Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 13:23
And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and [they brought] of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
23. a staff ] Perhaps a bar; the same word as in Num 4:10.
the wady of Eshcol ] The Heb. naal denotes a stream and the small valley or gorge through which it flows. The modern wdy is the nearest equivalent. It is never used of a large river, nor of a wide flat valley or plain. The wdy of Eshcol has not been identified.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The brook of Eshcol is by some identified with the rich valley immediately to the north of Hebron; (but by others with Wady Hanein to the south of Hebron). The valley was, in all likelihood, originally named after one of the three chiefs who were confederate with Abraham Gen 14:24; but, as often came to pass, the Israelites, wittingly or unwittingly, took up in a new and significant sense the name which they found; and to them the valley thus became the Valley of the Cluster. Bunches of grapes are found in Palestine of many pounds weight.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Num 13:23-24
The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes.
Grapes of Eshcol
I. The true inquirers into the divine will ever have their reward. There are grapes for every student of Gods Book.
II. The region promised to the good is rich in blessing. Their highest enjoyments on earth are only the taste of a few grapes of the heavenly world.
III. The vast majority of the human family have ever been marked by meanness of soul. Not only did these specimens fail to inspire the millions of Israel to go and take possession of the land, but even ten out of the twelve discoverers lost heart. Talk not of majorities! (Homilist.)
Glimpses of the promised land
I. Consider the narrative itself.
1. The evil report. Not one word of encouragement do they offer–no reference do they make to that Divine protection which they had experienced during their perilous search–no exhortation do they utter, urging the people to obey the Divine command. Their report was essentially an evil one, calculated to dishearten the people–to raise prejudices in their minds. Now the conduct of these spies has always, and I think rightly, been regarded as illustrative of the conduct of those who are dismayed by the difficulties which attend a religious life. For it cannot be denied that these are numerous and formidable. This does not admit of a doubt and it ought not to be concealed.
2. Very different was the testimony which Caleb and Joshua bore. These faithful men thought and acted for themselves. Singularity for its own sake is always to be avoided, since it may arise from a desire to attract notice and thus be the mere offspring of vanity. But when truth is concerned, then, though we should stand alone, it becomes us to avow it. There never was a more false or dangerous maxim than that the voice of the people is the voice of God: it is much more frequently the voice of the devil–the voice of impulses which he has excited and of passions which he has stirred.
II. Consider the spiritual lessons which this narrative suggests. Glimpses of the promised land! No Christian is without them, for there are foretastes of heaven even on earth.
1. There are glimpses of the promised land which we obtain by faith. God has discovered to us in His Word a better country, and though a wise reserve is maintained, yet much information is afforded us with regard to it.
2. There are glimpses of the promised land which we obtain when we possess the first-fruits of the Spirit. In the grace that you now receive you have a type of the glory which is yet to be revealed. In the peace which you now enjoy, you have a type of the perfect happiness you will soon experience. In the purity which you now possess you have a type of the spotless holiness in which you will be hereafter arrayed. In the communion which you now hold with God you have a type of that more intimate fellowship which is the privilege of heaven.
3. Glimpses of the promised land are often vouchsafed to the Christian at an early stage of his experience. But there was much for us to learn, and God sent us into the wilderness to learn it. After all, our experience was superficial–our feelings were stronger than our principles–our faith needed trial, and so, like the Israelites we have been led about and instructed. Do not complain, therefore, because your experience is not what it once was. God gave you, at the outset of your Christian career, a glimpse of the promised land, and the memory of this may cheer you now when you mourn because of the travel and toil of the wilderness.
4. Glimpses of the promised land are often enjoyed by the believer at the close of life. This is not invariably the case, but it frequently is so, as a reward for eminent piety. (H. J. Gamble.)
