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Shalom friends,
This week we will discuss a somewhat surprising subject: Figs. On the surface, they are simply a sweet fruit which ripens in summer (if you visit Israel you can find plenty of delicious figs in the markets, right about now). They are also one of the seven species of
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with which the land of Canaan is blessed, as mentioned in last |
week's Torah portion (Deuteronomy 8:8).
Because figs were central among the crops grown in biblical times, they have a wide variety of names designating their different stages of ripeness. Figs are important in what they symbolize in biblical literature, and are used by different prophets as part of their imagery.
The Fig Tree
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, Te'enah, which is used for the tree as well as the |
fruit. The fig tree is described in a number of biblical stories, among them Jotham's fable which appears in Judges 9. Jotham's brother, Abimelech, the son of the judge Gideon, decided to take over his father reign after his death and killed his 70 brothers. Only the youngest one, Jotham, survived, and he turned to the people of Shechem and with his fable tried to show them that they were giving power to one not worthy of it and that they would be burned by his rule.
In his parable, he shows how each one of the fruitful trees refuses to rule, and only the bramble agrees to do so. When turning to the fig tree, her response is:
"How can I leave my sweetness and good fruit, and go sway over the trees?"
(Judges 9:11)
Like all the other fruitful trees, the fig tree refuses to give up her produce in order to rule. Only the bramble, which has no produce, is willing to take this task. The description of the fig tree teaches us that it stands for sweetness and good produce.
The people sitting beneath their vines and fig trees is a metaphor used to describe the peaceful state of the Israelites during King Solomon's rule:
"And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan to Beer Sheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon."
(1 Kings 5:5)
Fig Leaves as Garments
The wide leaves of the fig tree are famous for the use to which they were put by Adam and Eve: after their sin in the Garden of Eden, the two suddenly realize that they are naked. Embarrassed, they made themselves clothes from the materials at their disposal - from the trees surrounding them in the garden:
"Then their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles"
(Genesis 3:7)
The fig leaves were probably chosen because they are relatively wide. However, this clothing was not very successful, and God later made them garments of leather (3:21).
Fig Used for Medicinal Purposes
| A cake of dry figs ( |
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, develet te'enim) is also used in a biblical story for |
medicinal purposes. In 2 Kings 20 we hear of King Hezekiah's illness and his call for the prophet Isaiah in order to help him. Isaiah prayed for him and promised that he would be cured within three days, and also brought a divine promise of redemption from the Assyrians. In addition, he asked that a cake of dry figs be placed on the king's boil. And in fact, Hezekiah was cured and Isaiah's prophecy indeed came to be.
Figs in the Imagery of the Prophets
Many of the prophets mention figs as a symbol of prosperity as well as mentioning their consumption and destruction by others as a symbol of punishment which will come upon the sinning Israelites. Two prophets I would like to make special mention of are Amos (8th century BCE) and Jeremiah (7th-6th century BCE).
Amos, originally from Judea, prophesized to the northern kingdom of Israel and tried to persuade them to repent for their evil ways, first and foremost their unjust society. As part
| of this, he described how he saw a basket of |
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ka'yitz, and how he understood from |
| this that the end, |
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, was to come upon Israel (Amos 8:1-4). This is relevant to us today |
because ka'yitz are ripe summer figs, as we will discuss in the "Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words" section.
However, I would like to better understand Amos' prophecy: how did the figs teach him that the end was near? This is a word play, for which it is important to learn a little about the different dialects of Hebrew that existed in biblical times, something which you can learn much more about at our courses.
The northern kingdom of Israel spoke Hebrew that was slightly different than the southern Hebrew. One of the clear differences concerns the doubly vowel sound a-yi as it was pronounced in Judea (standard Biblical Hebrew as far as we are concerned), in
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ba'yit - house, or |
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ya'in - wine. In the north, this double vowel sound |
| was pronounced as one - an e sound. So that |
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became |
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- bet, |
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became |
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, as |
| is found in writing from the 8th century BCE in Samaria, and |
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- ka'yitz, became |
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- ketz.
| Realizing this, the word play Amos is doing here is made clear: the word |
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- ketz also |
means end! Therefore, the figs told Amos that the end was near because their name is a word play on the word for ripe figs as pronounced by the Israelites to whom he was preaching: to them, the figs sounded the same as the word "end"!
The prophet Amos, by Gustave Doré
The other prophet we will discuss today is Jeremiah. Jeremiah uses figs as imagery quite often in his prophecies. In Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah was trying to convince the people that the exile was the will of God and they should not resist it. After some of the Judeans, including King Jeconiah, had been taken to Babylon, Jeremiah describes how he saw two baskets of figs before the Temple: one full of good ripe figs and the other full of bad figs, so bad that they are not worthy of being eaten. These are symbols of the two groups of Judeans: those who have been exiled already will be redeemed, while those remaining in Jerusalem will be punished. Indeed, those who remained in Jerusalem were punished severely when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed.
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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| Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words |
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Transcription: Bikkurah
Literal Meaning: First ripe fig
The Bikkurah is the first fig to ripen, which is to be brought as an offering to God at the beginning of the summer. These figs are considered especially sweet and delicious.
| The general name - |
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bikkurim - is used for all first fruits. |
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Transcription: Pag / Pagga
Literal Meaning: A fig not yet ripe. In modern Hebrew: a baby born prematurely.
In Biblical Hebrew, the Pagga is described in the Song of Songs 2:13, as part of the description of the wonders of spring:
"The fig tree has ripened its figs which were not yet ripe, and the vines give the smell of blossom"
In Modern Hebrew, the word Pag was adopted to describe a different kind of fruit not yet ripe - the fruit of the womb, a baby born prematurely.
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Transcription: Kayitz
Literal Meaning: A ripe summer fig, as well as summer.
Kayitz means both the season of summer as well as the fruit which is the symbol of this season - the ripe fig.
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Transcription: De'vela
Literal Meaning: A lump of dried figs
As a means of preserving fruit for the less plentiful seasons of the year, many fruits were dried in ancient times. The De'vela often appears together with the raisin, since both are dried forms of fruits with which the Land of Israel is blessed. One of the provisions Abigail brought to David and his people despite the prohibition on the part of her cruel first husband, Nabal, was two hundred lumps of dry figs (1 Samuel 25:18).
An engraving of Abigail coming before David
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