the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Grapes
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or The Scripture speak of two sorts of grapes, the true, and the wild. And while the former is both good for food and delight, the other is poisonous and destructive. The blood of the grape is spoken of by the dying patriarch Jacob, (Genesis 49:11) perhaps not without reference to the sacramental ordinance of the Lord's Supper. Moses beautifully contrasts the vineyards of the wicked with the vineyards of the Lord of hosts. "Their vine (saith he,) is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrha; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter." (Deuteronomy 32:32) Whereas the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is compared to the "rich clusters of Engedi." (Song of Song of Solomon 1:14) We are told by an ancient writer, that so luxurious were the branches and clusters of grapes in the eastern world, that there have been seen some of ten and twelve pounds. Indeed, in our own country in hot houses, clusters of many pounds have been gathered. I cannot, under this article, forbear remarking the kindness of that precept in Israel concerning the vineyard, that when the Israelites gathered in their vintage, the gleanings should be for those that had no vineyard (Leviticus 19:9-10) And it should seem, that in the gleaning season the vineyards were thrown open, for the traveller passing by to have the benefit of it. I leave the reader to make his own comment; but I cannot but think, that there was much of gospel veiled under this precept. The gleaning season in Christ's church is all the year. Thousands going by have found gleaning seasons to their souls daily; and the invitation, indeed, is to the highways, and lanes, and hedges of the city, to call in "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." And even when these are come, and their souls have been filled, "still there is room." So infinitely full and so infinitely gracious is the great Lord of the vineyard, that all application ceases before that any diminishing is found in him and his vineyard, to supply. (Luke 14:21-22)
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Grapes'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/g/grapes.html. London. 1828.