A cloister of gospel grapes
Strabo states that in Bible times and in Bible lands there were grape-vines so large that it took two men with outstretched arms to reach round them, and he says there were clusters two cubits in length, or twice the length from the elbow to the tip of the long finger. And Achaieus, dwelling in those lands, tells us that during the time he was smitten with fever one grape would slake his thirst for the whole day. No wonder, then, that in these Bible times two men thought it worth their while to put their strength together to carry down one cluster of grapes from the promised land. But I bring you a larger cluster from the heavenly Eshcol–a cluster of hopes, a cluster of prospects, a cluster of Christian consolations; and I am expecting that one taste of it will rouse up your appetite for the heavenly Canaan.
1. First, I console you with the Divinely sanctioned idea that your departed friends are as much yours now as they ever were. That child, O stricken mother! is as much yours this morning as in the solemn hour when God put it against your heart and said as of old, Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages. It is no mere whim. It is a Divinely-planted principle in the soul, and God certainly would not plant a lie, and He would not culture a lie!
2. But I console you again with the fact of your present acquaintanceship and communication with your departed friends.
3. I console you still further with the idea of a resurrection. On that day you will get back your Christian dead. There is where the comfort comes in. And oh, the reunion; oh, the embrace after so long an absence! Comfort one another with these words. (T. de Witt Talmage.)
Eshcol
Contemplate that cluster which they bear–that earnest of rich fields. These grapes are proof of Canaans exuberant fertility. So, too, there is a heavenly Eshcol before faiths eye. It shows delicious clusters. The joy before Christ cheered His heart. The joy before us should gird up our loins. This cluster was the vines perfection. So, too, perfection is the essence of our heaven. Nothing can enter there to stain, &c. Oh, what a contrast to our present state I In the true Eshcols cluster there is this richer fruit; Jesus is seen. This is the crown of heaven. The rising of the sun makes day. The presence of the king constitutes the court. The revelation of the Lord, without one intervening cloud, is the grand glory of the endless kingdom. Believer, what will it be to gaze on the manifested beauty of Him who is altogether lovely! What, to comprehend all that Jesus is! What, never to lose sight of Him! Are you a traveller towards this heaven? (Dean Law.)
Foretastes of heaven
Land-birds of beautiful plumage greeted Columbus days before his eye caught a glimpse of the New World. A more southern voyager found himself in the fresh water of the Amazon before discovering the continent whence they came. So at the close of lifes voyage do birds of paradise come hitherward, careering on bright wings, and the river of life sends its refreshing current far out into the briny sea of this world.
The pomegranate
People in the East have always been fond of using fruits and flowers as symbols. Thus lots of pomegranates were carved as sacred emblems upon Jachin and Boaz, the two chief pillars in the temple (1Ki 7:18), embroidered on the priests garments (Exo 28:33).
I. Our religion should be delightful. The pomegranate is delightful to every sense; for it gladdens the eye, and is a favourite ornament. Its leaf is bright green and lustrous; its wood is yellow and graceful; its blossom is well shaped and scarlet. The good is the beautiful, beautiful with Gods beauty. The pomegranate is also very fragrant. It sweetens the air and breathes benediction all around. You should behold flowers and plants not with the eyes of the gardener who plants them, nor of the child who plucks them, nor of the merchant who buys them, but of the Christian who finds in them sweet suggestions of the love of God. The pomegranate is also delightful to the taste, for its juice is very delicious. It was also in Bible times very delightful to the mind: for, like the olive it was an emblem of peace. Invading armies cut down the fruit trees, and one of the first to fall before the sword and fire was the pomegranate, as it was a shrub rather than a tree. This was one reason why it was so popular, as it was a sign of long-continued peace. It was thus a token of the religion of peace.
