The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Mark11:20–26

The Withered Fig Tree

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Mark 11:20–26 — The Withered Fig Tree. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

20

As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai paraporeuomenoi prōi eidon tēn sykēn exērammenēn ek rhizōn

Word by word9 · parsed
ΚαὶKai[As]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παραπορευόμενοιparaporeuomenoithey were walking backG3899
√ παραπορεύομαι — to travel nearVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
paraporeuomai: to travel near, to pass alongside A rare verb (five verses in the Greek New Testament). Mark uses it of the disciples going past the fig tree here, of going through the grainfields (2:23), of the journey through Galilee (9:30), and of the mockers who pass by the crucified Christ (15:29). In Mark the participle tends to mark people moving past something that is about to interpret them.
πρωῒprōiin the morningG4404
√ πρωΐ — at dawnAdverb
εἶδονeidonthey sawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
horaō: to see, to attend to Aorist indicative: a single act of sight. Strong's notes the extension of the root to attend to. The disciples do not merely register the tree; the seeing becomes the occasion of the teaching that follows, which is how Poole reads the whole episode: "it was his design to show his people the power of faith."
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
συκῆνsykēnfig treeG4808
√ συκῆ — a fig-treeNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ἐξηραμμένηνexērammenēnwitheredG3583
√ ξηραίνω — to desiccateVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Feminine Singular
xērainō: to desiccate, to dry up The perfect participle is the hinge of the verse. It is the same root used in the parable of the sower for seed that withers because it has no root (Mark 4:6), and here the withering reaches the roots themselves. The passive form does not name who dried it, which is why Benson can call the miracle "a miracle the more extraordinary, because the fig-tree is remarkable for its abundant sap and moisture," and why Barnes can insist the cursing implies destruction rather than blame.
ἐκekfromG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
ῥιζῶνrhizōn[its] rootsG4491
√ ῥίζα — a "root" (literally or figuratively)NounGenitive Feminine Plural
rhiza: a root, literally or figuratively Plural and articleless. The word carries the figurative weight that Mark 4:6 and Matthew 13:6 give it (no root, therefore no endurance) and that Paul later builds on in Romans 11. A tree dead "out of roots" cannot be pruned back into life, which is the point Gill draws: "there was no room ever to expect it would revive."
21

Peter remembered it and said, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree You cursed has withered.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ho Petros anamnēstheis legei autō ide Rhabbi hē sykē hēn katērasō exērantai

Word by word13 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠέτροςPetrosPeterG4074
√ Πέτρος — a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος))NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀναμνησθεὶςanamnēstheisremembered [it]G363
√ ἀναμιμνήσκω — to remindVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
anamimnēskō: to remind Aorist passive participle, so strictly "having been put in mind." A rare word (six verses). Its other Marcan occurrence is 14:72, where the same disciple is reminded of a word of Jesus and weeps. Here the reminder produces astonishment; there, repentance. Cambridge adds the tradition behind the detail: Peter "doubtless related the incident with all its attendant circumstances to St Mark."
λέγειlegei[and] saidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautōG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἴδεideLookG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ῬαββίRhabbiRabbiG4461
√ ῥαββί — my master, iNounVocative Masculine Singular
Rhabbi: my master Vocative. Strong's gives the sense "my master," a Hebrew title of honour carried untranslated into the Greek. It is a striking address at this moment: Peter names Jesus teacher just as the teaching about faith and prayer is about to be given.
ἡhēTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
συκῆsykēfig treeG4808
√ συκῆ — a fig-treeNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἣνhēnG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Feminine Singular
κατηράσωkatērasōYou cursedG2672
√ καταράομαι — to execrateVerbAorist Indicative Middle2nd Person Singular
kataraomai: to execrate, to curse A rare verb (five verses), and every other occurrence sets it against blessing or prayer: Luke 6:28 ("bless them that curse you"), Romans 12:14, James 3:9, Matthew 25:41. JFB seizes on the singularity: this is "a miracle, not of blessing, as all His other miracles, but of cursing." Barnes narrows the semantics: "to curse means to devote to destruction," not to abuse.
ἐξήρανταιexērantaihas witheredG3583
√ ξηραίνω — to desiccateVerbPerfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
xērainō: to desiccate, to dry up The perfect indicative answers verse 20's perfect participle. Peter's sentence is the first human confession in Mark that a word of Jesus has killed something, and he traces the cause exactly: JFB says Peter "traced the death of the tree entirely to the curse of his Lord."
22

