry, and fruit not unlike the fig, to which joint resemblance it owes its name. It is more common, and grows larger, in Egypt than in Palestine. The trunk is often very thick, and the branches spread out widely, affording a most ample shade. The wood is light and insubstantial, but lasts a long while, and was much used in building by the Hebrews (as by the Egyptians) till they found means of getting cedar wood from Lebanon (1Ki 10:21). The fruit grows out of the trunk of the tree, in clusters, and chiefly differs from a fig in the absence of seeds, and in a cloying sweetness not much relished by Europeans; the tree yields several successive crops during the year, but the fruit will not ripen without being wounded by the cultivators; this was an employment of the prophet Amos (Amo 7:14). We learn from 1Ch 27:28, that the tree was largely cultivated in Palestine, doubtless for the fruit.

Almond Tree

7. The Almond Tree grows extensively in Palestine, and forms a handsome and picturesque tree. It blossoms in winter; which fact, together with the whiteness of the blossoms, furnished the Hebrew poets with a beautiful emblem of old age (Ecc 12:5). The nut of the almond, and the oil of that nut, are well known to us; the former is the kernel of a fruit unfit to be eaten. The almond was considered one of the distinguishing products of Palestine (Gen 43:11); and the branches of the tree furnished rods of office (Num 17:8).

8. The Palm—This famous tree is now but rarely seen in Palestine, although in former times it was so abundant as to be made the symbol of that country. It was, however, confined to the plains and valleys, and was most frequent in the valley of the Jordan, and the plain of the Coast (Lev 23:40; Deu 34:3; Jdg 1:16; Jdg 3:13; Jdg 4:5). This tree, with its straight and lofty stem without branches, but crowned by a splendid tuft of evergreen foliage, was justly admired by the Hebrews, who carved it in ornamental work (1Ki 6:32), made it the symbol of a beautiful person (Song of Solomon 7:8), and also of a religious upright man (Psa 1:3; Psa 92:12). It was also the symbol of victory (Rev 7:9). At the Feast of Tabernacles the Jews bore palm-branches in their hands (Lev 23:40); and they strewed them in the path of kings, as they publicly entered their cities (Mat 21:8). The palm produces large clusters of dates, which become ripe in autumn, and which are consumed in various ways—fresh, preserved, or dried; and form no small part of man’s food in southwestern Asia. In 2Ch 31:5 [margin], “dates” are mentioned along with “corn, wine, and oil,” as among the principal products of Palestine.

Palm Tree

9. The Terebinth Tree is one of the most common forest trees of Palestine. Its name does not appear in our Bibles; but it is supposed to be intended in words which are translated “a plain” and “an oak.” It is a long-lived but moderately-sized tree, with branches very extensive, and head very large in proportion to the trunk. It is an ever-green; the leaves, like those of the olive, being of a green color intermixed with red and purple. The name of Terebinth tree, or Turpentine tree, is from the turpentine which exudes from the trunk when the bark is wounded. There was, formerly, a very large and very old terebinth tree in the valley of Mamre, Dear Hebron, around which a great fair was held, in the belief that the angels were entertained beneath its shade by Abraham (Gen 18:4). A noble old oak is now found near the same place the Pistachio Tree which is allied to the terebinth, afforded the “nuts” which Jacob sent to Egypt, as one of the most valued products of the land of Canaan (Gen 43:11). This smoothshelled nut, with its green kernel, grows in clusters, and is nowhere finer than in Syria. The tree which yields them is from twenty to thirty feet high, and is by no means remarkable for its beauty. But it interests the traveller from being found in such places as or Mount Tabor, and on the very top of the mountain (Attarus, probably the same as Nebo), supposed to be that from which Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Deu 34:1).

Terebinth Tree

11. The Mulberry Tree was evidently very common it Palestine formerly, as it is still (2Sa 5:23-24; 1Ch 14:14-15), although all parts of the country are not equally favorable to its growth. In and under Lebanon the mulberry tree is largely cultivated for the sake of its leaves, as the food of silk-worms, and is cropped and dressed so as to afford the greatest quantity; but in the gardens of Palestine it is allowed to grow after its own fashion. In the East it is very common to have trees growing in the courts of houses, and in Palestine these are often mulberry trees.

12. The Pomegranate Tree—This is a thick and bushy fruit tree, with thorny twigs, rising twenty feet high. The fruit is about the size of an orange, and contains within its hard, leathery, and reddish-brown rind, many orderly rows of seeds or grains, invested with a red and lustrous pulp, which gives them the appearance of rubies. This pulp affords the pleasant juice for the sake of which the grains are eaten; and of which various pleasant and refreshing summer drinks -are made (Num 20:5; Deu 8:8; Solomon’s Song of Solomon 4:13; Song of Solomon 6:11; Song of Solomon 7:12).The fruit was much esteemed by the Jews, and was imitated by them in their ornamental works (Exo 28:33-34; 1Ki 7:18).

Cedar Tree

13. The Cedar Tree which is so often mentioned in the Bible, is rather a tree of the Lebanon mountains than of Palestine generally. In those mountains many groves of cedars, of all sizes and ages., have, of late years, been discovered. Formerly, one grove, which lies high up, not far from the northern and, perhaps, highest summit of the mountains, was regarded as the only remnant of the ancient cedars of Lebanon, and was, as such, visited and described by various travellers. It still contains the largest and most ancient trees which have been found, together with many of inferior age and size. Altogether there are some hundreds of trees in this famous grove, and the number seems rather to increase than diminish. The largest of the trees is about forty feet in circumference, and several others are nearly as large. In some instances several trees have grown together, and now form one. The Israelites being but poorly furnished with timber trees, were glad to get cedar wood, for building, from Lebanon, through the Phoenicians of Tyre, who brought it along the coast in floats, and landed it at Joppa (1Ki 5:6; 1Ki 5:10; 1Ki 9:11; 2Ch 1:15; 2Ch 2:8; Ezr 3:7).