Posted: Jan 05, 2012 10:34 pm
GakuseiDon wrote:IgnorantiaNescia wrote:Then, as I said, it was exactly the right season for those taqsh. Those were not out of season. And the story (if t is historical, which I doubt and you do even more) notes there was nothing but leaves. But taqsh indicate that the tree will grow figs; no taqsh, no figs. So (in the story) the tree was infertile and while you would not expect to find figs, you would expect the fig tree to have taqsh. So your "ignoramus" argument falls flat on its face.
I've seen that explanation, nearly always in apologetic sources. But even that is the case, that Jesus was expecting taqsh, why make the point that it wasn't the season for figs?
I think the point of the story is that, regardless of the season, Jesus saw the leaves and so expected to find something more than leaves. I suspect this symbolism refers to the start of Mark 11, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem seeing lots of 'leaves' spread out before him:8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Then when Jesus gets into Jerusalem, the elders reject him and plot to kill him. But again, it is possible to over-analyze.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with the allegorical interpretation (which does not seem like overanalysing to me). The reason I dwell on this point is that some people here overanalyse it into something that is definitely wrong and keep doing so despite being corrected repeatedly.