VALLEY OF ESHCOL

supposed location of the Valley of Eshcol, courtesy,
ACallToTheRemnant.com

The Valley of Eshcol, located on the outskirts of Hebron in the Judean Desert, is formed by the brook of the same name. It occupies an important place in Jewish history. In Biblical times, the area was probably named after Eshcol, the owner of the land and, along with his brothers Mamre and Aner, was an ally of Abraham. According to Genesis 14:13-24, they had joined forces with those of Abraham in pursuit of king Chedorlaomer and his armies who had taken Abraham's nephew Lot and others as captives.

Many years later, during the period of the exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel camped in the Wilderness of Paran, today in the central Negev Desert just south of the Judean Desert, and from there, Moses sent twelve spies to spy out the Promised Land and bring back a report. Two of the spies made their way to this valley and, along with some pomegranates and figs, also brought back a cluster of grapes hanging on a pole carried by the two as proof of the fruitfulness of the land. Soon, the name “Eshcol” became the Hebrew word for “cluster”.

Today, scholars and historians disagree as to where the Valley is actually located, but there seems to be a consensus that it might be a wadi, known in Arabic as “Wadi Tuffah”, just to the north of historic Hebron and in the vicinity of the neighborhood of Mamre, where Abraham pitched his tent. Part of the neighborhood is now, an archaeological site called “Elonei Mamre” and is in fact, bordered on the north by various wadis that are either terraced or flat farmland. Throughout the Middle Ages into the Modern Era though, travelers, including Benjamin of Tudela, the 12^th century Jewish traveler from Spain, would describe an abundance of grape vines in this area. American archaeologist Edward Robinson in the 1830s described these grapes as the largest in the Land of Israel. But on the other hand, in 1850, the Jewish scientist and rabbi Yehoseph Schwarz visited the area west of Hebron known as “Wadi Azarar” and declared it to be the actual Valley of Eshcol.   

Today, the areas to the north and west of Hebron are Arab-occupied areas within the municipal boundaries of Hebron. It is also surrounded by hostile Arab settlements that were established in the last century due to the influx of Arab migrants that suddenly expanded the city without any regard to its Biblical and historic character. Consequently, any concrete clues to the exact location of the Valley were summarily obliterated.