“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Echete pistin theou Kai ho Iēsous apokritheis legei autois

Word by word9 · parsed
ἜχετεEcheteHaveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
echō: to hold Present imperative plural. The command is not "get faith" but "hold it," and it is addressed to the group, which matters for the singular "whoever" of the next verse: the promise is individual, the command corporate.
πίστινpistinfaithG4102
√ πίστις — persuasion, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
pistis: persuasion, conviction The noun (227 verses) is the keyword of the whole pericope, and Matthew's parallel at 21:21 shares it. Pulpit reads the imperative as pastoral preparation for Passion week: "You may be staggered and perplexed at what you will see shortly; but 'have faith in God.'" Cambridge is terser: faith rests on God "as the personal source of miraculous power."
θεοῦtheouin GodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
theos: God Genitive. Everything difficult in this verse sits in this one case ending. Barnes allows both readings ("have strong faith, or have confidence in God"); Benson reports the eighteenth century argument in detail and comes down, with Campbell, for the objective genitive. We follow BSB and the majority, and we record that the Greek itself is ambiguous.
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisvvvG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
apokrinomai: to answer, to conclude for oneself Untranslated in the English. A pleonastic participle of reply, standard in Septuagintal Greek.
λέγειlegeisaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
autos: himself, them Dative plural: the answer is to them all, though Peter alone spoke. Gill: "To all the disciples; for what Peter said, he said in the name of them all."
23

“Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

amēn legō hymin hoti hos an eipē toutō tō orei Arthēti kai blēthēti eis tēn thalassan kai mē diakrithē en autou tē kardia alla pisteuē hoti ho lalei ginetai estai autō

Word by word31 · parsed
ἀμὴνamēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
amēn: firm, so be it A Hebrew word left standing in Greek. In the Gospels it opens the most binding sayings; Mark keeps it here to put the promise about prayer on oath.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ὃςhosif anyoneG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
εἴπῃeipēsaysG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
τούτῳtoutōto thisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounDative Neuter Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ὄρειoreimountainG3735
√ ὄρος — perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω)NounDative Neuter Singular
oros: mountain Dative with the demonstrative "this," which almost certainly means a mountain in view. Gill names it: "The Mount of Olives, at, or near which they now were," and the sea "of Galilee, which was nearest, and yet many miles off." Pulpit agrees and adds that they were standing on its shoulders. Cambridge supplies the idiom from Lightfoot: a great rabbi was called "a rooter up of mountains," so the image is not first of all geological but scholastic and moral.
ἌρθητιArthētiBe lifted upG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbAorist Imperative Passive2nd Person Singular
airō: to lift up Aorist passive imperative addressed to the mountain. Strong's notes that oros may be cognate with this very verb. The obstacle is commanded in the voice of something done to it, not by it.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βλήθητιblēthētithrownG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Imperative Passive2nd Person Singular
ballō: to throw, with violence or intensity Strong's stresses the force of the root. The removal imagined is not a tidy relocation but a hurling into the sea, language that stands near Psalm 46:2 (mountains carried into the midst of the sea) without quoting it.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
θάλασσανthalassanseaG2281
√ θάλασσα — the sea (genitive case or specially)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
διακριθῇdiakrithēhas no doubtG1252
√ διακρίνω — to separate thoroughly, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
diakrinō: to separate thoroughly The weightiest grammatical point in the unit. Passive aorist subjunctive, so "should not be divided against himself." Cambridge's survey of the voices (discern, dispute, waver) shows that unbelief here is pictured as internal litigation rather than mere uncertainty. James 1:6 uses the cognate for the man who wavers like a wave of the sea, which sits oddly and beautifully beside the sea into which this mountain is to be thrown.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
καρδίᾳkardiaheartG2588
√ καρδία — the heart, iNounDative Feminine Singular
kardia: the heart Dative of place. The condition is located inside, not in the loudness of the request. Henry draws the pastoral inference that faith "purifies the heart, and so removes mountains of corruption."
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
πιστεύῃpisteuēbelievesG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
pisteuō: to have faith in, upon, or with respect to Present subjunctive, durative. JFB reads the whole verse as a promise about obstacles to the kingdom rather than about landscape: "not physical but moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom were in the Redeemer's view."
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ὃhovvvG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
λαλεῖlalei[it]G2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
γίνεταιginetaiwill happenG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ἔσταιestaiit will be doneG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
eimi: I exist, it will be Future indicative middle, with the dative "for him": the outcome is future even though the believing-and-happening clause is present. Ellicott notes that the better manuscripts read "he shall have it," which is what BSB's "it will be done for him" renders.
αὐτῷautōfor himG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

dia touto legō hymin panta hosa kai aiteisthe proseuchesthe pisteuete hoti elabete kai estai hymin

