esh.kol denotes a grouped bunch, especially of grapes, and supplies imagery for abundance, loss, and comparison.

The term most often denotes a grouped bunch associated with a vine or grapes, whether ripening, cut and carried, bitter, preserved for its wine, or absent from a harvest. In the Song passages, the same image is used in comparisons involving henna and the beloved's body.

1. A bunch connected with vine fruit · dominant

   In Genesis 40:10 the plural construct form occurs as the vine's growth ripens into grapes; in Numbers 13:23 a singular construct form identifies what is cut on a branch and carried between two men. Deuteronomy 32:32 describes bitter bunches, while Isaiah 65:8 and Micah 7:1 respectively speak of wine found in one and of there being none to eat.

   Genesis 40:10Numbers 13:23Deuteronomy 32:32Isaiah 65:8Micah 7:1Numbers 13:24
2. Cluster imagery in comparison · occasional

   In Song of Songs 1:14 the singular construct form compares the beloved to a bunch of henna. Song of Songs 7:8 uses a plural form in a comparison involving breasts; in Song of Songs 7:9 the plural construct form occurs in the surrounding poetic clause, though the APB does not isolate its contribution.

   Song of Songs 1:14Song of Songs 7:8Song of Songs 7:9

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with “clusters” or “cluster,” including “a single cluster of grapes” in Numbers 13:23 and “no cluster to eat” in Micah 7:1. In the Song passages it also uses “cluster” or “clusters,”, especially in Song of Songs 7:9.