Fig Tree
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [1]
תאגה , Genesis 3:7; Numbers 13:23; συκη , Matthew 7:16; Matthew 21:19; Matthew 24:32; Mark 11:13; Mark 11:20-21; Mark 13:28; Luke 6:44; Luke 13:6-7; Luke 21:29; John 1:48; James 3:12; Revelation 6:13 . This tree was very common in Palestine. It becomes large, dividing into many branches, which are furnished with leaves shaped like those of the mulberry, and affords a friendly shade. Accordingly, we read, in the Old Testament, of Juda and Israel dwelling, or sitting securely, every man under his fig tree, 1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10; 1Ma_14:12 . And, in the New Testament, we find Nathanael under a fig tree, probably for the purposes of devotional retirement, John 1:49-51 . Hasselquist, in his journey from Nazareth to Tiberias, says, "We refreshed ourselves under the shade of a fig tree, where a shepherd and his herd had their rendezvous; but without either house or hut." The fruit which it bears is produced from the trunk and large branches, and not from the smaller shoots, as in most other trees. It is soft, sweet, and very nourishing. Milton is of opinion that the banian tree was that with the leaves of which our first parents made themselves aprons. But his account, as to the matter of fact, wants even probability to countenance it; for the leaves of this are so far from being, as he has described them, of the bigness of an Amazonian target, that they seldom or never exceed five inches in length, and three in breadth. Therefore, we must look for another of the fig kind, that better answers the purpose referred to by Moses, Genesis 3:7; and as the fruit of the banana tree, is often, by the most ancient authors, called a fig, may we not suppose this to have been the fig tree of paradise? Pliny, describing this tree, says that its leaves were the greatest and most shady of all others; and as the leaves of these are often six feet long, and about two broad, are thin, smooth, and very flexible, they may be deemed more proper than any other for the covering spoken of, especially since they may be easily joined together with the numerous threadlike filaments, which may, without labour, be peeled from the body of the tree. The first ripe fig is still called boccore in the Levant, which is nearly its Hebrew name, בכורה , Jeremiah 24:2 . Thus Dr. Shaw, in giving an account of the fruits in Barbary, mentions "the black and white boccore, or ‘early fig,' which is produced in June, though the kermes, or kermouse, the ‘fig,' probably so called, which they preserve and make up into cakes, is rarely ripe before August." And on Nahum 3:12 , he observes, that "the boccores drop as soon as they are ripe, and, according to the beautiful allusion of the prophet, fall into the mouth of the eater upon being shaken." Farther, "It frequently falls out in Barbary," says he; "and we need not doubt of the like in this hotter climate of Judea, that, according to the quality of the preceding season, some of the more forward and vigorous trees will now and then yield a few ripe figs six weeks or more before the full season. Something like this may be alluded to by the Prophet Hosea, when he says, ‘I saw your fathers as בכורה , the first ripe, in the fig tree, at her first time,' Hosea 9:10 . Such figs were reckoned a great dainty." See Isaiah 28:4 . The Prophet Isaiah gave orders to apply a lump of figs to Hezekiah's boil; and immediately after it was cured. God, in effecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of means not improper for that end.
