A fig-tree
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Συκῆ (sykē) means fig tree, a familiar cultivated tree whose leaves and fruit make it useful in narrative, parable, and moral comparison. Jesus finds a leafy tree without fruit and pronounces judgment; in the temple context, the acted sign exposes impressive appearance without the fruit God seeks.
Reader summary
Full entry for συκῆ (G4808) · Open the biblical lexicon
Συκῆ (sykē) means fig tree, a familiar cultivated tree whose leaves and fruit make it useful in narrative, parable, and moral comparison. Jesus finds a leafy tree without fruit and pronounces judgment; in the temple context, the acted sign exposes impressive appearance without the fruit God seeks.
The BSB source-word alignment has 16 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fig tree (11), a fig tree (3), a tree (1), tree (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (5), Mark (4), Luke (3), John (2).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Συκῆ (sykē) means fig tree, a familiar cultivated tree whose leaves and fruit make it useful in narrative, parable, and moral comparison. Jesus finds a leafy tree without fruit and pronounces judgment; in the temple context, the acted sign exposes impressive appearance without the fruit God seeks. Luke's parable gives an unfruitful fig tree additional cultivation before removal, holding patience and accountability together.
Jesus tells Nathanael He saw him under the fig tree before Philip called, revealing personal knowledge rather than assigning the tree a secret symbolic meaning. James asks whether a fig tree can produce olives, using created consistency to expose contradictory speech. The tree can be literal, enacted sign, parabolic object, private location, or analogy. Context determines which features matter.
Συκῆ names a fig tree and serves distinct roles: a judged leafy tree, a patiently cultivated but accountable tree, Nathanael's ordinary location, and an analogy for consistent fruit.
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.
Jesus finds only leaves and pronounces that the tree will bear no fruit, an enacted judgment framed by His entry into and cleansing of Jerusalem's temple.
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when He reached it, He found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs.
Mark emphasizes the tree's distant promise of leaves and lack of fruit before the temple action, inviting readers to follow the narrative pairing rather than isolate botany.
Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.
The vineyard's fig tree receives one more season of digging and manure, so patience serves a final opportunity for fruit rather than indefinite avoidance of judgment.
“How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Jesus' knowledge that Nathanael was under the fig tree before Philip called him leads Nathanael toward confession of Jesus' identity, not toward speculation about the tree.
My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
James appeals to the fig tree's created kind: it does not produce olives, just as one source should not yield blessing and cursing.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Fig-tree symbolizes judgment and fruitfulness; Jesus's cursing illustrates consequences of unproductive profession
Fig-tree symbolizes judgment and fruitfulness; Jesus's cursing illustrates consequences of unproductive profession
(σῦκον), [in LXX for תְּאֵן ;] a fig-tree: Mat.21:19-21 24:32, Mrk.11:13, 20-21 13:28, Luk.13:6-7 21:29, Jhn.1:49, 51, Jas.3:12, Rev.6:13.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a fig-tree
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
συκῆ is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The fig tree's teaching force changes from passage to passage. In Matthew and Mark, abundant leaves without fruit become an acted warning within Jesus' confrontation with Jerusalem's worship. The sign is not divine irritation at an inconvenient tree but a narrated judgment that must be read beside the temple. Luke's gardener introduces merciful delay, yet the extra year is active cultivation aimed at fruit and still faces a final reckoning.
John leaves the tree ordinary: its importance is that Jesus knew Nathanael before being physically introduced. James draws from created consistency to challenge a mouth that blesses God and curses people made in His likeness. Churches should seek fruit without mistaking appearance for life, receive patience as opportunity for repentance, and reject speech that contradicts its confessed source.
Matt.21.19
Συκῆ is the noun for fig tree, distinct from the fig fruit. Articles, location phrases, and fruit language show whether the tree is simply present or functions within parable and sign.
Figs mark agricultural blessing, prophets lament missing fruit, Jesus uses fig trees in warning and instruction, and wisdom draws moral analogy from plants yielding according to kind.