“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near;
- KJV Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
- BSB Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.
- NKJV “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
- NLT “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.
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
Jesus draws a lesson from the fig tree: tender branches and leaves signal that summer is near. Observable signs point to an approaching event.
Overview
Just as a budding fig tree reliably announces summer, certain signs reliably announce that the predicted events are at hand. Jesus teaches his disciples to read the times with spiritual alertness. The parable does not encourage date-setting but discernment — recognizing that God's purposes are unfolding and that his people should watch and be ready.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Luke 21:29–31He told them a parable. “See the fig tree, and all the trees.
- Matt 24:32–33“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 13:28 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.