“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
Parallel translations
- KJV But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
- BSB But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’
- NKJV But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, And go to sway over trees?’
- NASB But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’
- NLT But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
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
The fig tree refuses, unwilling to give up its sweetness and good fruit for rule.
Overview
The fig, valued for its sweet produce, will not abandon fruitfulness to 'wave over the trees.' Its refusal again contrasts the genuinely useful with the empty pursuit of power. The fable underscores that worthy figures do not grasp for the crown.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Luke 13:6–7He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 9:11 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.