Bible Dictionary
Naughty figs
“Naughty figs” refers to the inferior or bad figs in Jeremiah’s vision. They represented King Zedekiah and those who remained in Judah under judgment.
Definition
“Naughty figs” refers to the bad or inferior figs in Jeremiah’s vision. They may have been rotten figs or fruit of the sycamore, whose juice was bitter. In the vision their poor condition served as an emblem of rejection.
Biblical Usage
The bad figs represented King Zedekiah and the people who remained in Judah under judgment. Their inferiority contrasted with the good figs and expressed their rejected condition.
Historical Background
The inferior fruit may have been bad because it had decayed or because it came from the sycamore. The supplied material uses this natural distinction to explain the image in Jeremiah’s vision.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Jer. 24:2). “The bad figs may have been such either from having decayed, and thus been reduced to a rotten condition, or as being the fruit of the sycamore, which contains a bitter juice” (Tristram, Nat. Hist.). The inferiority of the fruit is here referred to as an emblem of the rejected Zedekiah and his people.