{The true vine} (h(8820)ampelos h(8820)al(8874)hin(885c)). "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" ( Mr 14:25  Mt 26:29 ).
Ampelos in the papyri (Moulton and Milligan's _Vocabulary_) is
sometimes used in the sense of _ampel(936e)_ (vineyard), but not so
here. Jesus uses various metaphors to illustrate himself and his
work (the light,  8:12 ; the door,  10:7 ; the shepherd,  10:11 ;
the vine,  15:1 ). The vine was common in Palestine. See  Ps
80:8f . "On the Maccabean coinage Israel was represented by a
vine" (Dods). Jesus is the genuine Messianic vine. {The
husbandman} (ho ge(9372)gos) as in  Mr 12:1  Jas 5:7  2Ti 2:6 . cf.
 1Co 3:9 , 	heou ge(9372)gion (God's field).