Hebrew word · H812

אֶשְׁכֹּל

'eshkol

of Eshcol

A cluster, especially a bunch of grapes (Gen 40:10; Song 7:8; Isa 65:8). As a proper name, it is the wadi named after the spies' famous cluster (Num 13:23–24). It is also the name of an Amorite ally of Abraham near Hebron (Gen 14:13, 24).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Eshcol = "cluster"

This name is used for an area of Hebron, the valley of Eshcol

Combined with na.chal (נַ֫חַל " Valley" H5158H)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 1:24

Range of meaning

A cluster, especially a bunch of grapes (Gen 40:10; Song 7:8; Isa 65:8). As a proper name, it is the wadi named after the spies' famous cluster (Num 13:23–24). It is also the name of an Amorite ally of Abraham near Hebron (Gen 14:13, 24).

Against the English

English versions leave it untranslated as "Eshcol," so the reader loses the meaning "Cluster Wadi" that any Hebrew hearer would have caught at once.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 13:24 explains the name: "That place was called the Wadi of Eshcol because of the cluster the Israelites cut there." The Greek Septuagint translates the name in its own words instead of transliterating it, giving "Ravine of the Cluster."

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 14:13 אֶשְׁכֹּל֙ Eshcol

    Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

    Here: Eshcol, a second Amorite leader. His name is the ordinary word for 'cluster [of grapes]', which fits the vineyard country around Hebron (compare the Valley of Eshcol in Numbers 13:23–24).

  2. Genesis 14:24 אֶשְׁכֹּ֣ל Eshcol

    I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share for the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.”

    Here: A second Amorite ally. The name means "cluster (of grapes)," and it is also the name of a valley near Hebron (Num 13:23–24).

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 13:23 אֶשְׁכֹּ֗ל Eshcol

    When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs.

  2. Numbers 13:24 אֶשְׁכּ֑וֹל Eshcol

    Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol.

  3. Numbers 32:9 אֶשְׁכּ֗וֹל Eshcol

    For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 1:24 אֶשְׁכֹּ֑ל Eshcol

    They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land.

    Here: A place name that is also the ordinary word for a cluster of grapes. Numbers 13:23–24 says the place got this name from the huge cluster the spies cut there, so anyone who heard "Eshcol" was reminded of the land's fruit (v. 25).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.