Word by word15 · parsed
διὰdiaThereforeG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
dia: through, on account of With the accusative "this": the general rule about prayer is drawn out of the particular promise about the mountain. JFB reads the logic the same way: verse 24 "only generalizes the assurance of Mr 11:23."
τοῦτοtouto. . .G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
πάνταpantavvvG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
ὅσαhosawhateverG3745
√ ὅσος — as (much, great, long, etcPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αἰτεῖσθεaiteistheyou ask forG154
√ αἰτέω — to ask (in genitive case)VerbPresent Indicative Middle2nd Person Plural
aiteō: to ask Middle voice, present. The middle suits petition: the asker is himself the beneficiary. James 4:3 uses the same middle beside the same verb for receiving that Mark uses three words later (ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly), which is the New Testament's own guard on this promise, and the guard Poole insists on here.
προσεύχεσθεproseuchesthein prayerG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
proseuchomai: to pray to God The verb of the unit's second half (it returns in verse 25). A common word (eighty verses), but its placement here is what makes the fig tree episode into a lesson on prayer rather than on power.
πιστεύετεpisteuetebelieveG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
pisteuō: to have faith Present imperative. The command of verse 22 (hold faith) is now given its object in petition. Ellicott's caution belongs here: "as a rule, such words imply prayer for spiritual rather than temporal blessings," and in that region "the subjective faith becomes an objective reality."
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐλάβετεelabeteyou have received [it]G2983
√ λαμβάνω — while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent, to seize or remove))VerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
lambanō: to take, to receive Aorist indicative, the crux of the verse. Strong's contrasts the root with haireomai, which is the more violent seizing; this is receiving what is given. The aorist makes the answer past to the faith that asks, which is why Gill canvasses the ancient versions and why Geneva argues the tense is chosen "to show the certainty of the thing."
καὶkaiand [it]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔσταιestaiwill beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
eimi: it will be Future, with the dative "to you." The sentence therefore holds a past reception and a future possession together, and the believing stands between them.
ὑμῖνhyminyoursG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
25

And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai hotan stēkete proseuchomenoi ei echete ti kata tinos aphiete hina hymōn ho Patēr ho en tois ouranois aphē hymin hymōn ta paraptōmata kai

Word by word24 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
στήκετεstēketeyou standG4739
√ στήκω — to be stationary, iVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
stēkō: to be stationary, to stand fast Present indicative in a hotan clause, so "whenever you are standing." Cambridge documents the custom from Hannah (1 Samuel 1:26) and the Pharisee (Luke 18:11), and notes that deeper humiliation was expressed by kneeling (Solomon, 1 Kings 8:54) or prostration (Elijah, 1 Kings 18:42). Pulpit adds the bowed head.
προσευχόμενοιproseuchomenoito prayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
proseuchomai: to pray to God Participle, joined to the standing: the posture and the praying are one act. The repetition of this verb from verse 24 binds the forgiveness clause to the promise clause; it is not a new subject.
εἴeiifG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
ἔχετεecheteyou holdG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
τιtianythingG5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
κατάkataagainstG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
τινοςtinos[another]G5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀφίετεaphieteforgive [it]G863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
aphiēmi: to send away, to let go, to forgive Present imperative, and the same verb used of the Father four words later. Mark makes the disciple's act and God's act share one word, which is the whole weight of the sentence. Cambridge sees why it stands here of all places: after the cursing of the tree and the promise about the mountain, "such a faith could not be sundered from forgiving love."
ἵναhinaso thatG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠατὴρPatērFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
patēr: father Nominative, with the article and the qualifying phrase "the one in the heavens." This is the only occurrence of Patēr in this unit, and it converts the whole teaching about faith and power into a family matter. Gill warns that the title can be read either of God as Creator of all or of God in adopting grace, and that only the second carries the certainty of pardon.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
οὐρανοῖςouranoisheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounDative Masculine Plural
ἀφῇaphēwill forgiveG863
√ ἀφίημι — an intensive form of , to go)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
aphiēmi: to forgive Aorist subjunctive, governed by hina. The tense difference from the imperative in the same verse is real: the disciple goes on releasing, the Father releases. JFB ties the verse to the Sermon on the Mount and draws the proportion: if forgiving was needed for the acceptableness of all prayer, "much more when great things were to be asked and confidently expected."
ὑμῖνhyminvvvG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
παραπτώματαparaptōmatatrespassesG3900
√ παράπτωμα — a side-slip (lapse or deviation), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
paraptōma: a side-slip, a lapse Accusative plural. The word (seventeen verses) is Paul's term in Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 for the fall and its effects, so the small domestic word "trespasses" in English carries the weight of the fall itself. Here it names what the disciple needs and what the disciple must release.
καὶkaias wellG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
26

