Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Fig-tree

ence.

d

mergent Neceffity, it was in his Power to supply himself in the fame miraculous manner, as he oft provided for others; yet where human Means could be us'd, it was more confiftent with his Wisdom, to reserve his Miracles for a more important Occafion. Tho' therefore (as the Apoftle fpeaks) God hath put in Subjection to him the Powers of the World to come, and, on fome extraordinary Conjunctures (fuch as his long Temptation in the Wilderness, and bitter Agony in the Garden,) did, even, in this Life, fend down thefe miniftring Spirits to minifter unto him; yet, that it was neither neceffary in itself, or compatible with the Scheme of his Humiliation, for them to do the fame upon the common returns of Appetite, no one, I think, can imagine.

His going A Tree there was in the way, which up to the might have fupply'd his Wants upon the no blot prefent Occafion, had it not been barren; upon his and, (befides the Acquiefcence of his DiOmnifi vinity, which may very well be admitted in the common Actions of his Life) it is but fuppofing, that this Tree ftood in the Road-fide, and that our Saviour, going that Way, (whether he found Fruit on it, or no) intended all along to work a Miracle upon it, and, by its

Heb. ii. 5.

Speedy

fpeedy withering away, emblematically to fhew his Difciples the near approaching Ruin and Defolation of the Jews; and then all the supposed trouble of going up to it, and difappointment afterwards, which feem to caft an Imputation upon his Omnifcience, vanish into nothing.

dom.

There seems to be mere Difficulty in- OrWfdeed in clearing our Saviour from the other Imputation, that of the breach of common Prudence, in Cafe he had Thoughts of finding Fruit upon the FigTree, before the proper Season was come. But, to fet this Matter in a true Light, we shall endeavour to fhew, Firft, That, at the Time, when our Saviour went up to this Fig-Tree, it was a Seafon proper to expect to find Figs in Judea; and, Secondly, that the Words of St. Mark may be fo understood, as to comport very well with this Circumftance.

Time

prov'd,

Whoever confiders the Series of Hi- That ftory, and the ftrict Connection of the there were Figs fubfequent Actions and Difcourfes of in Judea Jefus, as they are recorded both by at this St. Matthew and St. Mark, will foon be convinc'd, that this Miracle on the FigTree happen'd about the eleventh Day of the Jewish Month, Nifan, on Tuesday, very probably, before the Passover; for S 3

• Dr. Pearce, Part 3. p. 6.

the

[ocr errors]

From Sa

cred

the Paffover, we know, was kept by the Jews on the fourteenth Day of Nifan, which anfwers to the latter end of our March: So that our Bufinefs is to fhew, that at this Time of the Year there were Figs in Judea ripe, and fit for eating.

f When Mofes fent away the Spies to fearch the Land of Canaan, it was, we are told, 8 in the Time of the first ripe Grapes, and, that they returned from fearching the Land after forty Days, and brought from thence Pomegranates, and Figs, as well as Clufters of Grapes. Now the LXX Verfion fays, That it was in the Spring when the Spies fet forward, and Philo, in his Life of Mofes, feems to be of the fame Opinion; for he introduces him, as difmiffing the Spies, and telling them, that the Seafon was then the fittest for discovering the goodness of the Country, because it was Spring; and, as charging them not to return, till Summer was come, that they might bring of the Fruits of the Land for a Sample. Suppofing then, that it was about the middle of the Spring * (which began in Judea about the middle of January) that the Spies fet out, and that they were gone forty Days; it will follow, that they return'd fome few Days before

[blocks in formation]

k

8 Numb. xiii. 20. Vid. Pearce, Part 3. p. 7.

fore the Paffover: and if the Figs, which they brought, as well as the Grapes, were ripe, and full grown, then were the ripe Figs in Judea at the very fame Time, that our Saviour is here faid to look for them. But this is not all.

Solomon, in his Book of Canticles, gives us a lively Defcription of the Spring, and, among other Signs of its being come, makes mention of this, that the Fig-Tree putteth forth her green Figs, and the Vines, with the tender Grape, give a good mell; or (as it may more literally be render'd) the Fig-Tree bath begun to give a flavour to her young Figs, and the Vines a good smell to the tender Grape. Now, if, in the middle of our January, the Figs were fo forward, as then to give a Flavour, it is reasonable to think, that, in fo warm and fruitful a Climate, there might be ripe ones, about the latter end of March, which is the precife Time when our Saviour fought for them upon this Fig-Tree.

[ocr errors]

Our Saviour indeed inftances in the

Tenderness of the Branch of the FigTree, and in its putting forth Leaves, as the natural fign of the near approach of the Summer; but 'tis of the ordinary S 4

Ch. ii. 13. Mark xiii. 28.

or

and pro

thors.

or Garden Fig-Tree, that he makes this Obfervation, which, (according to the Talmudifts, cited by our learned Lightfoot) brought not its Fruit to maturity, till about five Months after the eleventh Day of Nifan, i. e. much about the latter end of our Auguft.

[ocr errors]

n

The Truth is, there were in Judea fane Au- Fig-Trees of different Kinds; and, befides the ordinary fort, which our Saviour here speaks of, the Jewish Writers make particular mention of one early Kind, called Banoth Shuach, which never wanted Leaves, and very feldom Fruit. Nay, Pliny tells us of fome fort of Fig-Trees in Syria, (under which Name he frequently comprehends Judea) that had always Leaves, and when the Fruit of the preceding Year was gathered, the new Fruit began immediately, and was growing all the Winter long. And therefore we need lefs wonder at what the Emperor Julian afferts, That in Damafcus, in Syria, there is a Sort of Fig-Tree, whofe Fruit, both old and young, grows together, and lafts beyond the Year; or at what a very eminent Traveller, and great Naturalift affures us, "That fome fort of Figs grow in

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Bp. Smallbroke's Vind. p. 405.
L. 13. c. S. • Ful. Ep. 24.
Voyages to the Levant.

[ocr errors]

"the

Nat. Hift.

• Tournefort's

« AnteriorContinuar »