Fig Trees: The first tree mentioned in the Bible

Fig Trees
The fig tree is one of the oldest trees known to exist. The fig tree produces fig which are fruits full of vitamins and minerals. Figs can be eaten fresh, frozen or dried. Dried figs provide a year-round food source.

The fig tree is the only tree type specifically mentioned in the Garden of Eden:

Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. (Genesis 3:1-7)

Although our Sunday Schools and churches often depict the fruit Eve gave to Adam was an apple, apple trees are not native to the Middle East. Instead, the fruit eaten was most likely a fig. Adam and Eve used fig leaves for coverings. Just speculation, they most likely used the leaves which were at hand, which leads me to believe the tree which they ate from was a fig tree.


Fig trees one of the promised food when Israel was to enter the land.
The fig tree is one of the seven species of food God promises the land of Israel will be filled with.

“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you may live and increase, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

5 So you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:1-10)

Fast Facts
Origin Northwest Asia and Middle East
Maximum growth 20-30 feet
Needs full sunlight
Needs water once a week
Climate: Long hot summers and mild winters
Figs have a natural sugar content of 55%, making them the sweetest of all fruits.

Franciscan monks of Mission San Diego brought figs to California from the Mediterranean in the middle of the 18th century. Figs were planted in all the missions along the Camino Real. Today, California produces 98% of all the figs grown in the USA. They are called mission figs.


Fig Tree Harvest Cycle
The fig tree has two fruit harvests. There is the minor harvest and the major harvest.

The minor harvest happens in the spring of the year around Passover (March/April). During the minor harvest, small fruit will be on the tree as the leaves on the fig tree begin to unfurl. The major fruit harvest happens in later summer. During this harvest, the leaves are large and the fruit is big and heavy with sweet nectar.

Knowing there are two fruits harvests will help us understand Jesus’ teaching about the fig tree:

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. (Mark 11:12-14)

When reading Jesus’ words, we may be confused why He cursed a fig tree if it only had leaves and no fruit, since we are told it was not the season for figs. Understanding the growing season of fig trees, the text is better understood as follows: We are told there are leaves but no fruit. This means the time of year is spring. Spring is the time when the fig tree unfurls its leaves. During this time, small figs are on the tree and are available to be harvested. However, spring is not the main fruit harvest. Hence, we are told it was not the time for figs, meaning it was not the fall of the year or the main fig harvest time.


The Fig tree as a metaphor for Israel’s physical and spiritual health
Over and over again, God uses the fig tree to symbolize Israel, and more specifically its physical and spiritual health.


In Jeremiah 24, the Southern Kingdom of Judah is about to be attacked and destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and his army. Jeremiah is given prophecy that if the inhabitants of the land want to preserve their lives, they will surrender to the Babylonians and go into exile. If the Israelites do not surrender, they will be killed. God gives more insight into this prophesy by explaining it with two baskets of figs.

After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘

Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

8 ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’” (Jeremiah 24:1-10)

We can glean from Jeremiah 24, the spiritual health of Israel. Those people who went peacefully from the land and surrendered were rewarded with their lives. These people believed God and did not try to be self-sovereign. When Zedekiah reigns, he is told over and over again to surrender to Babylon. Jeremiah gives him many warnings and prophesies from God. Zedekiah does not believe Jeremiah or obey God’s word. Zedekiah and his officials are captured. The officials are killed. Zedekiah has his eyes plucked out and is taken to Babylon.