⚙ The critical text omits the original-language words of this verse (a textual variant); the BSB prints it. No word cards are shown — a stated gap, not invented text.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The morning after: a tree dead out of its roots — Mark 11:20-21

⚙ Mark gives us a second morning. The perfect participle ἐξηραμμένην (exērammenēn, G3583) says the drying is over and done before anyone looks, and ἐκ ῥιζῶν ("out of roots") says how deep it went. JFB reads the phrase with precision: "no partial blight, leaving life in the root; but it was now dead, root and branch," and he explains the gap between Mark and Matthew as the difference between "a more summary and a more detailed narrative." Pulpit says the same in terms of sequence: they had come back after sunset and "in the twilight, had not noticed the withered tree." Benson, quoting Macknight, adds the botanical point that makes the sign a sign: the fig "is remarkable for its abundant sap and moisture." Cambridge quotes Trench's imaginative gloss, that "a shuddering fear may have run through all the leaves of the tree." That last is frankly devotional rather than exegetical, and we mark it as such. Peter's own word is worth watching: the middle κατηράσω ("you cursed") is Peter's summary, not the Lord's wording. Benson notes that Jesus had said only that no one should eat fruit of it again, and that Peter, "according to the Jewish manner of speaking concerning things that are barren," called it a cursing. Barnes narrows the verb to "devote to destruction," which he says does not "imply blame."

ii. What the sign meant: two readings, honestly at odds — Mark 11:20-22

⚙ Our sources do not agree, and we will not pretend they do. Henry takes the sign as national and ecclesial: "all wither who reject Christ; it represented the state of the Jewish church," and "we should rest in no religion that does not make us fruitful in good works." Benson, through Bishop Hall's paraphrase, reads it the same way and sharpens it into a sentence about hypocrisy: the Lord would "show how much he hates a formal profession (such as the Jews made) of religion, without an answerable fruitfulness." Poole dissents, and does so as a minority with his eyes open: he grants that spiritual barrenness is dangerous and that Luke 13:6-9 and Hebrews 6:7-8 teach it, then says "I see nothing to guide us to any such interpretation of this action of his," holding instead that the miracle showed divine power and taught "the power of faith." Geneva's brief marginal note joins the two ends that the passage itself joins: "The power of faith is exceedingly great, and charity is always joined with it." Both readings can be true, and the text supplies the bridge in verse 22, where the sign becomes a lesson.

iii. Faith of God, and the mountain of the schools — Mark 11:22-23

⚙ The Greek says πίστιν θεοῦ, "faith of God," and the genitive is genuinely open. Benson reports the eighteenth century argument at length: Pearce took it as a Hebraism for a great or mighty faith, Campbell answered that no abstract quality is ever so construed and that pistis with the genitive of the object is Paul's ordinary idiom (Acts 3:16; Romans 3:22). Barnes allows both. Geneva resolves it as trust: "that assured faith and trust which we have in him." Cambridge makes it concrete: God "as the personal source of miraculous power." Then the mountain. Gill locates it: the Mount of Olives, thrown into the sea "of Galilee, which was nearest, and yet many miles off." Pulpit agrees and calls it "a bold and vivid hyperbole." Cambridge, citing Lightfoot, supplies the decisive cultural fact: in the Jewish schools a great teacher was called "a rooter up or remover of mountains," so the saying is idiom before it is geology. JFB draws the conclusion: "not physical but moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom were in the Redeemer's view." The grammar supports them. Ἄρθητι and βλήθητι are passive imperatives, with the power unnamed, and διακριθῇ is not simple doubt but, as Cambridge's word study shows, being at law with oneself.

