Wine Press
Wine-press
is the rendering in the A.V. of three. Hebrew and one Greek words: , gath (“wine-press,” Jdg 6:11; Neh 13:15; Lam 1:15; “wine-fat,” Isa 63:2; “press,” Joe 3:13), which denotes the whole apparatus, SEE GETHSEMANE, or (as Gesenius prefers) simply the large vat () in which the grapes were trodden, the latter being a meaning specifically borne by , purah (“wine-press,” Isa 63:3; “press,” Hag 2:16); while yekeb (“wine-press,” Num 18:27; Num 18:30; Deu 15:14; Jdg 7:25; 2Ki 6:27; Job 24:11; Isa 5:2; Jer 48:33; Hos 9:2, Zec 14:10; “press,” Pro 3:10; Isa 16:10; “fat,” Joe 2:24; Joe 3:13; “press-fat,” Hag 2:16; “wine,”‘ Deu 16:13) is thought to denote the lower trough or receptacle into which the expressed juice flows, the of Mar 12:1.
The last Hebrew word is derived by Gesenius (Thesaur. page 619 b) from a root signifying to hollow or dig out; and in accordance with this is the practice in Palestine, where the “wine-press” and “vats” appear to have been excavated out of the native rock of the hills on which the vineyards lay. From these scanty notices contained in the Bible we gather that the wine- presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles or vats placed at different elevations, id the upper one of which the grapes were trodden, while the lower one received the expressed juice.. The two. vats are mentioned together only in Joe 3:13 : “The press (gath) is full; the fats (yekebim) overflow” the upper vat being full of fruit, the lower one overflowing with the must. Yekeb is similarly applied in Joe 2:24, and probably in Pro 3:10, where the verb rendered “burst out” in the A.V. may bear the more general sense of “abound” (Gesen. Thesaur. page 1130).
Gats is also strictly applied to the upper vat in Neh 13:15; Lam 1:15, and Isa 63:2, with purdh in a parallel sense in the following verse. Elsewhere yekeb is not strictly applied; for in Job 24:11, and Jer 48:33, it refers to the upper vat, just as in Mat 21:33, (properly the vat under the press) is substituted for , as given in Mar 12:1. It would, moreover, appear natural to describe the whole arrangement by the term gath, as denoting the most important portion of it; but, with the exception of “proper names in which the word appears, such as Gath, Gath-rinmmon, Gath-hepher, and Gittaimn, the termn ye’ekeb is applied to it (Jdg 7:25; Zec 14:10). The same term is also applied to the produce of the wine-press ( Num 18:27; Num 18:30; Deu 15:14; 2Ki 6:27; Hos 9:2). The term purdh, as used in Hag 2:16, perhaps refers to the contents of a winevat, rather than to the press or vat itself. The two vats were usually dug or hewn out of the solid rock (Isa 5:2, marg.; Mat 21:33). Ancient wine-presses, so constructed, are still to be seen in Palestine (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 3:137; comp. page 603).
Dr. Tristram examined several of these on Mount Carmel, which he describes as being exactly like others observed in the south of Judah. “In all cases a flat or gently sloping rock is made use of for their construction. At the upper end a trough is cut about three feet deep and four and a half by three and a half feet in length and breadth. Just below this, in the same rock, is hewn a second trough, fourteen inches deep and four feet by three in size. The two are connected by two or three small holes bored through the rock close to the bottom of the upper trough, so that, on the grapes being put in and pressed down, the juice streamed into the lower vat. Every vineyard seems to have had one of these presses” (Land of Israel, page 106). The wine-presses were thus permanent, and were sufficiently well known to serve as indications of certain localities (Jdg 7:25; Zec 14:10). The upper receptacle (gath) was large enough to admit of threshing being carried on in (not “by,” as in the A.V.) it, as was done by Gideon for the sake of concealment (Jdg 6:11). SEE PRESS; SEE VINEYARD.