II. Our religion, like the pomegranate, should be very useful. It was good for medicine. Every part of it had healing virtue, and it heals several of the diseases that are most common in the East–sore throat, dysentery, &c. You know that all green things are literally for the healing of the nations. The religion of Jesus, when real in the heart, always sweetens the breath of society and heals many sores. Our plant is also good for drink. It is very juicy, and has a remarkable quality of quenching thirst in these hot climes. Its delicate juice is often manufactured into wine, and is a great favourite with the sick, and indeed with all classes. It is also good for food. Do not suppose that the religion of Jesus is good for the world to come but not good for this. It is the sincere Christian alone who gets out of this present life all the good it can yield him. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
III. Our religion, like the pomegranate, should be very fruitful–fruitful both in ourselves and in the world. When our Saviour speaks of the fruit bearing of His disciples, He means such rich fruit as you find on the Syrian soil, and under the wonder-working Syrian sun. We never see anything like it in our cloudy clime. Why, the seeds in one pomegranate might soon fill a grove, if none of them were spoiled. I was allured the other day to a splendid horse-chestnut. I pulled one of its blossoms, but I was disgusted with it, and at once flung it away. It was ruffled and bedashed with rain, bored through by flies, discoloured with dust–I flung away the ragged, blighted, deflowered thing. Many a beautiful and promising young life soon becomes like that outcast blossom. One of the darkest things to me in the world is the ease with which a fine young life is sometimes injured. But if you yield your heart early to Christ, and gladly take Him as your Teacher, Saviour, and Guide, how delightful, useful, and fruitful your life may become–it may grow as the pomegranate. You can set no bounds to the possibilities of good that belong to the very humblest Christian. A portrait of Dante was discovered lately; he was ,holding a pomegranate in his hand. Perhaps it had charmed the poet as an emblem of what he desired to be. (James Wells, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. They bare it between two upon a staff] It would be very easy to produce a great number of witnesses to prove that grapes in the promised land, and indeed in various other hot countries, grow to a prodigious size. By Calmet, Scheuchzer, and Harmer, this subject has been exhausted, and to these I may refer the reader. Pliny mentions bunches of grapes in Africa each of which was larger than an infant. Radzvil saw at Rhodes bunches of grapes three quarters of an ell in length, each grape as large as a plum. Dandini saw grapes of this size at Mount Libanus; and Paul Lucas mentions some bunches which he saw at Damascus that weighed above forty-five pounds. From the most authentic accounts the Egyptian grape is very small, and this being the only one with which the Israelites were acquainted, the great size of the grapes of Hebron would appear still more extraordinary. I myself once cut down a bunch of grapes nearly twenty pounds in weight. Those who live in cold climates can scarcely have any conception to what perfection both grapes and other fruits grow in climates that are warm, and where the soil is suitable to them.
From what is mentioned Nu 13:20, Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes, it is very probable that the spies received their orders about the beginning of August, and returned about the middle of September, as in those countries grapes, pomegranates, and figs, are ripe about this time; see Harmer, vol. i., p. 108-110. At Sheeraz, in Persia, I find from a MS. journal, that the small white grape, askerie, came into season August 6; and pomegranates September 6; and the large red grape, sahibi, September 10.
The spies’ carrying the bunch of grapes on a staff between two men was probably not rendered necessary by the size of the bunch or cluster; but to preserve it from being bruised, that the Israelites might have a fair specimen of the fruit As Joshua and Caleb were the only persons who gave a favourable account of the land, it is most likely that they were the persons who had gathered these fruits, and who brought them to the Israelitish camp. And it is likely they were gathered as short a time as possible before their return, that they might not be injured by the length of the time they had been separated from their respective trees.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Upon a staff; either for the weight of it, considering the length of the way they were to carry it, or for the preservation of it whole and entire. In those eastern and southern countries there are vines and grapes of an extraordinary bigness, as Strabo and Pliny affirm.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. they came unto the brook ofEshcolthat is, “the torrent of the cluster.” Itslocation was a little to the southwest of Hebron. The valley and itssloping hills are still covered with vineyards, the character ofwhose fruit corresponds to its ancient celebrity.