iv. The tense of answered prayer — Mark 11:24

⚙ The hardest word in the unit is a past tense. ἐλάβετε (elabete, aorist) means "you received," and Ellicott reports that this is what the better manuscripts give: "Believe that ye received them." He then draws a careful boundary, that "as a rule, such words imply prayer for spiritual rather than temporal blessings," and that in that region "the subjective faith becomes an objective reality." Geneva's gloss defends the present-tense rendering "to show the certainty of the thing." Gill collects the ancient versions that read a future and refuses the literal absurdity: believing you received before you had it "would be a contradiction in terms." Poole sets the tightest limit of all: without divine revelation our persuasion "can rise no higher, than a full persuasion, that if things of this nature ... be such as are for our good, and for God's glory, we shall receive them," reserving unconditional certainty for those given power to work miracles. JFB reads the verse as the generalisation of verse 23, "a directory for prevailing prayer in general." ⚙ Our own judgment: the aorist is not a technique for manufacturing certainty, and Poole and Ellicott together keep it from becoming one.

v. Standing, and letting go — Mark 11:25-26

⚙ The unit ends where a reader expecting a lesson on power would not look: at a grudge. στήκετε (G4739, "to be stationary") sets the posture that Cambridge documents from Hannah and the Pharisee, and Barnes uses the detail to say that "God looks upon 'the heart' rather than upon our position in worship." Then the same verb, ἀφίημι, is used of the disciple and of the Father: continuous imperative for us, aorist subjunctive for him. Cambridge names why this follows the fig tree rather than interrupting it: such faith "could not be sundered from forgiving love, that it should never be used in the service of hate or fanaticism." Ellicott calls the reproduction of the Sermon on the Mount words "very significant" and says the prayer "even of intensest faith is not perfect" without charity. JFB makes the same link and adds the proportion: much more is forgiveness needed "when great things were to be asked." Gill then guards the hina clause from merit: forgiving is not the cause or condition of pardon, "for then it would not be through the blood of Christ." Verse 26 is a textual afterword: Pulpit judges there is "sufficient evidence to justify the Revisers in their omission of this verse," and our BSB base prints no text for it, though Gill and Cambridge, writing earlier, comment on it as Scripture.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. The pericope is usually split in teaching: the tree is a warning about Israel, and the mountain is a promise about prayer. Mark refuses the split by grammar. The tree is dead out of roots, and the parable of the sower used the same two words (root, withering) for the hearer with no depth. The mountain is told be lifted, be thrown in passives that name no agent. The doubter is divided, at law with himself. And the closing verb for the disciple and for the Father is the same verb, to let go. Read together, the unit says that the power on display is never a power the disciple holds. The tree died at a word, and the disciples are not told to imitate that; they are told to hold the faith of God, to stop being two people inside, and to release what they are owed. The one thing the passage asks us to do to another person is the opposite of what the tree received. A church that reads verse 23 without verse 25 has learned the mountain and forgotten that the same mouth cursed the barren tree and commanded forgiveness; and Poole's protest is worth keeping on the table, because the text itself says the lesson is faith, and leaves the allegory to inference.

The tree was not killed for having no figs; it was unmasked for having only leaves.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Matthew's telescoped fig tree: the same two words, a different clock verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 21:19-21 tells this incident as one scene, and shares Mark's exact vocabulary: συκῆ (fig tree, G4808) and ξηραίνω (to dry up, G3583), with πίστις (G4102) in the lesson that follows. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes. JFB accounts for the difference as narrative method: "The precision with which Mark distinguishes the days is not observed by Matthew, intent only on holding up the truths which the incident was designed to teach," and he compares Matthew's handling of Jairus' daughter. Cambridge and Pulpit read the two-day sequence the same way. Both books are Greek, so the shared lexemes are a genuine verbal link, but this is a parallel account and not a quotation of one book by another, which is why we state the basis rather than claim a citation.

Matthew 21:19 · Matthew 21:20 · Matthew 21:21

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4808 συκῆ (in 15 vv) and G3583 ξηραίνω (in 15 vv), plus G4102 πίστις at Matthew 21:21; both books Greek, so the verbal link is real. Relatively restricted vocabulary and a synoptic parallel of the same event, not a citation

No root, therefore withered: the sower's seed and the temple's tree structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Mark 4:6 and Matthew 13:6 describe seed that sprang up and then dried out "because it had no root." The two words the Verifier finds shared with our verse 20 are exactly those two: ῥίζα (root, G4491) and ξηραίνω (to dry up, G3583). The direction is reversed here: in the parable there was no root to sustain the leaf, and in the sign the drying reaches the roots themselves, as Gill insists ("even the roots of it, were all dried up"). Henry reads the tree as figuring a religion that produces no fruit, which is also the sower's point about the hearer who has no depth. We claim a motif with a real verbal overlap, not a quotation.

