Fig
Plants and Trees in the Bible
The domesticated fig grows to about 5–8 meters (17–26 feet) and has a round crown and very deep and round roots. The trunk may grow to be more than 70 centimeters (2 feet) thick. Fig trees may grow to be several decades old, if they are well cared for. Figs are usually propagated by planting cuttings. The pollination of the flowers is an amazingly intricate process closely linked to the life cycle of a tiny wasp, and the fact that fig trees, like papayas and date palms, are male or female. (There are now some kinds of figs that produce fruit without pollination.) The fruits are about the size of a hen’s egg and can be green, yellow, purple, or brown depending on the type. They are sweet and soft and difficult to transport. For that reason most farmers dry the fruits before shipping them. The “fruit” of the fig is technically a strangely shaped flower. Noting the absence of a “real” flower, the ancient people of India called it a flowerless tree.
Pictures
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
Fig tree
תְּאֵנָה te’enah · 24 verses
συκῆ sukē · 16 verses
Fig fruit
בִּכּוּרָה bikurah · early fig · 4 verses
דְּבֵלָה develah · fig cake · 5 verses
פַּג pag · early fig · 1 verse
תְּאֵנָה te’enah · 12 verses
ὄλυνθος olunthos · late fig · 1 verse
σῦκον sukon · 4 verses
What it stands for
The common fig tree, along with the vine and the olive, is one of the three “top trees” for the Jews. The Bible refers to the fig over 270 times. The image of peace and happiness in Israel was “every man under his vine and under his fig tree” ( [4.25])
More about it
Two types of fig trees are mentioned in the Bible, the Common Fig Ficus carica (Hebrew te’enah) and the Sycomore Fig Ficus sycomorus (Hebrew shiqmah; see 2.11 Sycomore fig). They are closely related. The common fig tree grows not only in Israel, but throughout the world in warm climates. In the Holy Land it was a common source of food; the fruit was eaten both fresh and dried. Sometimes the dried ones were pressed together to form flat “cakes” or blocks (Hebrew develah). But, just as important, the large leaves of the fig make it an excellent shade tree. However, the first use of the fig mentioned in the Bible () was not for food or shade but for clothing; Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves for themselves to cover their nakedness.
The fig was probably domesticated in northwestern Turkey from a wild variety that grew there around 5000 years ago. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian records indicate that the fruits were popular. Figs are now grown especially in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, as well as in the warm parts of the United States. The fig is distantly related to the mulberry (Morus nigra), breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), and Chinese mulberry (Cudrania tricuspidata).
The fig is believed to be indigenous to western Asia and to have been distributed by humans and birds throughout the Mediterranean area. Remnants of figs have been found in excavations of sites traced to at least 5000 B.C.
Also in Domestic trees and shrubs
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema