Matthew 21:19

οὐ μηκέτι BL, whereas א C D and later uncials omit οὐ. The accidental omission, however, is more probable than the insertion of οὐ, and the reading in Mark (μηκέτι without οὐ) may have influenced the text here.

19. συκῆν μίαν. Probably a single fig-tree, standing alone, and so conspicuous. εἷς is, however, used in Alexandrine Greek for τις, cp. ch. Matthew 8:19, εἷς γραμματεύς, and Matthew 18:24, εἷς ὀφειλέτης μυρίων ταλάντων, and in Hebrew the numeral ‘one’ is constantly no more than the indefinite article ‘a’.

ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ. Either (1) on the road as ch. Matthew 10:27, ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων, or (2) hanging over the road.

εἰ μὴ φύλλα μόνον. The fig-tree loses its leaves in the winter: indeed it looks particularly bare with its white naked branches. Schöttgen, however, states ad loc., that the Rabbis compared the fig-tree to the law because at every season fruit may be gathered from it; and one species (see Shaw’s Travels, p. 370, and Land and Book, 23) if favoured by the season and in a good position, puts forth fruit and leaves in the very early spring, the fruit appearing before the leaves. This is the ‘hasty fruit before the summer’ (Isaiah 28:4), ‘the figs that are first ripe’ (Jeremiah 24:2); ‘the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time’ (Hosea 9:10). It was doubtless a fig-tree of this kind that Jesus observed, and seeing the leaves expected to find fruit thereon. At the time of the Passover the first leaf-buds would scarcely have appeared on the common fig-tree, while this year’s ripe fruit would not be found till four months later.

The teaching of the incident depends on this circumstance (comp. Luke 13:6-9). The early fig-tree, conspicuous among its leafless brethren, seemed alone to make a show of fruit and to invite inspection. So Israel, alone among the nations of the world, held forth a promise. From Israel alone could fruit be expected; but none was found, and their harvest-time was past. Therefore Israel perished as a nation, while the Gentile races, barren hitherto, but now on the verge of their spring-time, were ready to burst into blossom and bear fruit.

ἐξηράνθη. From St Mark we gather that the disciples observed the effect of the curse on the day after it was pronounced by Jesus.