vine
ge.phen denotes a fruit-bearing vine, used both for cultivated plants and for figurative comparisons.
The term most often denotes the cultivated or wild fruit-bearing plant in descriptions of land, growth, harvest, food, and devastation. It also occurs in comparisons that portray persons or groups as a planted, fruitful, spreading, or ruined vine.
Senses in use
-
A vine in cultivation, fruitfulness, or loss · dominant
The singular noun names a plant among the produce of a good land in Deuteronomy 8:8, and Genesis 40:10 describes it sprouting, blossoming, and producing clusters of grapes. Its agricultural condition can be productive, as in Haggai 2:19, or damaged and unfruitful, as in Joel 1:12 and Jeremiah 8:13, where the APB renders the clauses with the vine dried up or lacking grapes.
-
Figurative image of a person or community · common
The noun is used in comparisons: Hosea 10:1 calls Israel a luxuriant vine that sets fruit, while Jeremiah 2:21 contrasts a choice vine planted by God with degenerate branches. In Ezekiel 17:6, the APB renders a spreading vine with branches and roots; Psalm 128:3 compares a wife to a fruitful vine within the house.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as “vine” or “vines,” including clauses about grapes, fruit, branches, flowering, and withering. These English terms confirm the verse-level plant imagery rather than establish a separate rendering for every occurrence.