Mark 4:6 · Matthew 13:6

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4491 ῥίζα (in 16 vv) and G3583 ξηραίνω (in 15 vv); a real verbal overlap inside a shared motif of rootlessness and withering, with no quotation claim

The rare verb of cursing, and the company it keeps structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Peter's κατηράσω (G2672) is a rare word: five verses in the Greek New Testament. The Verifier finds it shared with Luke 6:28 ("bless them that curse you"), Romans 12:14, James 3:9 (with the same word for Father that Mark uses in 11:25) and Matthew 25:41. Every one of those places either forbids cursing to disciples or reserves it to the final judgment. That is the precise strangeness JFB identifies in this miracle: "a miracle, not of blessing, as all His other miracles, but of cursing." Luke 6:28 also shares προσεύχομαι (to pray, G4336) with our verses 24 and 25, which is the same pairing Mark makes: prayer on one side, cursing renounced on the other. We do not claim any of these texts quotes another.

Luke 6:28 · Romans 12:14 · James 3:9 · Matthew 25:41

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G2672 καταράομαι (in 5 vv), with G4336 προσεύχομαι (in 80 vv) also shared at Luke 6:28 and G3962 πατήρ at James 3:9. The rarity makes the lexical link secure, but no text cites another, so the tier stays structural

Peter reminded, twice, in the same Gospel structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The passive participle ἀναμνησθείς (G363, "having been reminded") is rare: six verses. Mark's only other use is at 14:72, where Peter, having denied his Lord, "called to mind" the word about the cock and wept. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme along with Peter's name (G4074). Here the reminder produces wonder at a word that killed a tree; there it produces tears at a word that exposed a man. Cambridge supplies the traditional reason Mark records this detail at all: Peter "doubtless related the incident with all its attendant circumstances to St Mark." That tradition is early and widely held but is tradition, not text.

Mark 14:72

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G363 ἀναμιμνήσκω (in 6 vv) with G4074 Πέτρος (in 150 vv); same author, same character, no quotation

Those who pass by: Mark's rare participle at the tree and at the cross flagged: verify source

⚙ παραπορευόμενοι (G3899) appears in only five verses, and the Verifier finds all of them clustered around Mark: Mark 2:23 (through the grainfields), Mark 9:30 (through Galilee), Mark 15:29 and Matthew 27:39 (those who "passed by" reviled him). ⚙ We note the pattern and decline to build doctrine on it: the same verb that brings the disciples past a tree dead at the root brings the mockers past the cross. Our sources do not draw this connection, and Mark may simply favour the word. It is offered as an observation about this Gospel's diction, and nothing in the exposition above depends on it.

Mark 2:23 · Mark 9:30 · Mark 15:29 · Matthew 27:39

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G3899 παραπορεύομαι (in 5 vv). The lexical fact is confirmed, but the interpretive link between the tree and the cross is ours alone and unsupported by any commentator in this unit's sources, so it is flagged rather than asserted

The fig tree that bore no fruit: the prophets' standing sign typological

⚙ The prophets had already made barren figs and vines the figure of a covenant people under judgment: "there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf is withered" (Jeremiah 8:13); "Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit" (Hosea 9:16); and the vineyard of Isaiah 5:1-7, cared for and yielding wild grapes. Henry reads Mark's sign in exactly this register: it "represented the state of the Jewish church." Benson, through Bishop Hall, says the Lord would show "how much he hates a formal profession ... without an answerable fruitfulness." Poole, to his credit, refuses the allegory and holds that the miracle taught the power of faith. Because Mark is Greek and these prophets are Hebrew, no shared Strong's number can be computed for the link, and Mark makes no formal quotation: the connection is a shared prophetic figure, which we tier typologically and attribute to the commentators who hold it.

Jeremiah 8:13 · Hosea 9:16 · Isaiah 5:1-7

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek text, Hebrew sources), so shared Strong's lexemes cannot be computed and no verbal tier is possible. Basis is the shared prophetic figure of the fruitless fig and vine, held by Henry and Benson (quoting Hall and Macknight) and expressly doubted by Poole. Widely held in the ancient and Reformation traditions

Who becomes a plain: the mountain in the prophets and the psalm structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain" (Zechariah 4:7) makes the removal of a mountain the image of an obstacle to God's house being levelled by God's Spirit and not by might. Isaiah 40:4 levels mountains to make a road for the coming of the Lord, and Psalm 46:2 pictures mountains carried into the midst of the sea while the faithful do not fear. Mark's βλήθητι (G906, a violent throwing) and θάλασσαν (sea) stand near the psalm's picture without quoting it. JFB's reading of the saying as concerning "moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom" is exactly Zechariah's sense, and Cambridge's rabbinic parallel (a great teacher called a remover of mountains) shows the idiom was alive in the schools. Greek against Hebrew allows no computed verbal basis; the link is a shared image.

