John 15:1

The true vine (h ampelo h alhqinh). "The vine the genuine." Assuming that the Lord's Supper had just been instituted by Jesus the metaphor of the vine is naturally suggested by "the fruit of the vine" ( Mark 14:25 ; Matthew 26:29 ). Ampelo in the papyri (Moulton and Milligan's Vocabulary) is sometimes used in the sense of ampeln (vineyard), but not so here. Jesus uses various metaphors to illustrate himself and his work (the light, Matthew 8:12 ; the door, Matthew 10:7 ; the shepherd, Matthew 10:11 ; the vine, Matthew 15:1 ). The vine was common in Palestine. See Psalms 80:8 . "On the Maccabean coinage Israel was represented by a vine" (Dods). Jesus is the genuine Messianic vine. The husbandman (o gewrgo) as in Mark 12:1 ; James 5:7 ; 2 Timothy 2:6 . cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9 , qeou gewrgion (God's field).