Jeremiah 24:2
in Jeremiah 24One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
KJV
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
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This verse in Jeremiah 24
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHence miserable Jeconiah, who was banished and deprived of his kingdom, was apparently undergoing a most grievous punishment, together with his companions, who had been led away with him; and the Jews who remained at Jerusalem no doubt flattered themselves, as though God had dealt more kindly with them.
This site's exposition
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had
on Jeremiah 24:1-3
The vision is dated after Nebuchadnezzar carried Jeconiah to Babylon and the two baskets stand “in front of the temple of the LORD.” One basket holds figs “like those that ripen early,” and the other holds figs “so bad they could not be eaten.”
This site's exposition
like those that ripen early
Figs that ripen early were the first fruit of the season. Calvin notes that those left in Jerusalem thought God had treated them better than the exiles. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the good and bad as a comparison, meant to comfort the exiles and rebuke the proud at home.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
The prophet speaks thus concerning the people of Israel and ours: "The Lord showed me two baskets of figs. One had very good ones, the other had very bad ones." This fact, as has often been said, presents an image of the two people, for …
"I gave you," he said, "directions in the first commandment to attend to faith, and fear, and self-restraint." "Even so, sir," said I. And he said, "Now I wish to show you the powers of these, that you may know what power each possesses. For their powers are double, and have relation alike to the righteous and the unrighteous. Trust you, therefore, the righteous, but put no trust in the unrighteous. For the path of righteousness is straight, but that of unrighteousness is crooked. But walk in the straight and even way, and mind not the crooked. For the crooked path has no roads, but has many pathless places and stumbling-blocks in it, and it is rough and thorny. It is injurious to those who walk therein. But they who walk in the straight road walk evenly without stumbling, because it is neither rough nor thorny. You see, then, that it is better to walk in this road." "I wish to go by this road," said I. "You will go by it," said he; "and whoever turns to the Lord with all his heart will walk in it."
A commentator
Methodius of OlympusSYMPOSIUM OR BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:5 · Written before 311.
proposed
The fig tree can be taken as a type of the delights of paradise due to the sweetness and excellence of its fruit. The devil beguiled the man by imitating it and then led him captive, persuading him to conceal the nakedness of his body by fig leaves.… The enemy, by his power, always imitates the forms of virtue and righteousness, not for the purpose of truly promoting its exercise but for deception and hypocrisy. He camouflages himself with the colors of immortality in order to entice those who are fleeing from death to embrace death.
(Chapter XXIV. - Verse 1ff.) The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets (or baskets) full of figs, placed before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes, the craftsmen, and the captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that ripen early, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were bad. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah?
The Reformation1 voice
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They are called good and bad respectively, not in an absolute, but a comparative sense, and in reference to the punishment of the latter. This prophecy was designed to encourage the despairing exiles, and to reprove the people at home, who prided themselves as superior to those in Babylon and abused the forbearance of God (compare Jer 52:31-34).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Fig-trees bear three crops of figs, of which the first is regarded as a great delicacy.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
like the first ripe figs that have ripened completely in the beginning of the ripening of the figs which are dear to all those who find them in their beginning.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַדּ֣וּד | hadud | the basket | H1731 → | 8 times |
| אֶחָ֗ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| תְּאֵנִים֙ | teenim | [was] figs | H8384 → | 39 times |
| טֹב֣וֹת | tovot | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| כִּתְאֵנֵ֖י | kitenei | like [the] figs of | H8384 → | 39 times |
| הַבַּכֻּר֑וֹת | habakurot | the early figs | H1063 → | |
| וְהַדּ֣וּד | vehadud | and the basket | H1731 → | 8 times |
| אֶחָ֗ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| תְּאֵנִים֙ | teenim | [was] figs | H8384 → | 39 times |
| רָע֣וֹת | raot | bad | H7451 → | 662 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵֽאָכַ֖לְנָה | teakhalnah | they will be eaten | H398 → | 810 times |
| מֵרֹֽעַ׃ ס | meroa' | from badness | H7455 → | 19 times |
הַדּ֣וּדthe basket
hadudH1731 →8 times
אֶחָ֗דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
תְּאֵנִים֙[was] figs
teenimH8384 →39 times
טֹב֣וֹתgood
tovotH2896 →538 times
מְאֹ֔דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
כִּתְאֵנֵ֖יlike [the] figs of
kiteneiH8384 →39 times
הַבַּכֻּר֑וֹתthe early figs
habakurotH1063 →
וְהַדּ֣וּדand the basket
vehadudH1731 →8 times
אֶחָ֗דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
תְּאֵנִים֙[was] figs
teenimH8384 →39 times
רָע֣וֹתbad
raotH7451 →662 times
מְאֹ֔דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תֵֽאָכַ֖לְנָהthey will be eaten
teakhalnahH398 →810 times
מֵרֹֽעַ׃ סfrom badness
meroa'H7455 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but…
it leads to
- Psalms 80:8–11
You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
- Jeremiah 12:10
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
- Psalms 80:8–11
Through
Isaiah 5:4What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
it leads to
- Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…
- Micah 6:3–4
‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you!
- Matthew 23:37
Through
Micah 7:1Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.
it leads to
- Isaiah 28:4
The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand…
- Hosea 9:10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so…
- Isaiah 24:13
So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
- Isaiah 28:4
Through
Hosea 9:10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 11:13
Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, O Judah; the altars of shame you have set up—the altars to burn incense to Baal—are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’
- Jeremiah 11:13
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 106:4; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Methodius of Olympus, SYMPOSIUM OR BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:5 and Shepherd of Hermas, Shepherd of Hermas, Commandment 6.