Zechariah 4:7 · Isaiah 40:4 · Psalm 46:2

basis: Cross-Testament, so no shared Strong's numbers are available and the tier cannot be verbal. Basis is the shared image of a mountain levelled or cast down before God's purpose, with JFB's moral-obstacle reading and Cambridge's Lightfoot parallel as named support

Not divided in heart: believing that does not waver structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Mark's condition is negative and internal: μὴ διακριθῇ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, not divided in the heart. Isaiah 7:9 puts the same thing as a pun of standing ("if you do not believe, you will not stand firm") and Habakkuk 2:4 sets the righteous one who lives by faithfulness against the soul that is puffed up and not upright. Cambridge's word study on διακρίνω shows the New Testament analogue in James 1:6, where the waverer is like a wave of the sea, and Romans 4:20, where Abraham "staggered not." ⚙ The prophets are Hebrew and Mark is Greek, so this is a shared conception of faith as undivided standing, not a verbal link, and Mark quotes neither prophet.

Isaiah 7:9 · Habakkuk 2:4 · James 1:6

basis: Cross-Testament for Isaiah and Habakkuk, so no shared Strong's basis is computable and the tier cannot be verbal. James 1:6 shares the cognate root of G1252 διακρίνω as documented by Cambridge's word study; the Hebrew links rest on the shared conception of faith as undivided standing

Hear from heaven and forgive: the Father's clause and its Old Testament floor structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ "Forgive, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you" rests on older ground. Solomon's temple prayer asks repeatedly that God "hear from heaven and forgive" (1 Kings 8:30-39), the ground of prayer at the very house Jesus had just cleansed. Psalm 66:18 states the obstacle from the other side ("if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened"), Proverbs 21:13 makes a closed ear to the needy the cause of an unanswered cry, and Leviticus 19:18 forbids the grudge and commands love of neighbour. Ellicott, Barnes, JFB and Poole all read Mark 11:25 as reproducing the Sermon on the Mount, and Poole sends the reader to Matthew 6:14-15. Between Mark and Matthew the Verifier confirms shared Greek lexemes (G3900 παράπτωμα in 17 verses, G863 ἀφίημι in 131), but the Old Testament texts are Hebrew and share no computable lexeme, so the whole thread is tiered structural.

Matthew 6:14 · 1 Kings 8:30 · Psalm 66:18 · Proverbs 21:13 · Leviticus 19:18

basis: Verifier pair check on Mark 11:25 and Matthew 6:14 returns shared Greek lexemes G3900 παράπτωμα (in 17 vv) and G863 ἀφίημι (in 131 vv). The refs also include Hebrew texts, where no shared Strong's number is computable, so the tier is structural and not verbal; the Sermon on the Mount link is named by Ellicott, Barnes, JFB and Poole

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Lord who comes to his own tree seeking fruit ancient/widely-held

⚙ The sign stands where Mark put it, wrapped around the cleansing of the temple, and the tradition has read the two as one act. Henry: "all wither who reject Christ; it represented the state of the Jewish church." Benson, quoting Bishop Hall, has the Lord come "purposely to seek that fruit which he knew he should not find ripe," so as to show "how much he hates a formal profession ... without an answerable fruitfulness," and quoting Macknight, that the act "was intended to prefigure the speedy ruin of the Jewish nation, on account of its unfruitfulness under greater advantages than any other people enjoyed at that day," done "with a gracious intention, namely, to alarm his countrymen, and to induce them to repent." That reading makes Christ the Lord of the vineyard of Isaiah 5 come in person to inspect. It must be reported with its dissent: Poole says plainly, "I see nothing to guide us to any such interpretation of this action of his," and holds that the miracle showed divine power and taught the power of faith. We record both, and note that the figural reading is the ancient and widely held one.