In Palestine the vintage takes place in September, and is celebrated with great rejoicings (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1:431; 2:81). The ripe fruit was gathered in baskets (Jer 6:9), as represented in Egyptian paintings (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 1:41-45), and was carried to the wine-press. It was then placed in the upper one of the two vats or receptacles of which the wine-press was formed, and was subjected to the process of “treading,” which has prevailed in all ages in Oriental and South-European countries (Neh 13:15; Job 24:11; Isa 16:10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33; Amo 9:13; Rev 19:15). A certain amount of juice exuded from the ripe fruit from its own pressure before the treading commenced. This appears to have been kept separate from the rest of the juice, and to have formed the gleukos, or “sweet wine,” noticed in Act 2:13. The first drops of juice that reached the lower vat were termed the dema, or “tear,” and formed the first-fruits of the vintage (Sept. ) which were to be presented to Jehovah (Exo 22:29). The “treading” was effected by one or more men, according to the size of the vat, and, if the Jews adopted the same arrangements as the Egyptians, the treaders were assisted in the operation by ropes fixed to the roof of the wine-press (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 1:46). They encouraged one another by shouts and cries (Isa 16:9-10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33). Their legs and garments were dyed red, with the juice (Gen 49:11; Isa 53:2-3). The expressed juice escaped by an aperture into the lower vat, or was at once collected in vessels. A hand-press was occasionally used in Egypt (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 1:45), but we have no notice of such an instrument in the Bible. As to the subsequent treatment of the wine, we have but little information. Sometimes it was drank as must, but more generally it was bottled off after fermentation, and, if it were designed to be kept for some: time, a certain amount of lees was added to give it body (Isa 25:6). The wine consequently required to be “refined,” or strained, previously to being brought to a table (ibid.). For further elucidation of the subject see Hackett, Illustr. of Script. page 156 sq.; Van Lennep, Bibl. Lands, page 117 sq. SEE WINE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Wine-press
Consisted of two vats or receptacles, (1) a trough (Heb. gath, Gr. lenos) into which the grapes were thrown and where they were trodden upon and bruised (Isa. 16:10; Lam. 1:15; Joel 3:13); and (2) a trough or vat (Heb. yekebh, Gr. hypolenion) into which the juice ran from the trough above, the gath (Neh. 13:15; Job 24:11; Isa. 63:2, 3; Hag. 2:16; Joel 2:24). Wine-presses are found in almost every part of Palestine. They are “the only sure relics we have of the old days of Israel before the Captivity. Between Hebron and Beersheba they are found on all the hill slopes; they abound in southern Judea; they are no less common in the many valleys of Carmel; and they are numerous in Galilee.” The “treading of the wine-press” is emblematic of divine judgment (Isa. 63:2; Lam. 1:15; Rev. 14:19, 20).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Wine Press
General references
Num 18:27; Num 18:30; Deu 15:14; Jdg 6:11
In vineyards
Isa 5:2; Mat 21:33; Mar 12:1
Trodden with joy and shouting
Jer 48:33
Figurative of treading the wine press:
– Of the sufferings of Christ
Isa 63:2-3
– Of the judgments of God
Lam 1:15; Rev 14:19-20
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Wine-press
Wine-press. From the scanty notices contained in the Bible, we gather that, the wine-presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles of vats placed at different elevations, in the upper one, of which the grapes were trodden, while the lower one, received the expressed juice.
The two vats are mentioned together only in Joe 3:13. “The press is full: the fats overflow” — the upper vat being full of fruit, the lower one overflowing with the must. See Wine. The two vats were usually hewn out of the solid rock. Isa 5:2 margin; Mat 21:33. Ancient winepresses, so constructed, are still to he seen in Palestine.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
WINE-PRESS
Wine-Press among the Israelites, was like a threshing floor and therefore we read that Gideon was threshing in one of them, Jdg 6:11. The LXX. have it, .
The fashion of it seems to have been thus; suppose a hedge or bank of earth raised about in a convenient circumference; or else, a floor sunk below the surface of the ground about it, that the grapes and juice may be kept in; then on one side a pit was sunk much lower than the floor, to place the vats to receive the new pressed juice falling into them. This floor was the wine-press. Hence we may easily understand why our Saviour expresses the making of a wine-press by digging; as also Isaiah in Isa 5
The meaning of the symbol is very easy. The Indian Oneirocritic, in ch. 196. explains it of great conquest, and by consequence, much slaughter. It is so used in Isa 3, ” I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.” And in Lam 1:15, the destruction of Judah is represented under this type; ” The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press.”
And the symbol is extremely proper; the pressure of the grapes till their blood comes out, as their juice is called in Deu 32:14, aptly representing great pressure or affliction, and effusion of blood.
Fuente: A Symbolical Dictionary
Wine Press
The vintage in Syria commences about the middle of September, and continues till the middle of November. But grapes in Palestine, we are informed, were ripe sometimes even in June or July, which arose perhaps from a triple pruning, in which case there was also a third vintage. The first vintage was in August, the second in September, and the third in October. The grapes when not gathered were sometimes found on the vines until November and December. The Hebrews were required to leave gleanings for the poor, Lev 19:10. The season of vintage was a most joyful one, Jdg 9:27; Isa 16:10 :
Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33. With shoutings on all sides, the grapes were plucked off and carried to the wine press, , , , which was in the vineyard, Isa 53:3; Zec 14:10; Hag 2:16; Mat 21:33; Rev 14:19-20. The presses consisted of two receptacles, which were either built of stones and covered with plaster, or hewn out of a large rock. The upper receptacle, called , as it is constructed at the present time in Persia, is nearly eight feet square and four feet high. Into this the grapes are thrown and trodden out by five men. The juice flows out into the lower receptacle, through a grated aperture, which is made in the side near the bottom of the upper one. The treading of the wine press was laborious, and not very favourable to cleanliness; the garments of the persons thus employed were stained with the red juice, and yet the employment was a joyful one. It was performed with singing, accompanied with musical instruments; and the treaders, as they jumped, exclaimed, , Isa 16:9-10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:32-33. Figuratively, vintage, gleaning, and treading the wine press, signified battles and great slaughters, Isa 17:6; Isa 63:1-3; Jer 49:9; Lam 1:15. The must, as is customary in the east at the present day, was preserved in large firkins, which were buried in the earth. The wine cellars were not subterranean, but built upon the earth. When deposited in these, the firkins, as is done at the present time in Persia, were sometimes buried in the ground, and sometimes left standing upon it. Formerly, also, new wine or must was preserved in leathern bottles; and, lest they should be broken by fermentation, the people were very careful that the bottles should be new, Job 32:19; Mat 9:17; Mar 2:22. Sometimes the must was boiled and made into syrup, which is comprehended under the term , although it is commonly rendered honey, Gen 43:11; 2Ch 31:5. Sometimes the grapes were dried in the sun and preserved in masses, which were called bunches or clusters of raisins, 1Sa 25:18; 2Sa 16:1; 1Ch 12:40; Hos 3:1. From these dried grapes, when soaked in wine and pressed a second time, was manufactured sweet wine, which is also called new wine, , Act 2:13.