I will sing for the one I love
Isaiah 5:1-2
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
After three days in and around Jerusalem, we rented a car as planned and headed west. Jerusalem is situated in the hill country, the ancient site laying a little east of the watershed ridge. The hill country is characterized by tall hills and deep, V-shaped valleys. These valleys impede easy travel. The ancient main roads stuck to the continuous ridges. Jerusalem is blocked on the west, however, by a wadi (canyon) system known as the Sorek. There are no continuous ridges, forcing those who wanted to head west to either head north or south first. Modern highways can cut away at mountains, tunnel through mountains, or bridge over valleys, so modern routes don’t always follow the ancient ones.
Highway 1 connects Jerusalem with Tel Aviv, forming a major traffic artery today. We followed it for a little ways, but soon pulled off at our first stop: Castel. Castel National Park is situated on a hill west of Jerusalem. One can see West Jerusalem prominently to the east. Originally the Arab village Al-Qastal, this was a battle site during the Israeli War of Independence as the Jews pushed eastward to secure Jerusalem. It gives a good view of the western approach to Jerusalem, both modern and ancient. This hill is surrounded by valleys.
We stayed on a winding road through the Sorek Valley, sometimes heading up, sometimes down, as it winds west towards the coast. We pulled off the road a couple times to appreciate the view of the beautiful landscape.
Stones from these hills have been quarried for millennia for building materials. One of the modern quarries ran into an otherwise unknown cave a few decades ago. Work immediately stopped and the cave was turned into a national park. Although not especially large, the formations inside are stunning.
The word ‘sorek’ is translated in the above Isaiah passage as ‘choicest vines’. The hill country has been terraced since the Israelites arrived, providing land to grow vines, olives, and figs. It’s an apt picture of God planting his people and cultivating them.
