Jeremiah 24:1-3

F. The Vision of the Fig Baskets Jeremiah 24:1-10

The terminology the Lord showed me or caused me to see introduces a prophetic vision. Chapter 24 contains such a vision. There are two types of prophetic visions in the Old Testament, the subjective and the objective. In the subjective vision only the prophet sees the object in question. In the objective vision the object is visible to the physical eyesight. The revelation consists of the significance of the object, not what the prophet sees but what the prophet sees in an object. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain whether a vision is subjective or objective. In the opinion of the present writer the vision of the two fig baskets falls into the category of objective vision. Chapter 24 describes the experience of the prophet in having his attention drawn to the two baskets (Jeremiah 24:1-3). Then the Lord explains to Jeremiah the meaning of the basket of good figs (Jeremiah 24:4-7) and the basket of bad figs (Jeremiah 24:8-10).

1. The experience of the prophet (Jeremiah 24:1-3)

TRANSLATION

(1) And the LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs placed before the Temple of the LORD after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and the smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon. (2) The one basket contained very good figs, like figs that are first ripe; the other basket contained very bad figs, which were so bad they could not be eaten. (3) And the LORD said unto me, What do you see Jeremiah? And I said, Figs! The good figs are very good and the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah 24:1-3 describe the time, place and contents of the prophetic vision. The vision is dated after the deportation of 597 B.C. In this deportation Jeconiah, better known as Jehoiachin (cf. Jeremiah 22:24), was taken captive along with all the artisans of the land. Jeremiah seems to have been outside the Temple at the time of the vision. God directed his attention to two baskets of figs which had been left for some unexplained reason near the entrance of the Temple (Jeremiah 24:1). Jeremiah noticed that the first basket contained good figs which were a delight to the eye. Small figs which appear along with the first leaves of spring after ripening are called first-ripe figs. The first-ripe figs are considered a delicacy (cf. Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1). The prophet noticed that the other basket contained bad figs, so bad that they could not possibly be eaten. Jeremiah does not say why the figs were bad. Most commentators speculate that they were spoiled and hence worthless, fit only to be thrown away. Another suggestion is that the second basket contained figs which had been allowed to remain too long on the tree. Such fully mature figs taken from the tree late in the season are untasty. As is frequent in prophetic visions the Lord asked Jeremiah to relate what he had observed and the prophet quickly does so, anticipating the interpretation of these symbols which follows (Jeremiah 24:3).