Fig

VIEW:61 DATA:01-04-2020
FIG.—(te’çnâh).—The common fig, fruit of the Ficus carica, is cultivated from one end of Palestine to the other, especially in the mountainous regions, occupying to-day a place as important as it did in Bible times. The failure of the fig and grape harvest would even now bring untold distress (Jer_5:17, Hab_3:17 etc.). Although the figs are all of one genus, the fellahîn distinguish many varieties according to the quality and colour of the fruit.
The summer foliage of the fig is thick, and excels other trees for its cool and grateful shade. In the summer the owners of gardens everywhere may be seen sitting in the shadow of their fig trees. It is possible the references in Mic_4:4, Zec_3:10 may be to this, or to the not uncommon custom of having fig trees overhanging rural dwellings. Although fig trees are of medium height, some individual trees (e.g. near Jenin reach to over 25 feet high. Self-sown fig trees are usually barren, and are known to the natives as wild or ‘male’ fig trees. The fruiting of the fig is very interesting and peculiar. Though earlier in the plains, the annual occurrence in the mountain regions, e.g. round Jerusalem, is as follows: The trees, which during the winter months have lost all their leaves, about the end of March begin putting forth their tender leaf buds (Mat_24:32, Mar_13:28-32, Luk_21:29-33), and at the junction of the old wood with these leaves appear at the same time the tiny figs. These little figs develop along with the leaves up to a certain point, to about the size of a small cherry, and then the great majority of them fall to the ground, carried down with every gust of wind. These immature figs are known as the taksh, and are eaten by the fellahîn as they fall; they may indeed sometimes be seen exposed for sale in the market in Jerusalem. They are the paggim (‘green figs’) of Son_2:13, and the olynthoi (‘untimely figs’) of Rev_6:13. In the case of some trees, especially the best varieties, a certain proportion of these little green figs continue to develop, and reach ripeness in June. These are then known as the dafûr or early figs, mentioned in Isa_28:4, Jer_24:2, Hos_9:10, Mic_7:1, as bikkûrâh, ‘the figs first ripe.’ They are to-day, as of old, specially esteemed for their delicate flavour. As the dafûr are ripening, the little buds of the next crop begin to appear higher up the branches. These steadily develop and form the second and great crop of figs, which comes about August.
In the much-discussed miracle of our Lord (Mat_21:18-20, Mar_11:12-13; Mar_11:20-21) we may dismiss at once the theory that He came looking for figs from the previous season, as He would certainly not have found any such survivors, and such fruit would not have been eatable. On the other hand, at the Passover season, about April, when the young leaves are on the fig trees, every tree which is going to bear fruit at all will have some taksh on it, and so, though it is a true statement that ‘the time of figs,’ i.e. of ordinary edible figs, ‘was not yet’ (Mar_11:13), yet there would be fruit which could be, and is to-day, eaten, and fruit, too, which would be a guarantee of a harvest to come later on. It was the want of promise of future fruitfulness in the Jewish nation for which they were condemned in the acted parable of the barren fig tree. It may be noted, however, that in May many fig trees may be found round Jerusalem which have dropped all their ‘green figs’ (none ripening to dafûr) and have not yet put forth the buds of the late summer crop.
Figs are eaten in Palestine not only fresh but dried, the fruit being often threaded on to long strings for convenience of carriage. They are also pressed into a solid cake which can be cut in slices with a knife. These are the fig-cakes of 1Sa_25:18; 1Sa_30:12, 1Ch_12:40. A lump of such was used as a poultice for Hezekiah’s boil, 2Ki_20:7, Isa_28:21.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


tenah, from ta'an "to stretch out" its branches. The Ficus Carica (Carla being famed for figs) of Linnaeus. Under its appropriate covert Nathanael found that solitude and shade which suited his earnest communion with God (Joh_1:48). Adam and Eve used its leaves to cover their shame and nakedness; Nathanael to lay bore his soul "without guile" before God. Mount Olivet is still famed for its figtrees as of old. "To sit under one's own vine and figtree" was the proverb for peace and prosperity; so under Solomon (1Ki_4:25); type of the true Solomon, Prince of peace, and of His coming millennial reign (Mic_4:4; Zec_3:10); men will be safe in the open field as in the house. The early ripe fig is "the hasty fruit" (Isa_28:4), Hebrew bikurah, Spanish bokkore. Figs usually ripened in August; earlier ones in June.