and cut down from thence abranch with one cluster of grapesThe grapes reared in thislocality are still as magnificent as formerlythey are said by oneto be equal in size to prunes, and compared by another to a man’sthumb. One cluster sometimes weighs ten or twelve pounds. The mode ofcarrying the cluster cut down by the spies, though not necessary fromits weight, was evidently adopted to preserve it entire as a specimenof the productions of the promised land; and the impression made bythe sight of it would be all the greater because the Israelites werefamiliar only with the scanty vines and small grapes of Egypt.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they came unto the brook of Eshcol,…. Or “valley of Eshcol” u, which is here so called by anticipation from the following circumstance; and perhaps had not this name given it, until the children of Israel were possessed of the land, and then they called it so, in memory of what was done here at this time; it was not far from Hebron, as may be concluded from thence; and so Jerom, relating the travels of Paula in those parts, says w, she came from Betzur to Eshcol, where having seen the little cells of Sarah, the cradle of Isaac, and the traces of the oak of Abraham, under which he saw the day of Christ, and was glad, rising up from thence, she went up to Hebron; which shows this Eshcol to be near Hebron, and to lie low, and was a valley; see De 1:24;
and cut down from thence a branch, with one cluster of grapes; in this valley was a vineyard, or at least a vine tree, on which they observed one cluster, which perhaps was of an uncommon size, as it seems by what follows, and they cut down the branch, and that with it:
and they bare it between two upon a staff; it was so big; and which was not done only for the ease of carrying it, but that it might not have any of its grapes squeezed, bruised, and broken off, but that they might carry it entire and whole for the Israelites to behold: these two men were probably Caleb and Joshua; though Jarchi says they carried nothing, which is more than he could say with certainty. Some historians report very surprising things of the size of vines, and the largeness of their clusters, which, when observed, this account will not at all seem incredible. Strabo says x, it is reported, that in Hyrcania, a vine produced a firkin of wine, and, the trunk of a vine was so large, that it was as much as two men could grasp with both arms, and bore clusters of two cubits long y; the same he says z of the size of vines in Mauritania, and of their clusters being a cubit long; and of others in Carmania being two cubits long, as before a: it is reported of the Indian fig tree, that it sometimes has an hundred figs more or less on a branch, and all in a cluster like grapes; and some of the clusters are sometimes so large as to be carried by two men on a staff b, as here; and some have thought, that it is the fruit here meant; but this is expressly called a cluster of grapes. About half a mile from Eshcol, as Adrichomius c says, was the brook or valley of Sorek, which was famous for vines; and it is affirmed by many writers and travellers, that to this day there are vines in that place, which produce clusters of twenty five pounds weight and more; and that in Lebanon, and other parts of Syria, the kernels of grapes are as big as a man’s thumb d. Leo Africanus speaks e of grapes in some parts of Africa somewhat red, which, from their size, are called hens’ eggs: and the Talmudists f are extravagant, and beyond all belief, in the account they give of the vines in the land of Canaan, and of the clusters of them, and the quantity of wine they had from them; and of this cluster they suppose g, that the “two” spoken of are not to be understood of men, but of bars or staves; and that this cluster was carried by eight, four at the four ends of the two staves, and that there were, besides, two staves or bars that went across, at the ends of which were four more men, who carried the cluster hanging in the middle; a figure of which Wagenseil h has given us: but Philo the Jew i has given a better account of it, and more agreeable to the Scripture, as that it was put upon a staff, and hung at the middle of it, the ends of which were laid on the shoulders of two young men, who carried it; though he adds, that such was the weight of it, that these were relieved by others in succession:
and [they brought] of the pomegranates, and of the figs; that is, others of them did; which seems to favour the notion that they were in a body, and that there were more than two together at this place; but even these two might be able to bring some of this sort of fruit along with them, as well as bear the cluster of grapes; besides, the text does not oblige us to understand it of the same persons in the same place.
