Luke 13:1-9
The parable of the fig tree
13:1At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
13:2He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
13:3No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.
13:4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them–do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem?
13:5No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.”
13:6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.
13:7So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’
13:8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.
13:9If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’”
[1]Παρῆσαν δέ τινες ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ ἀπαγγέλλοντες αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν Γαλιλαίων, ὧν τὸ αἷμα Πιλᾶτος ἔμιξε μετὰ τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν.
[2]καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· δοκεῖτε ὅτι οἱ Γαλιλαῖοι οὗτοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Γαλιλαίους ἐγένοντο, ὅτι τοιαῦτα πεπόνθασιν;
[3]οὐχί, λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐὰν μὴ μετανοῆτε, πάντες ὡσαύτως ἀπολεῖσθε.
[4]ἢ ἐκεῖνοι οἱ δέκα καὶ ὀκτώ, ἐφ᾿ οὓς ἔπεσεν ὁ πύργος ἐν τῷ Σιλωὰμ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτούς, δοκεῖτε ὅτι οὗτοι ὀφειλέται ἐγένοντο παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ;
[5]οὐχί, λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσητε, πάντες ὁμοίως ἀπολεῖσθε.
[6]῎Ελεγε δὲ ταύτην τὴν παραβολήν· συκῆν εἶχέ τις ἐν τῷ ἀμπελῶνι αὐτοῦ πεφυτευμένην, καὶ ἦλθε ζητῶν καρπὸν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ οὐχ εὗρεν.
[7]εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀμπελουργόν· ἰδοὺ τρία ἔτη ἔρχομαι ζητῶν · ἔκκοψον αὐτήν· ἱνατί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ;
[8]ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· κύριε, ἄφες αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔτος, ἕως ὅτου σκάψω περὶ αὐτὴν καὶ βάλω κόπρια.
[9]κἂν μὲν ποιήσῃ καρπόν· εἰ δὲ μήγε, εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐκκόψεις αὐτήν.
Comments
[1] Παρῆσαν: impf., 3rd pers. pl., πάρειμι, ‘I have arrived at’ (cl. Gk prose: LSJ s.v. I.5); the impf., ‘I had arrived’. The Engl. tr. ‘there were some present’ is not accurate.
[2] ἀποκριθεὶς: ἀποκρίνομαι, ‘Ι answer after distilling my thoughts’; the vb connotes a considered reply, as noted in previous comments. Cf. v.8.
παρὰ πάντας τοὺς Γαλιλαίους: παρά c. acc. here means ‘in comparison to, more than’ (EDNT s.v. 4 b; already cl. Gk: Montanari). Cf. 4, παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.
[6] συκῆν εἶχέ τις: ‘a fig tree someone had’, the acc. συκῆν, ‘fig’ tree, the subject of the parable, is emphatic by position. The indefinite pron. τις (‘someone’) conjures an aura of ‘Once upon a time’.
[7] τρία ἔτη: acc. of time, ‘for three years’; τρία is emphatic by position.
ἔρχομαι: ‘I come’; the present tense can refer to actions that have been carried out in the recent past, and the effects of which extend into the present. This usage is attested in cl. Gk and modern Greek as well.
ἔκκοψον: a blunt order in the aor. imper., 2nd pers. sg., ἐκκόπτω, ‘cut down ( a tree)’, cl. Gk (LSJ s.v., 2a). Cf. v. 9, ἐκκόψεις.
ἱνατί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ: καταργέω, ‘make useless’, apparently koine (LSJ s.v. I.1). καὶ: ‘as well’, ‘into the bargain’. The fig tree is not only unproductive, it also encumbers the soil.
[9] εἰ δὲ μήγε: the particle γε throws emphasis on the negative μή, hence ‘but if NOT’.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 