Fall Harvest: Grapes and Foxes in Scripture

In my area of the Midwest, fox grapes (Vitis labrusca) are starting to ripen. They're tart and mostly seedy, but tasty and a nicely growing plant. I haven't done a word study in a while, so I figured fox-grapes could spring into an investigation on how the Bible uses "fox(es)" and how it uses "grapes." Are they related? Perhaps . . .

Grapes in Scripture

A search on BibleGateway indicates that the English word "grape" or its plural appears 44 times in the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible sans apocrypha. With occasional help from commentaries, I classified these texts into several themes. Please note that I haven't included all the verses that reference "vine" or "vineyard"--this would yield significantly more texts.

Theme: Fertility and Fruitfulness

An abundant grape harvest, in the ancient world especially, signified a fertile, fruitful land. Festivals used wine ("the blood of the grape") to reflect this connection. I classified 4 references under this theme.

• In Genesis 49:11, within the larger context of Israel's (Jacob's) song to his sons, Judah was foretold to be a ruler among his brothers. Washing one's garments in blood or wine likely meant, according to most commentaries available on Bible Hub, "exuberant fertility" of the land under Judah's (sons') rule.
• In Numbers 13:20, 23, the Israelite spies sent into Canaan around the time when grapes normally ripened (June/July) cut a large bunch requiring 2 people to carry it, indicating abundant provision of food.
• In Judges 9:27, it was noted that grapes were used to make wine and celebrate (sometimes-idolatrous) festivals in Israel during the time of the judges.
• Finally, in Song of Solomon 7:12, grape blossoms opening signified springtime and new life and growth--metaphor chosen by the lovers between each other.

Theme: Daily Sustenance

Because of the fruitfulness of grape vines, some texts also indicate a more ordinary role for grapes, specifically the gleanings of vines, in sustaining individuals for daily hunger and energy.

• Leviticus 19:10 describes a God-given law of generosity to the poor and traveling individuals in theocratic Israel, using fallen or "spare" grapes from a vineyard as an example. Deuteronomy 24:21 regulates one's own vineyard, with similar phrasing and intent.
• Similarly, Leviticus 25:5, 11 describe regulations for the Year of Jubilee as well as every seventh year. The Israelites were to let the land rest, so no harvesting even what grew by itself without being tended, but rather using the excess from the previous year's harvest.
• Deuteronomy 23:24 describes a similar law as Leviticus 19:10 but applying it to any Israelite or member of the community, who was allowed to eat a stomach full of grapes from any neighbor's vineyard, but was not allowed to appropriate any of that bounty for later.
• In Isaiah 32:10, due to centuries of Israel's disobedience, judgment on Israel is foretold--the grape harvest will not occur, resulting in shortage of food and drink.
• Finally, in Micah 7:1, the prophet Micah mourns at the lack of godly people on the earth, comparing to freshly gleaned grapes that do not yield enough for a sustaining meal.

Theme: (Covenant) Blessing

N. T. Wright has written extensively about the concept of "covenant" in Israel through today, arguing that while the sign of the covenant has changed (circumcision --> faith in Christ), God has always had one covenant for His people, as opposed to multiple-covenant theology. A few passages use grapes specifically to note facets of God's blessing.

• In Genesis 40:10-11, the cupbearer's dream, where grapes squeezed into a cup for Pharaoh signified or foretold that he would be restored to his position. Said cupbearer, as an Egyptian, may not at the time have been a member of the Israel covenant (although we don't know yes or no based on what is written in Scripture).
• In Leviticus 26:5, as one of the blessings on obedience, the grape harvest (normally July) was promised to be so long and extensive that the pre-exilic Israelites wouldn't finish until they started sowing other crops (normally October). In Amos 9:13, this same concept is applied to the post-exilic nation.

Theme: (Covenant) Cursing

A much greater number of texts speak about grapes (literally or metaphorically) in the context of God's curse or punishment, whether on His covenant people or on pagan nations. Regarding Israel, grapes would literally be eaten by worms, as part of Deuteronomy 28:39's curses on disobedience. God promised to destroy the (metaphorical) fruitfulness of Cush (Isaiah 18:5) and unfaithful Israel after following Ahab and Omri (Micah 6:15) at the time when a fruitful harvest seemed imminent. A metaphor of poisonous or bitter grapes is used in Deuteronomy 32:14, 32 to indicate that Jacob (Israel) was ungrateful despite being well cared for by God--hence promised punishment by means of defeat by other nations.

