1 Kings 4:25

4:25 All the people of Judah and Israel had security; everyone from Dan to Beer Sheba enjoyed the produce of their vines and fig trees throughout Solomon’s lifetime. ¹ 

Isaiah 36:16

36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ²  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ³  I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,

the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will abolish ⁴  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ⁵  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ⁶ 

Micah 4:4

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ⁷ 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ⁸ 

John 1:45-48

1:45 Philip found Nathanael ⁹  and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also ¹⁰  wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 1:46 Nathanael ¹¹  replied, ¹²  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” ¹³  Philip replied, ¹⁴  “Come and see.”

1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, ¹⁵  “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ¹⁶  1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ¹⁷  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ¹⁸  I saw you.”

¹ tn Heb “Judah and Israel lived securely, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beer Sheba, all the days of Solomon.”

² tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”

³ tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

⁴ tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

⁵ tn Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (vÿqeshet vÿkherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so CEV). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).

⁶ tn Heb “and I will cause them to lie down in safety.” The causative nuance (“will make them”) is retained in several English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

⁸ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

⁹ sn Nathanael is traditionally identified with Bartholomew (although John never describes him as such). He appears here after Philip, while in all lists of the twelve except in Acts 1:13, Bartholomew follows Philip. Also, the Aramaic Bar-tolmai means “son of Tolmai,” the surname; the man almost certainly had another name.

¹⁰ tn “Also” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

¹¹ tn Grk “And Nathanael.”

¹² tn Grk “said to him.”

¹³ sn Can anything good come out of Nazareth? may be a local proverb expressing jealousy among the towns.

¹⁴ tn Grk “And Philip said to him.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “said about him.”

¹⁶ tn Or “treachery.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

¹⁸ sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)