Esteemed a delicacy (Jer_24:2; Hos_9:10; Mic_7:1): "when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand, he eateth it up"; it looks so tempting he instantly swallows it; so the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser shall not merely conquer, but with impatient avidity destroy Samaria. The unripe fig (pag) hangs through the winter and ripens in the spring about Easter (Son_2:13). Beth-phage, "house of green figs," is derived from it. Figs were compressed into the form of round cakes for keeping (1Sa_25:18), debeelim. They were used as a plaster for boils (Isa_38:21); God can make the most ordinary means effectual. The difficulty in Mar_11:12 is solved thus: the leaves on the "one" figtree, when all others were bore, caught Jesus' eye "afar off"; as the fruit precedes the leaves, naturally He might have expected, for satisfying His hunger, figs from a tree with such a precocious show of leaf, even though the season of figs was not yet come.
It was the unseasonable display of leaves which led Him to come and see "if haply (if as might naturally be expected) He might find anything thereon." Similarly the Jews (for it was an acted parable) had the show of religion before the. general time of religious privileges; but that was all, the fruit of real love which ought to precede the profession was wanting. The "for" expresses the unseasonableness of the leaves. "He found nothing but leaves (i.e. He found no figs); FOR the time of figs was not yet." Mark states why no fruit was found, "for," etc. The reason why it ought to have had fruit is left for us to infer, namely, its abnormal precocious leaves, which Christ had a right to expect would be accompanied with abnormal fruit, for the fig fruit precedes the leaf. Christ cursed it, not because it was fruitless, (for the season of figs was not yet, and if it had been leafless He would not have sought fruit on it,) but because it was false to its high pretensions.
Thomson (The Land and the Book) says that in a sheltered spot figs of an early kind may occasionally be found ripe as soon as the beginning of April, the time of Christ's cursing the fig tree. In Mat_21:19 it is "one fig tree," standing out an exception to all the rest. The Jews' sin was, they were singled out by God from all nations (Amo_3:2), and had the Tower to bring forth the leaves of precocious profession but not the will to bring forth the fruit of faith and love. The sheltering hillside of Olivet had protected it, the sunlight had cherished it, and the dews of heaven watered it; but precocious leaves were the only result.
Compare Isaiah 5 as to God's care of Israel; the only result was not merely unfruitfulness but deceptiveness, "the rustling leaves of a religious profession, barren traditions of the Pharisees, and vain exuberance of words without the good fruit of works" (Wordsworth); ostentatious promise of antedating the Gentile church in fruit, without performance; pretentious show and hypocrisy. Fig trees overhanging the road from Jerusalem to Bethany still grow out of the rocks of the mountain which, the Lord said, faith could remove to the distant sea (Mat_21:21). On Olivet too was spoken the parable of the budding fig tree, the sign of coming summer (Luk_21:29-30). The August figs are the sweetest and best.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Fig. See Fig Tree.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


Like olives and grapes, figs were plentiful in Israel and neighbouring countries (Deu_8:8; Jdg_9:8-13; Jer_5:17). The saying ‘to sit under one’s own vine and fig tree’ indicated the enjoyment of long-lasting peace, contentment and prosperity. On the other hand ‘to lay waste one’s vines and fig trees’ indicated devastation and ruin (1Ki_4:25; 2Ki_18:31; Hos_2:12; Joe_1:7; Joe_1:12; Mic_4:4). The cultivation of fig trees required years of patient labour, and the failure of a harvest was a major calamity (Pro_27:18; Luk_13:7; cf. Psa_105:33; Hab_3:17).
People ate figs either fresh or dried and often made them into cakes (1Sa_25:18; 1Ch_12:40; Nah_3:12). They also believed that figs had some medicinal value (Isa_38:21).