u “vallem”, Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius. w Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59. G. H. x Geograph. l. 2. p. 50. y Ibid. z lbid. l. 17. p. 568. a Ibid. l. 15. p. 500. b Salmuth. in Pancirol. rer. memorab. par. 2. p. 55. c Theatrum Terrae Sacr. p. 24. d Huet. Alnetan. Quaest. l. 2. c. 12. sect. 22. e Descript. Africae, l. 2. p. 204. f T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 111. 2. g T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 34. 1. h Sotah, p. 707, 708. i De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 638.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The spies also came into the valley of Eshcol, where they gathered pomegranates and figs, and also cut down a vine-branch with grapes upon it, which two persons carried upon a pole, most likely on account of its extraordinary size. Bunches of grapes are still met with in Palestine, weighing as much as eight, ten, or twelve pounds, the grapes themselves being as large as our smaller plums (cf. Tobler Denkbltter, pp. 111, 112). The grapes of Hebron are especially celebrated. To the north of this city, on the way to Jerusalem, you pass through a valley with vineyards on the hills on both sides, containing the largest and finest grapes in the land, and with pomegranates, figs, and other fruits in great profusion (Robinson, Palestine, i. 316, compared with i. 314 and ii. 442). This valley is supposed, and not without good ground, to be the Eshcol of this chapter, which received its name of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), according to Num 13:24, from the bunch of grapes which was cut down there by the spies. This statement, of course, applies to the Israelites, and would therefore still hold good, even if the conjecture were a well-founded one, that this valley received its name originally from the Eshcol mentioned in Gen 14:13, Gen 14:24, as the terebinth grove did from Mamre the brother of Eshcol.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(23) The brook of Eshcol.This is commonly identified with the valley of Hebron. Ritter says that the reputation of the grapes of Hebron is so great throughout all Palestine that there is no difficulty in believing that the valley of Eshcol was that which is directly north of the city of Hebron. The valley may have derived its name originally from Eshcol, the brother of Mamre the Amorite (Gen. 14:13). In like manner the name of Mamre appears to have been transferred to the tree, or grove, of Mamre, which was opposite to the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 23:17); and in this manner Eshcol is closely connected with Hebron in Gen. 23:19 as it is in the present chapter.
Upon a staff.The majority of travellers concur in estimating the weight of the largest clusters commonly produced in Palestine at about ten or twelve pounds. Kitto, however, mentions an instance of a bunch of Syrian grapes produced in our own country weighing nineteen pounds, which was sent by the Duke of Portland to the Marquis of Rockingham, and which was carried more than twenty miles by four labourers, two of whom bore it by rotation upon a staff. The greatest diameter of this cluster was nineteen inches and a half (Pictorial Bible, in loc., 1855). The arrangement referred to in the text was probably made, not because the weight was too great for one person to carry, but in order to prevent the grapes from being crushed. The pomegranates and figs, which are still some of the most important fruits of Hebron (see The Land and the Book, p. 583), were probably carried on the same pole. The words may be rendered thus: And they bare it between two upon a staff; also some of the pomegranates and of the figs. This incident has obvious reference to the homeward journey of the spies. As the grapes of Eshcol were to the Israelites both a pledge and a specimen of the fruits of Canaan, so the communion which believers have with God on earth is a pledge as well as a foretaste of the blessedness of heaven.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. The brook of Eshcol A wady near Hebron. Says Tristram: “The walk up the valley revealed to us for the first time what Judah was everywhere else in the days of its prosperity. Bare and stony as are the hillsides, not an inch of space is lost. Terraces, where the ground is not too rocky, support the soil. Ancient vineyards cling to the lower slopes; olive, mulberry, almond, fig, and pomegranate trees fill every available cranny to the very crest, while the bottom of the valley is carefully tilled for corn, carrots, and cauliflowers, which will soon give place to melons and cucumbers. The culture is equal to that of Malta. Those who doubt the ancient records of the population, or the census of David, have only to look at this valley and by the light of its commentary to read the story of those cities.” Dr. Robinson says of the vineyards of Eshcol that “they are very fine, and produce the best grapes in all the country, and pomegranates and figs, as well as apricots, quinces, and the like, still grow there in great abundance.” Chap. Num 32:9, note.
Between two upon a staff On the return of the spies from the north they plucked a sample cluster and carried it upon a staff, not because of its great weight, but for the better protection of the grapes against being bruised. There are clusters of grapes produced in Palestine which weigh twelve pounds. By careful culture bunches weighing nearly twenty pounds have been produced. “The vine was the emblem of the nation on the coins of the Maccabees, and in the colossal cluster of golden grapes which overhung the porch of the second temple; and the grapes of Judah still mark the tombstones of the Hebrew races in the oldest of their European cemeteries at Prague.” Stanley.
