Greek word · G3653

ὄλυνθος

olynthos

late fig

A fig that forms late or out of season, stays on the tree through winter, fails to ripen, and usually drops in spring. BDAG gives 'late or summer fig'. Thayer has 'an unripe fig, which grows during the winter, yet does not come to maturity but falls off in the spring'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὄλυνθος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX: Song of Songs 2:13 (פַּג)* ;]

an unripe fig, which grows in winter and usually falls off in the spring : Revelation 6:13.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 6:13

Range of meaning

A fig that forms late or out of season, stays on the tree through winter, fails to ripen, and usually drops in spring. BDAG gives 'late or summer fig'. Thayer has 'an unripe fig, which grows during the winter, yet does not come to maturity but falls off in the spring'. Used in classical Greek botanical writing (e.g., Theophrastus) for figs that never ripen.

Against the English

KJV 'untimely figs' (in older English, figs not in their proper time). YLT 'winter figs'. BSB, WEB and NASB 'unripe figs'. ESV 'winter fruit'. NLT 'green figs'. All of these catch part of it. The full picture is fruit that is both out of season and unripe, and so hangs loosely and comes down in one gust.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only here in the NT. In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) it appears in Song of Songs 2:13, 'the fig tree has put forth her unripe figs' (Hebrew paggim), with the same phrase 'her unripe figs' as here. It is not the word the Septuagint uses at Isaiah 34:4 (which has 'leaves'). John's choice may come from the Hebrew of Isaiah, which speaks of something 'withering/falling' from the fig tree.

Where it appears

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 6:13 ὀλύνθους unripe figs

    and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.

    Here: Figs that set too late in the season, hang on through winter and never ripen. They hang loosely and drop easily. The picture is fruit that never reaches its time and falls all at once.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.