Eshcol
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(a cluster of grapes) (Num. 13:24, 25; Deut. 1:24) — a valley between Hebron and Jerusalem. This is the very valley from which the spies brought to Moses a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that two men carried it on a pole. They also brought pomegranates and figs (Num. 13:23, 20; 32:9). The quality of the fruits of the valley of Eshcol, says one recent traveler, corresponds even to this day to their ancient renown; pomegranates and figs, apricots, quinces, and others, excellent in appearance and taste, still grow here in abundance.
The valley of Eshcol is now called by the Arabs Wadi Beit Iskahil, and the spring within it, whose water is reckoned the best in the whole country, is called Ain Eskali. In the book of Numbers (13:24) it is said: “The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence” (that is, “cluster of grapes”).