Winepress

WINEPRESS [SMITH]

From the scanty notices contained in the Bible we gather that, the wine-presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles of vats placed at different elevations, in the upper one of which the grapes were trodden, while the lower one received the expressed juice. The two vats are mentioned together only in (Joel 3:13) "The press is full: the fats overflow" --the upper vat being full of fruit, the lower one overflowing with the must. [WINE] The two vats were usually hewn out of the solid rock. (Isaiah 5:2) margin; (Matthew 21:33) Ancient winepresses, so constructed, are still to he seen in Palestine.