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Did the fig tree Jesus cursed wither at once, or was it found withered the next morning?
Hard question · The life of Jesus · raised by 2 of the lists sceptics circulate
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Jesus curses the fig tree; “presently the fig tree withered away”, and the disciples marvel.
Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
Jesus curses the tree; Mark notes only that “his disciples heard it”.
And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Next morning they see the tree “dried up from the roots”, and Peter points it out.
And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
The objection
Matthew says the fig tree withered “presently”, that is at once, and the disciples marvelled at how quickly it happened. Mark says the disciples noticed only the next morning that it had withered. Did it wither immediately or overnight?
The answer
Mark does not say when the tree withered; he says when the disciples noticed it. On the day of the curse he records only that “his disciples heard it”; the next morning they saw it “dried up from the roots” (Mark 11:14, 20). Nothing in Mark denies that the curse took effect at once, and Matthew says that it did: the tree withered ‘immediately’ (Greek parachrēma). A tree that began to die at once might show little as the disciples passed it at dusk, and be plainly dead, root and branch, by the morning.
Matthew also tells the story in one piece, without Mark’s note of the night in between. His “when the disciples saw it, they marvelled” does not say when they saw it; Mark tells us it was the next morning, when Peter pointed it out. Matthew tells Jairus’s story the same way, joining his daughter’s dying and death into one report (compare Matthew 9:18 with Mark 5:23, 35). A shorter account that gathers the stages together is not a different event.
Other answers Christians give
Withering in stages
Some suggest that the disciples saw the leaves begin to wilt at once, and that Matthew records their surprise then, while Mark records the full result the next day.
From the classic commentators
In Mt 21:19 it is said it withered away as soon as it was cursed. But the full blight had not appeared probably at once; and in the dusk perhaps, as they returned to Bethany, they had not observed it.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary, on Mark 11:20 (1871)
immediately, upon Christ's saying these words, its sap was dried up, it lost its verdureJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible, on Matthew 21:19 (1746–1763)
Sources
- Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary: Mark 11 (1871), at Bible Hub
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Matthew 21 (1746–1763), at Bible Hub