Isaiah 5:4 - "What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?"

Matthew 21:28 - "Aman had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ "

Fossilized grape leaves, stem pieces and seeds unearthed from prehistoric deposits indicate the long existence and wide distribution of the grape vine. We know, for example, that it was grown in ancient Egypt and in Canaan prior to the time of Abraham. Viticulture (the tending of vines) also dates far back. Seeds found in the remains of the Swiss lake dwellings of the Bronze period (@3500 B.C.-1900 B.C.), and entombed with mummies in Egypt closely resemble seeds of the oldest and most extensively cultivated species of today. Viticulture’s tradition is almost as old as man; details for grape and wine production figured in the mosaics of the 4th (2400 B.C.), 17th and 18th dynasties of Egypt. According to the Bible, Noah planted a vineyard. In Homer’s time wine was a regular commodity among the Greeks. Pliny described 91 varieties of grapes, distinguished fifty kinds of wines, described vine-training methods.

Viticulture probably had its beginnings in the area around the Caspian Sea; from there grape growing in the old world spread to Asia Minor. The mountain regions of Judea and Samaria, largely unsuited for cereals, were well adapted for wine growing. Even the poorest country family would have a few vines, so that they could have a few grapes, and there were some to be found in the towns, growing in courtyards. But there were also real vineyards, worked in a big way, in the same way that industrial growers today have extensive cultivated areas. Of course, today we have large vineyards from which grapes are gathered for uses other than the making of wine; for example, the making of grape juices and jellies, among others. But the basic method of growing remains virtually the same.

The vine branches were usually allowed to lie along the ground, or to fall over the terraces, but sometimes they were raised above the ground with sticks or supported on poles to form a bower, in much the same way that we see in the fertile vineyards of California, for example. In the Old Testament times, no other seeds were allowed to be planted in the vineyard, but this apparantly had been allowed to lapse by the later time, because we read of the man who had a fig tree in his vineyard.

Vines required constant care to keep them productive, even though the climate and the soil of Palestine were excellent for their growth. Hence they were pruned every spring, and the ground was ploughed and kept free of weeds. Pruned branches were gathered and burned.

A part of every vineyard was the tower for the watchman, a winepress hollowed out of a flat rock, and a vat into which the wine flowed from the press. During the harvest season watchmen were stationed in the towers, and sometimes the whole family of the owner took their residence in booths as a protection against thieves. The harvest season was always one of special happiness. The grape gatherers, armed with little hooked knives, cut the full bunches, which were thrown into the vat and trodden by the barefoot workers to the sound of songs and clapping.

As was required by Mosaic law, the gleanings were left to the poor, and every seventh year the vines were allowed to lie fallow. As the vat filled, the wine was poured for storage into new goatskin bags or into large pottery containers.

The vine and vineyard are among the most frequently used similes in biblical literature. The biblical expression, for instance, "to be under the vine and the fig tree" meant the delight of doing nothing whatever, surely a marvelous concept for a people whose whole lives were spent in wearisome toil.