The fruit of Ficus carica, fig was such a mainstay of ancient Israelite diet it is mentioned more than forty times in the Bible, exceeded only by the olive and vine with which it is often associated. This not surprising since the fruit was one of the oldest domesticated plants in the Ancient Near East; new archaeobotanic evidence suggests that its cultvation was already widely practiced by about 10,000 BC.1 The fruit was highly prized all over in the ancient Mediterranean world; enough, in fact, that special laws were enacted to regulate their export in ancient Greece. And, like all good foods, some varieties were prized more than others, and these were given names and fetched premium prices. Ulysses, the hero of the Odyssey, obtained from his father twenty named fig trees. Pliny listed twenty-nine varieties of figs and recorded the localities where they were grown.2
The fig was the first fruit-tree to be specified by name in the OT, having its leaves sewn together as coverings for the guilty pair immediately after their fall (Gen3:7). It was also listed as one of the seven great gifts of the Promised Land, the "good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey" into which Yahweh was bringing Israel (Deut 8:8).
The sweetness of the fig is almost proverbial:
Next, the trees said to the fig tree, "Come and be our king." But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?' (Judg 9:10-11)
It also contains a natural ## that lends it well to preservation; when dried it serves as a precious source of food for travellers on the go, a commodity that Abigail was quick to supply David:
She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
The fig is also reputed for its healing power: when Hezekiah was ill and at the point of death, Isaiah had sent instructions for the king to "prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover" (Isa 38:21).
For all Israelites, however, the fig-tree was a symbol of contentment as is evident in the common expression "every man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Ki 4:25; Mic 4:4). As part of his propaganda to entice the Judeans to desert their king, the Assyrian commander called out to them, "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern . . ." (2 Ki 18:31; Isa 36:16). Zechariah prophesied a coming day of Yahweh's restoration when, "'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the Lord Almighty" (Zec 3:10). Anyone who has ever spent a summer in Israel surrounded by fig trees very quickly understands why sitting under a fig tree was such a delight. The shade of the leaves provides welcomed refuge from the sapping heat, while the tree gives off a gentle caressing aroma that quickly lulls a person into restful calm. Nathanael, whom Jesus saw sitting under the fig tree, knew a good thing doing what he did (Jn 1:48).
So important and delightful was the fig to the ancient Israelite, it naturally found its way their religious life. Just as it was a symbol of joy and delight, it became also the perfect vehicle of depicting divine judgment and displeasure:
He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land; he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number; they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil." (Psm 105:32-35)
O house of Israel," declares the Lord, "I am bringing a distant nation against you—an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors. They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust. (Jer 5:15-17)
"I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the Lord. (Hos 2:12-13)
A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth. Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord. (Joel 1:6-9)
Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord (Amos 4:9)
The figurative use of the fig was also common in Jesus's teachings. Warning his audience to repent and live right by God, he told this parable (Lk 13:7-9):
A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?"
"Sir," the man replied, "leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down."
Of all the occurrences of the fig in the Bible, probably the most puzzling must be Jesus' cursing of the fig tree when "it was not the season for figs" (Matt 21:18-22; Mk 11:12-14). Click on the link on the left for a discussion of this incident.
The fig tree sheds its leaves in autumn and blooms in the spring (late March), during which time the early figs begin to form. These figs ripen in May. Another crop of fruits, the late fig, soon develops and ripens in late summer (late August-October).
Reflecting both its biology and its importance in ancient Israelite life, there are more words for figs than is often found for other fruits. The most common Hebrew word for fig is te'ena, which is usually translated 'fig' or 'fig tree' depending on the context. Another word is pag, which occurs only in Song 2:13; it is translated variously as "early fruit" (NIV), "green figs" (KJV, NKJ), but also not distinguished from "fig" (RSV, NRS, NASB). Both Hebrew words are preserved in the names of the two villages associated with Jesus whenever he visited Jerusalem: Bethany, "house of fig (beth-te'ena)" and Bethphage, "house of green-fig (beth-pagga)." Both villages were located on the eastern side of Mount Olive.
Two other Hebrew words are also thought to refer to the fig. The word bikkura ordinarily means "firstfruit," but is thought to refer to the "early fig" in Isa 28:4 (thus NIV, NASB, RSV & NRS) and Nah 3:12. The word debela refers to figs that have been pressed flat and dried (1 Sam 25:18; 1 Sam 30:12; 1 Chron 12:40) and was the ingredient used for the preparation of poultrice for wounds and boils (2 Ki 20:7; Isa 38:21).
The Greek word used in the NT and translated 'fig' is suke. In Rev 6:13 we also find the word—the sole occurrence in the NT—olunthous, traslated variously as 'late fig' (NIV, NKJ), 'winter fig' (RSV, NRSV, ESV), 'unripe fig' (NASB), and 'untimely fig' (KJV); perhaps it should be identified with the Hebrew pag.
Low Chai Hok, ©Alberith, 2014