Healthy fig trees bore fruit for about ten months of the year, though they lost their leaves and grew new ones according to the season (Mat_24:32). Jesus on one occasion was disappointed when he found that a fig tree that should have had fruit on it (even though the season for picking the fruit had not yet arrived) had no fruit at all. He saw the fruitless tree as symbolic of Israel, a nation that was useless to God. It produced no spiritual fruit and would fall under God’s judgment (Mar_11:12-14; cf. Luk_13:6-9).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


Fig
The usual Hebrew word for this is תְּאֵנָה(teenah', of uncertain ctymology), which is universally translated fig (N.T. σῦκον) and fig-tree (N.T. σνκῆ) in both ancient and modern versions, and no doubt correctly so. It has from the earliest times been a highly esteemed fruit in the East, and its present is well as ancient Arabic name is tin. When figs are spoken of as distinguished from thee fig-tree, the masc. plur. form תְּאֵנַיםis used (see Jer_8:13). The other words rendered fig in the Auth. Vers. are: פִג(pag, "green fig," Son_2:13; (ὄλυνθος, "untimely fig," Rev_6:13), a designation of the late fig, which, being unripe at the proper time for gathering, frequently hangs on the tree over winter (comp. also the name BETH-PHAGE); and בַּכּוּרָה(bikkurah "first ripe," Isa_28:4; Jer_24:2; Mic_7:1; Hos_9:10), which denotes the early or spring fig, still called boccore in, Mauritania, and in Spanish albacora (Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol.). SEE SYCAMORE.
The fig is mentioned in so many passages of Scripture that our space will not allow us to enumerate them, but they are detailed by Celsius (Hierobot. ii, 368). The first notice of it, however, occurs in Gen_3:7, where Adam and Eve are described, as sewing fig-leaves together to make themselves aprons. The common fig-leaf is not so well suited, from its lobed nature, for this purpose; but the practice of sewing or pinning leaves together is very common in the East even in the present day, and baskets, dishes, and umbrellas are made of leaves so pinned or sewn together. Hence some have supposed the Ficus Indica to be the tree there referred to, but this is unlikely and unnecessary. The fig-tree is enumerated (Deu_8:8) as one of thee valuable products of Palestine; "a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates." The spies who were sent from wilderness of Paran brought back from the brook of Eshcol clusters of grapes, pomegranates, and figs. Mount Olivet was famous for its fig-trees in ancient times, and they are still found there (see Stanley, Sinai and Palalestine, p. 187, 421, 422). The fig-tree is referred to as one of the signs of prosperity (1Ki_4:25). Hence "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 (Mic_4:4; Zec_3:10). The failure of this fruit is likewise noted as a sign of affliction (Psa_105:33). The very frequent references which are made in the Old Testament to the fig and other fruit-trees are in consequence of fruits forming a much more important article of diet in the warm and dry countries of the East than they can ever do in the cold and moist regions of the North (see Jdt_10:5; comp. Mishna, Shebiith, 4:7). Figs are also used medicinally; and we have a notice in 2Ki_20:7, of their employment as a poultice (comp. Pliny, 23:62 Dioscor. i, 184). In the historical books of the Old Testament-mention is made of cakes of figs, used as articles of food, and compressed into that form for the sake of keeping them (ἰσχάδες, caricae, Lucian, Vit. Auct. 19; Martial, 13:28). Such a cake was called דְּבֵלָה(Talmud, עגולor ככר, Mishna Terumoth, 4:8), or more fully דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנַים, on account of its shape, from the root דָּבֵלto make round (see 1Sa_30:12; Jern 24:2 sq.). Hence, or rather from the Syriac רבלתאthe first letter being dropped, came the Gr. word παλάθη (see Wesseling, ad. diod. Sic. 17:67). Atheneaus (xi, p. 500, ed. Casaub.) makes express mention of the παλάθη Συριακή. Jerome, on Ezekiel 6 :describes the παλάθη as a mass of figs and rich dates, formed into the shape of bricks or tiles, and compressed in order that they may keep. Such cakes harden so as to need cutting with an axe. The fig is still extensively cultivated in the East, and in a dried state, strung upon cords, it forms an extensive article of commerce from Persia to India. The fig-tree, though now successfully cultivated in a great part of Europe,' even as far north as the southern parts of Es-gland, is yet a native of the East, and probably of the Persian region, where it is most extensively cultivated. The climate there is such that the tree must necessarily be able to bear some degree of cold, and thus be fitted to travel northwards, and- ripen its fruit where there is a sufficient amount and continuance of summer heat. It has a smooth stem, which is seldom quite straight, and is covered with a gray bark; the leaves are of the shape of a heart, with three or five lobes, and are indented; the upper side is rough, the lower is covered with fine hair. The fruit makes its appearance before the leaves, but not before the flowers or blossom, Which lies concealed within a hollow, fleshy receptacle (Hogg, Vegetable Kingdom, p. 676). The fertilization of-the blossoms is often assisted by an artificial process called caprification (Pliny, 20:21; Tournefort, ii, 32; Russel, Aleppo, i, 108; Hasselquist, p. 221). See the Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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