One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Jeremiah 24:2
When I first read this scripture, I was perplexed. How could a fruit behave badly? I learned from reading further into the chapter that the two different baskets of figs represented two different types of people-good and very evil. But I still wondered why the figs were described using a word I associated with little children. This verse definitely went into my 'weird scripture' file. I was happy when I came across the information below.
The terms "naughty" and "naughtiness" have lost some of their evil through the years; they are now used for the misdeeds of children or the trivial misbehavior of adults who have not matured. The "naughty figs" that Jeremiah saw in his vision (24:2) were simply "bad figs," so bad that they could not be eaten.
Shakespeare used "naughty" frequently, the best-known lines being
"How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Merchant of
(The Bible Word Book, Bridges & Weigle, pg 228)
Hey, cool--now I know where the Willy Wonka quote comes from. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother insightful post. I believe that figs represent the priesthood. So that this makes total sense! Thanks.
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