The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.
7 He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’
8 “But he replied to him, ‘Sir, [Or Lord] leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
8 “But he replied to him, ‘Sir, [Or Lord] leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)
"This parable of the barren fig-tree is intended to enforce the warning given just before: the barren tree, except it brings forth fruit, will be cut down. This parable in the first place refers to the nation and people of the Jews. Yet it is, without doubt, for awakening all that enjoy the means of grace, and the privileges of the visible church. When God has borne long, we may hope that he will bear with us yet a little longer, but we cannot expect that he will bear always."
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