Isaiah 5:1-7 · Jeremiah 8:13 · Luke 13:6-9

Why the Father can forgive: the blood behind the hina clause ancient/widely-held

⚙ The unit's last clause could be read as a bargain: forgive, and be forgiven. Gill blocks that reading and names what stands behind the Father's act: the disciple's forgiving is not "the cause, or condition, of his receiving remission of sin at the hand of God; for then it would not be through the blood of Christ, and according to the riches of God's grace." He then binds pardon to the covenant and to the Son: "redemption and forgiveness of sins go together," and a child of God cannot draw near to the Father without "a view of pardon through the blood of Christ." ⚙ So the grammar holds in this order: the ἵνα clause describes the family in which forgiveness circulates, and the ground of the Father's release (ἀφῇ) is Christ's work, not the disciple's temper. Ellicott makes the same point from the side of character rather than atonement: the prayer of intensest faith is not perfect without "the Charity which forgives offences." This is the standard Reformation and catholic reading of the clause.

Matthew 6:14 · Ephesians 1:7 · Colossians 2:13

The cursed tree and the tree of the curse novel

⚙ Offered as our own reading, and marked novel. In this unit a tree with leaves and no fruit is cursed by Christ and dies out of its roots. Within the same week, and in the same Gospel, Christ himself hangs on a tree while those who pass by (the same rare participle, G3899, that opens verse 20 and recurs at Mark 15:29) revile him. Paul says he became a curse for us, as it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Galatians 3:13), and Isaiah 53:2 says he had no beauty that we should desire him. The pattern we see is an exchange: the fruitless thing is judged, and the fruitful one takes the place of the judged. None of our commentators draws this line, and the shared participle is a lexical fact rather than an argument, so we present the reading as a machine proposal to be tested and not as the tradition's teaching. Pulpit, for what it is worth, records a far weaker speculation of Cornelius a Lapide that the fig was the forbidden tree of Eden, which we mention only to show the range of what has been guessed here.

Galatians 3:13 · Mark 15:29 · Isaiah 53:2

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Verse 26 has no text in our BSB base and is marked text-only in the source brief, so it carries voices but no literal rendering, no divergences and no word notes. Pulpit states the reason: "There appears to be sufficient evidence to justify the Revisers in their omission of this verse." Gill and Cambridge, writing before that judgment, comment on it as Scripture, and we have quoted them as such with a note. Our source pipeline also labels 11:26 as Hebrew, which is a tagging artifact of an empty verse and not a claim about the text.

(2) Two real variants shape the English here. At 11:23 Ellicott reports that the better manuscripts give the present, "that the thing which he saith cometh to pass," which matches the interlinear parse (λαλεῖ and γίνεται, both present indicative) against BSB's future rendering. At 11:24 the better manuscripts give the aorist ἐλάβετε, "ye received," and Gill lists the ancient versions (Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Beza's copy) that read a future instead. We have followed the parse supplied in the brief and flagged the divergence rather than harmonising it.

(3) The genitive θεοῦ in 11:22 is genuinely ambiguous and our rendering "faith of God" is deliberately unresolved; the objective reading followed by BSB is probably right, and Benson preserves the argument (Pearce against Campbell) that made it a question.

(4) Source artifacts we did not use: the Barnes entry attached to Mark 11:20 in our source is his note on the preceding verses ("All the people were astonished") and does not comment on the withered tree, so we did not quote it there; his note on 11:22 is repeated verbatim under 11:23 and 11:24, and Henry's concise note covers 11:19-26 as a block and appears under every verse. Poole's entries for 11:21, 11:22, 11:23, 11:25 and 11:26 are cross-references to his other notes and contain no exposition, so we quoted Poole only where he actually writes (11:20 and 11:24). Benson's entry at 11:22 is capped in our brief with 956 characters unread, and we did not need them for the excerpt we took.

(5) Several thread bases are cross-Testament. Because a Greek text and a Hebrew text share no Strong's numbers, no verbal tier is possible for the Jeremiah, Hosea, Isaiah, Zechariah, Psalm, Proverbs, Leviticus or 1 Kings links, and each of those badges says so. The one thread we tiered verbal (the Matthew 21 parallel) is Greek against Greek on the Verifier's computed lexemes. The Mark 15:29 observation about the rare participle παραπορεύομαι is flagged because the lexical fact is confirmed while the interpretation is ours alone.

(6) Second-hand quotations: Benson quotes Macknight and Bishop Hall, Cambridge quotes Trench and Lightfoot (including the report about Rabbah Bar Nachmani), and Pulpit cites Cornelius a Lapide. We have named each as reported speech and have not verified the underlying works.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)