Several verses describe a remnant of Israel as the gleaning after a grape harvest. In Isaiah 24:13, God is promised to judge the entire earth (as with a thorough grape harvest), leaving a small remnant of His people, in exile or out of exile. In Jeremiah 6:9, the same concept of a remnant is used for Israel's people after He uses pagan nations to judge them for prolonged disobedience to the covenant.

I found it interesting that 3 distinct passages, in 2 books, connect the city of Sibmah (in Reuben's territory) and its grapes/grapevines to destruction for disobedience. Jeremiah 48:32 laments over the city itself, which had been destroyed and pillaged by pagan nations as a result of disobedience to the covenant. Jeremiah 49:9 and Obadiah 1:5 lament over Esau's territory, with a similar fate as of Sibmah.

Theme: Adoption

The theme of adoption in Scripture is connected to the theme of covenant, particularly in Romans 9 (I highly recommend Scot McKnight's Reading Romans Backwards for this subject, and will be re-reading that book shortly when I am going through Romans in my daily Bible reading). All but one of the "grape" passages I put into this category are from the Old Testament, not surprisingly perhaps since it was on Israel's history that Paul and other New Testament authors looked back to reflect on where God had brought them through Jesus.

Numbers 6:3-4 describes instructions for Nazirites who, while set apart due to their vow, were to avoid any grape or vine product, whether wine, vinegar, raisins, or grapes. God similarly set the whole nation of Israel apart for Himself, domesticating "wild grapes" at the time of Abraham (Hosea 9:10), tending His "vineyard" expecting a faithful harvest of good grapes (Isaiah 5:2, 4), but obtaining no harvest because the people chose to waste His good gifts (Jeremiah 8:13).

After the people returned from exile, they and the mixed multitude among them continued breaking the Sabbath rest by harvesting, processing, and marketing grapes (among other things) until Nehemiah stopped them from doing so (Nehemiah 13:15).

The New Testament reference under this theme is from Revelation 14:18-19, where God promises to "harvest" the earth with His angels, indicating plainly at that time which people are His and which are not.

Theme: Sayings and Other Metaphors

The last theme I noticed for these passages ended up being a bit of a mixed bag. Sayings involving grapes include:

• Superiority of one town's gleanings to another town's full harvest--quoted by Gideon in Judges 8:2 when he was challenged by the warriors of Ephraim, to assuage them for not having been included in the group that attacked Midian.
• "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"--quoted and corrected in two passages (Jeremiah 31:29-30 and Ezekiel 18:2) to indicate that, in actuality, each generation is responsible for only its own sin in God's eyes.
• "Are grapes gathered from [something besides a grapevine]?" This saying is used by Jesus (Matthew 7:16 and Luke 6:44) to indicate that people's hearts are revealed by their fruits. James extends the metaphor in 3:12 to the words of a Christian's mouth, which should be of one "theme" or "goodness."

Two additional metaphors using grapes seem to be unrelated. 

• In Job 15:33, loss of unripe grapes from the vine was a metaphor used by Job's friend Eliphaz to reflect the futile fruitlessness of the ungodly/wicked. (As a note, atheism was extremely uncommon in the ancient near East--it started to become more common centuries later, despite what some sources say.)
• In Jeremiah 25:30, God promises to judge all nations; the metaphor of a shouting grape-treader is used to emphasize the obviousness of His coming for judgment.

Foxes in Scripture

The words "fox" and "foxes" occur significantly less often in Scripture--only 7 times in the ESV per BibleGateway. Interestingly, the one spot where foxes and grapes (technically their vines) occur in the same verse is Song of Solomon 2:15.

Overall, a fox is used literally or figuratively in Scripture to indicate destruction or destructiveness. Let's explore the texts.

• In Judges 15:4-5, Samson tied pairs of foxes together by the tail, tied a burning torch to each pair, and and let them loose to antagonize the Philistines by burning ripe wheat crops. Here, foxes were used as an instrument of rebellion by an oppressed Israel('s representative).
• In Nehemiah 4:3, foxes formed a metaphor used by an Ammonite to mock the rebuilding efforts of Nehemiah and his band of returning exiles. (A fox could jump over the wall you've built, it's so small and pitiful!)
• In Song of Solomon 2:15, foxes formed a metaphor for things that spoil good fruits of one's labor (in context of marriage).
• In Matthew 8:20, the fact that a fox has a hole to sleep in, by contrast, supports the idea of Jesus, in His messianic office, having no earthly home to rest (i.e., a sense of urgency in His mission). Luke 9:58 is identical.
• In Luke 13:32, Jesus refers to Herod as a "fox" - in the original historical context, foxes were considered more destructive (versus "cunning" per today's idiom) per the IVP commentary on Bible Gateway.

Hopefully, you learned something new from this word study!