Pomegranates A rich, delightful fruit of the apple kind, sometimes called “grained apples,” of somewhat the same medicinal virtues as the quince; its juice is like wine. It is ever-green, and forms rather a collection of stems, like coppice-wood, than a single tree, nor does it often exceed eight or ten feet in height. The general colour of the fruit is a dull russet-green. The outside rind is thin but tough, and its bitter juice is an indelible blue dye used by native dyers of cotton fabrics. The size is about that of the orange. Within, the grains are arranged in compartments as compactly as corn on the cob, and closely resemble those of the pale red corn, except that they are nearly transparent and very beautiful. This fruit is agreeable to the taste and pleasant to the eye. Figs are very wholesome and nutritious food when dried. The fig-tree belongs to the natural order of the breadfruit family, the trunk being often three feet in diameter. The ancient Greek wrestlers ate figs when training for the contest.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 13:23. They came unto the brook of Eshcol The original word signifies a brook or valley. Valley appears much more proper for this place, as it seems rather uncouth to say, they cut down a branch from a brook. The reason for the name Eshcol is given in the 24th verse. Some have thought that they bare this cluster of grapes upon a staff or bier, (see chap. Num 4:10.) merely on account of its size and weight; and, accordingly, authors are cited to prove, that the vines and grapes in those eastern countries are of an extraordinary magnitude, Huetius, in his Quaest.Alnet mentions bunches of grapes in some islands of the Archipelago, of thirty-six or forty pounds weight; and Pliny describes bunches of grapes in Africa which exceed the size of young children, quae infantum puerorum magnitudinem exsuperant. Strabo, in his Geog. lib. 2: reports, that in many provinces of the East, there are vine trees, which two men cannot encompass. Adam Olearus, an eye-witness, confirms the same thing; Itin. Pers. par. 3: p. 584. See Scheuchzer, who, notwithstanding these accounts of the largeness of the grapes, is of opinion, that they were carried on a bier, rather for the conveniency of preserving them from being bruised, than on account of the enormity of the weight. The reader will find in Calmet, on the place, a further account of the largeness of the grapes in many parts of the East.
REFLECTIONS.The spies immediately proceed on their errand; and having passed unsuspected through the land, perhaps in separate parties, they might on their return unite at Hebron, a place of great antiquity, and possessed by the sons of Anak, near unto which lay Machpelah, the burying-place of the patriarchs. They bring back with them a specimen of the land, enough to confirm God’s declaration, and to confute their own subsequent evil report. These grapes were a proof of the goodness of that land, and an earnest of their possessing it. Note; When faith goes up to spy out the heavenly Canaan, the present joys of believing are the foretastes of eternal bliss.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Num 13:23 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.
Ver. 23. And they bare it between two. ] Christum utrique portamus, ut botrum Israelitae, tum illi qui adventum Christi antecesserunt, tum nos, &c. So Christ is borne between the believers of both Testaments.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), calling attention to each of the three items.
grapes, &c. No mere accident that these three were brought. These symbolical of the “fruit” of our Land, even of Him Who is the true Vine. He comes first.
pomegranates. His worship comes next (largely used symbolically in tabernacle and temple, see Exo 27:28, Exo 27:29 and 2Ch 3 and 2Ch 4).
figs. The common support of life in the East, next to bread. These symbolize the common duties of life. (The grapes and pomegranates its luxuries and spiritual privileges).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
brook: or valley, Num 13:24, Num 32:9, Deu 1:24, Deu 1:25, Jdg 16:4
Reciprocal: Num 13:20 – the firstripe Num 13:28 – saw the Deu 2:13 – brook Jos 11:21 – the Anakims Jos 15:14 – General Jos 15:33 – Eshtaol Hos 9:10 – grapes Joe 1:12 – the pomegranate 2Co 5:5 – the earnest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 13:23-24. Upon a staff Either for the weight of it, considering the length of the way they were to carry it, or for the preservation of it whole and entire. In those eastern and southern countries there are vines and grapes of an extraordinary bigness, as Strabo and Pliny affirm. Eshcol That is, a cluster of grapes, as the word signifies.