One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
Parallel translations
- WEB One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
- KJV One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
- NKJV One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
- NASB 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.
- NLT One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
One basket holds very good, first-ripe figs; the other holds figs too rotten to eat. The stark contrast sets up two destinies for two groups.
Overview
The two baskets present a vivid contrast between excellent early figs and figs so spoiled they are worthless. This imagery becomes the framework for God's surprising verdict on the exiles versus those remaining in the land. The good and bad figs picture how God evaluates people not by appearances but by His sovereign purpose and their hearts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 5:4What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
- Mic 7:1Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.
- Hos 9:10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.
- Jer 29:17this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.
- Matt 5:13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
- Ezek 15:2–5“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest?
- Jer 24:5–10“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
- Mal 1:12–14“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 24:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.