Matthew 21:19

Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

BSB

Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

KJV

And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

ASV

And seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only; and he saith unto it, Let there be no fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And immediately the fig tree withered away.

BBE

And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead.

Original Greek

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καὶ kai And G2532 ἰδὼν idōn having seen G1492 συκῆν sukēn fig tree G4808 μίαν mian one G1520 ἐπὶ epi along G1909 τῆς tēs the G3588 ὁδοῦ hodou road G3598 ἦλθεν ēlthen He came G2064 ἐπ ep᾽ to G1909 αὐτὴν autēn it G846 καὶ kai and G2532 οὐδὲν ouden no [thing] G3762 εὗρεν heuren found G2147 ἐν en on G1722 αὐτῇ autēa it G846 εἰ ei only G1487 μὴ mē except G3361 φύλλα phulla leaves G5444 μόνον monon alone G3441 καὶ kai And G2532 λέγει legei He says G3004 αὐτῇ autēa to it G846 οὐ ou certainly G3756 μηκέτι mēketi no more G3371 ἐκ ek from G1537 σοῦ sou you G4771 καρπὸς karpos fruit G2590 γένηται genētai there may be G1096 εἰς eis to G1519 τὸν ton the G3588 αἰῶνα aiōna age G165 καὶ kai And G2532 ἐξηράνθη exēranthē withered G3583 παραχρῆμα parachrēma immediately G3916 ἡ hē the G3588 συκῆ sukē fig tree G4808

The early church

All 7
Herein also we find proof of the Lord's goodness; where He was minded to show forth an instance of the salvation procured by His means, He exerted the power of His might on the persons of men; by healing their present sicknesses, encouraging them to hope for the future, and to look for the healing of their soul. But now when He would exhibit a type of His judgments on the rebellious, He represents the future by the destruction of a tree; Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And that is compared to a fig tree, because the Apostles being the first believers out of Israel, like green figs shall in the glory, and the time, of their resurrection, be before the rest.
Hilary of Poitiers · d. 367Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
The Lord about to suffer among the nations, and to take upon Him the offence of the Cross, sought to strengthen the minds of His disciples by a previous miracle; whence it follows, And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only. For ever, (in sempiternum,) or, To the end of the world, (in sæculum,) for the Greek word αἰῶγ signifies both. The tree which He saw by the wayside we understand as the synagogue, which was nigh to the way inasmuch as it had the Law, but yet believed not on the way, that is, on Christ.
Jerome · d. 420Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
(de Cons. Ev. ii. 68.) It must be considered that Mark relates the wonder of the disciples at the withering of the tree, and the answer of the Lord concerning faith, to have been not on the day following the cursing of the tree, but on the third day after; and that on the second day Mark relates the casting of the merchants out of the Temple, which he had omitted on the first day. On the second day then he says that He went forth out of the city in the evening, and that as they passed by in the morning, the disciples then saw that the fig tree was withered. But Matthew speaks as though all this had been done on the day following. This must be so taken as that when Matthew, having related that the fig tree was dried up, adds immediately, omitting all the events of the second day, And when the disciples saw if, they marvelled, he yet meant that it was on another day that they marvelled. For the tree must be supposed to have withered at the time it was cursed, not at the time they saw it. For they did not see it withering, but when it was withered, and by that they understood that it had withered immediately upon the Lord's words.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
Also the fig in respect of the multitude of seeds under one skin is as it were an assembly of the faithful. But He finds nothing on it but leaves only, that is, pharisaical traditions, an outward show of the Law without the fruits of truth.
Pseudo-Chrysostom · d. 500Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
(ord.) The Creator does no wrong to the owner, but His creature at His will is converted to the profit of others.
Glossa Ordinaria · d. 1274Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 18–22

This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ's curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree.

Read Matthew Henry on Matthew 21 →

Parallel passages

1

The same words or events elsewhere.

Mark 11:13–14

Cross-references

13

Topics

Wicked (People)UnfaithfulnessEcclesiasticismUnfruitfulness

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.