2. The account of our Saviour's denunciation against the barren fig tree, Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:13 , has occasioned some of the boldest cavils of infidelity; and the vindication of it has exercised the ingenuity of several of the most learned critics and commentators. The whole difficulty arises from the circumstance of his disappointment in not finding fruit on the tree, when it is expressly said, that "the time of figs was not yet." While it was supposed that this expression signified, that the time for such trees to bring forth fruit was not yet come, it looked very unaccountable that Christ should reckon a tree barren, though it had leaves, and curse it as such, when he knew that the time of bearing figs was not come; and that he should come to seek figs on this tree, when he knew that figs were not used to be ripe so soon in the year. But the expression does not signify the time of the coming forth of figs, but the time of the gathering in of ripe figs, as is plain from the parallel expressions. Thus, "the time of the fruit,"
Matthew 21:34 , most plainly signifies the time of gathering in ripe fruits, since the servants were sent to receive those fruits for their master's use. St. Mark and St. Luke express the same by the word time, or season: "At the season he sent a servant," &c; that is, at the season or time of gathering in ripe fruit, Mark 12:2; Luke 20:10 . In like manner, if any one should say in our language, the season of fruit, the season of apples, the season of figs, every one would understand him to speak of the season or time of gathering in these fruits. When, therefore, St. Mark says, that "the time or season of figs was not yet," he evidently means that the time of gathering ripe figs was not yet past; and, if so, it was natural to expect figs upon all those trees that were not barren; whereas, after the time of gathering figs, no one would expect to find them on a fig tree, and its having none then would be no sign of barrenness. St. Mark, by saying, "For the time of figs was not yet," does not design to give a reason for "his finding nothing but leaves;" but he gives a reason for what he said in the clause before: "He came, if haply he might find any thereon;" and it was a good reason for our Saviour's coming and seeking figs on the tree, because the time for their being gathered was not come. We have other like instances in the Gospels, and, indeed, in the writings of all mankind, of another clause coming in between the assertion and the proof. Thus, in this very evangelist: "They said among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? and when they looked, they saw the stone was rolled away; for it was very great:" Mark 16:3-4; where its being very great is not assigned as a reason of its being rolled away, but of the women's wishing for some one to roll it away for them. St. Matthew informs us that the tree was "in the way," that is, in the common road, and therefore, probably, no particular person's property; but if it was, being barren, the timber might be as serviceable to the owner as before. So that here was no real injury; but Jesus was pleased to make use of this innocent miracle to prefigure the speedy ruin of the Jewish nation on account of its unfruitfulness under greater advantages than any other people enjoyed at that day; and, like all the rest of his miracles, it was done with a gracious intention, namely, to alarm his countrymen, and induce them to repent. In the blasting of this barren fig tree, the distant appearance of which was so fair and promising, he delivered one more awful lesson to a degenerate nation, of whose hypocritical exterior and flattering but delusive pretensions it was a just and striking emblem.
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary [2]
I should not think it necessary to notice this article in our Concordance, but for the occasion that offers thereby of making an observation on the fig tree which the Lord Jesus blighted near Bethany. It may be proper, for the better apprehension of the subject, to remark, that the fig tree grew, in Palestine, not unfrequently in the roads, and highways, and hedges, beside those that were cultivated in. the gardens. It is plain, that this fig tree which Christ withered was of this kind; a hedge fruit, and, consequently, it was no man's property. Matthew's account of this transaction is, that when Jesus "saw this fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing but leaves only; and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence forward for ever: and presently the fig tree withered away." ( Matthew 21:18) And Mark adds to this relation, that "the time of figs was not yet." ( Mark 11:13)
It is very evident from hence, that the Lord Jesus had an object of much higher moment to set forth by this action, than the mere blighting a hedge fig tree. For surely, the Lord did not expect fruit out of season; neither did he mean, as some have supposed, to shew anger, to a fig tree. It is well known, that in the eastern world almost all instruction was conveyed by parable and figure. And so much did the Lord Jesus, in his divine teaching, fall in with this popular way of conveying knowledge, that at one time we are told "without a parable spake he not unto them." ( Matthew 13:34) The question becomes exceedingly interesting to know, what particular instruction to his disciples the Lord meant to have impressed on their minds by this event.
