Concise Bible Dictionary:
Dried grapes, some of which are very fine in Palestine. The raisins are always spoken of as in bunches or clusters (1 Sam. 25:18; 1 Sam. 30:12; 2 Sam. 16:1; 1 Chron. 12:40). See FLAGON.
Raisins
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Song of Solomon 2:5. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples.
Ashishoth, “flagons,” is conceded by the best authorities to mean, not drinking vessels, but cakes of pressed raisins, such as are often used in the East, by travelers, for refreshment. The word also occurs in 2 Samuel 6:19; 1 Chronicles 16:3; and Hosea 3:1. In the last passage anabim, which is rendered “wine,” should be translated “grapes,” as it is in the margin. Instead of “flagons of wine,” we should then read “cakes of grapes.” Some think there is a reference in that passage to the custom of offering such cakes in sacrifice to heathen deities.
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