Vine of Sodom
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Deut. 32:32)—a figurative expression for the corrupt character and bitter fruit of an apostate people: “their vine is of the vine of Sodom.” The encyclopedia also discusses a plant found near the Dead Sea and traditionally called the apple of Sodom, commonly identified in its period with the osher, or Calotropis procera. Its inflated, orange-like fruit encloses fibers and seeds rather than nourishing pulp and collapses when pressed. This botanical identification is a later proposal and is not required by the biblical metaphor.