Perhaps I may be singular in my view of the subject. But if I err, may the Lord pity and pardon my ignorance, and the reader find no injury from my statement of it. The whole stress of the subject, as it strikes me, is in the nature and quality of this fig tree. It was hedge fruit. It was in the highway; and no man's property. Now the church is expressly compared by the Lord himself to a fig tree of his own, and planted in his vineyard. ( Luke 13:6) And the prophet, in the Old Testament dispensation, celebrated the glories of God's grace to the church under a similar figure of his planting his vineyard with a choice vine. ( Isaiah 5:1 etc.) The fruitless fig tree of the hedge, and which at the command of Jesus withered away, according to my view of the subject, was intended by the Lord to represent the mere professors of the gospel, who to a traveller afford leaves, but no fruit. It is, indeed, without; not in the garden, the church. It cannot bring forth fruit unto God; for the Lord saith, when speaking of his church, "From me is thy fruit found." ( Hosea 14:8) Jesus hath a right and property in his people. They are his, both by the Father's gift, and by his own purchase. And he hath brought them in, and fenced them round, and they are "trees of his right hand planting." ( Isaiah 61:3)
The instant withering of the barren fig tree, at Christ's command, became the emblem of what must ultimately follow all the way-side productions in nature, void of grace, at the great day of the Lord. And our Lord's own comment upon the blasted tree, seems very fully to justify this view of the subject. For when the disciples remarked to Jesus how soon the fig tree was withered away, the Lord made this striking answer, "Have faith in God." As if he had said, all are but the mere leaves of profession where there is no vital union in me. As he said elsewhere, "I am the vine; ye are the branches." ( John 15:5) If this be the right sense of the passage, and the Lord Jesus meant to teach his disciples thereby, that every hedge fig tree hath no part in the church, no owner in Christ by his Father's gift or purchase, no union with him, and, consequently, no communion in his graces, but must in the hour of decision instantly wither away; then will this parable of the barren fig tree form one testimony more to the numberless other testimonies with which the word of God abounds, that the children of the wicked one, and the children of the kingdom, are totally separate and dissimilar from everlasting, and so must continue to everlasting. Tares can never become wheat; neither can wheat become tares. Goats must remain goats; for their nature cannot admit in them the nature of sheep. The fig tree of the hedge, never planted in the vineyard of Jesus, hath no fruit in him; and, consequently, always barren. So infinitely important is it, to be found in Christ.
People's Dictionary of the Bible [3]
Fig, Fig Tree. This, Ficus Carica, was a tree very common in Palestine. Deuteronomy 8:8. Mount Olivet was famous anciently for fig trees; and still some are to be found there. The first notice we have of this tree is when Adam and Eve endeavored to clothe themselves with leaves. Genesis 3:7. Whether the leaves they used were those of the ordinary fig tree may be questioned; but the practice of fastening leaves together for various utensils, as baskets, etc., is common in the East to the present day. Not only was the fresh fruit of the fig tree valued, but also cakes of figs are mentioned in Scripture; E.G., 1 Samuel 25:18; 1 Samuel 30:12, These were made either by simple compression, or by pounding them into a mass, sometimes together with dates. They were then cut into cakes, often similar to bricks, and hardened by keeping. Twice the fig tree is mentioned in the New Testament. Our Lord, shortly before his crucifixion, being hungry, sought fruit from a fig tree, and, finding none, condemned it. Matthew 21:18-20; Mark 11:12-14; Mark 11:20. It was early in the season, not the ordinary time for figs; but yet, as the fruit precedes the leaves, and there were leaves on this tree, figs might naturally have been expected on it; and, as there were then none, there was proof enough that the pretentious tree was worthless. The parable of the fig tree spared at the intercession of the dresser of the garden, Luke 13:6-9, is full of instruction. There is, it may be added, an expressive phrase in which the fig tree is introduced; when men axe said to sit under their own vine and their own fig tree, 1 Kings 4:26; Zechariah 3:10, a state of general peace and prosperity is indicated.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [4]
Fig Tree. The fig tree ( Ficus carica ) is very common in Palestine. Deuteronomy 8:8. Mount Olivet was famous for its fig trees in ancient times, and they are still found there. To "sit under one's own vine and one's own fig tree" became a proverbial expression among the Jews to denote peace and prosperity. 1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10.
The fig is a pear-shaped fruit, and is much used by the Orientals for food. The young figs are especially prized for their sweetness and flavor. The fruit always appears before the leaves; so that when Christ saw leaves on the fig tree by the wayside, Mark 11:13, he had a right to expect fruit.
The usual summer crop of fruits is not gathered till May or June; but in the sunny ravines of Olivet, fig trees could have ripe fruit some weeks earlier, (Dr. Thomson), and it was not strange so early as Easter that Christ might find the young eatable figs, although it was not the usual season for gathering the fruit.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [5]
"a fig tree," is found in Matthew 21:19,20,21; 24:32; Mark 11:13,20,21; 13:28; Luke 13:6,7; 21:29; John 1:48,50; James 3:12; Revelation 6:13 (see sukon, above).
Mark 11:13
