Fiery serpent (Hastings' Dictionary)

See Seraphim andSERPENT. FIGS (D'jNP ti'hitm, the fruit of the fg tree, which is njxn ti'inAh ; in NT avKri is the Jig tree, and avKov the fg). — The fig tree, Fieus Carira, I.., is cultivated everywhere in the Holy Land, ami also grows spontaneously in many places. It is a tree of nioucrate size, .seldom attaining a height of 15 ft., but its spreading branches often cover a circle with a diniiiutcr of 25 to 30 ft.

Fig trees are habitually planted near houses, and the j)eoi>le sit in their shade, and that of the vinos which grow over the trellises. This familiar sight did not fail to l>e noted in OT and Apocr. as an i-uibhin of peace and prosperity (1 K 4-, Mic 4', Zee ;> ". FIGS FIGUKE I Mac 14'-). Tliere are numerous varieties of liy^s cultivated, some of which bear a tarl, Ijlackish fruit, others a sweet, greenish or wliitish one.

Tlie brandies are straggling and naked in winter, but when the rains are nearly or quite over, small green knobs appear at the ends of tlie twii/s. They are the young fruits, :5 pag, ' green figs (Ca 2"). Tlie leaf-bud now expands, and the new pale green leaves soon more or less overshadow the little tigs. This is a familiar sign of early summer (Mt 24^-).

Hence a fig tree with leaves must already have ^ ounr; fruits, or it will be barren for the season, 'riie first figs ripen late in May or early in June. They are called in Heb. T113? bikkiirAh, in Arab. hiXkurah, that is, first ripe. Is 28'' (AV lutsty fruit), .ler 242, Hos 9'», Mic 7'. When our Lord came to the fig tree near Bethany (Mk 11''), just before the passover, i.e.

from late in March to the middle of April, ' the time of figs was not yet,' that is, the season for ripe figs had not come. Among the various ex- planations of Christ's action which may be given, the only ones which seem to us worthy of con- .sideration are the following: (1) That being hungry, and seeing from a distance that the tree had leaves, and therefore was not dead, he came, not to find new fgs, but to find and eat any figs of the last season which might have remained over on the tree.

The expression ' if haply he might find anythin" thereon ' implies that lie did not expect to find much. One or two figs will often stay an empty stomach marvellously. According to this opinion, the ofi'ence of the fig tree was the fact of not haWng what must have been a very exceptional relic of a former harvest. (2) That, inding leaves, he knew that there should be young fruit, and hoped that there might, even at that early period, be 'the first ripe figs,' bikkurCih.

According to this interpretation, the fault of the fig tree was in not having a precocious fig or two before the time, 'for the time of figs was not yet.' We will not dispute the possibility of finding a winter fig or two on a tree (although during a residence of thirty-three years in Syria we have searched and inquired in vain for them), or of the exceptionally early maturing of some variety of figs, perhaps not now cultivated.

Neither of these theories, however, accords with our conception of Christ's justice. In neither case would the fig tree be blameworthy. We are not held account- able for extraordinary attainments in religion. (3) Christ was at the moment hungry. Orientals do not eat early in the morning. Labourers and artificers come fasting to their work, and often toil an hour or two before eating. So it is pre- sumable that our Saviour, in his morning walk of two miles from Bethany to Jerus.

, had not broken his fast. The physical sensation of hunger as a basis gave direction to his thoughts, as he happened to see a most famUiar spectacle, a fig tree, at a distance, with fresh, young foliage. The fact that it is mentioned that ' the time of figs was not yet ' ( AV), or ' it was not the season of figs ' (RV), would seem to prove that Christ would not have thought it strange had he not found winter figs or precocious first fruits.

It is hardly conceiv- able that he could have condemned the tree for that. But, when he arrived, he found no fruit at all. Immediately the disappointment of unsatisfied hunger vas lost in the moral lesson which flashed across his mind A fig tree with leaves should have at least gretn fruit. This one had none. There was pretension, which, in the moral sphere, is hypocrisy. Having leaves and no fruit, it was a deceiver. The ripeness of the fruit is not the point.

If it had had unripe fruit, it would not li.ne been condemned. It was condemned because it had nothing but leaves. The failure of the fig and vine was a sign of great di.stresa (Jer 5" 8", Jl !'■ '-, llab 3"- '»). Kigs were dried and pressed into cakes for food (I S 25'°). These were used as poultices (2 K 2U', Is 38-'). Fig leaves are thick, palmately lol)ed, and often a span or more across.

There is no good reason to doubt the identity of the leaves which Adam and Eve used to make aprons (Gn 3'). G. E. Post.