Hebrew word · H1063

בַּכֻּרוֹת

habakurot

early fig

The first-ripe fig, the early crop. It shares a root with bəkôr ('firstborn') and bikkûrîm ('firstfruits' offered to God).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

1) first-ripe fig, early fig

2) (TWOT) firstfruits

Also means: bak.ku.rah (בִּכּוּרָה "firstfruit" H1073)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: The first-ripe fig, the early crop. It shares a root with bəkôr ('firstborn') and bikkûrîm ('firstfruits' offered to God).
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'first ripe' and YLT 'first-fruit' keep the idea. BSB's 'firstfruits' may suggest the temple offering, which is a possible overtone but not the main picture: the main picture is a delicacy you can't wait to eat.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isa 28:4 (an early fig 'swallowed as soon as it is seen'); Mic 7:1 ('my soul desires the first-ripe fig'); Jer 24:2 ('very good figs, like first-ripe figs'). In Palestine an early crop ripens around June on the previous year's wood, before the main August harvest.

Range of meaning: The early fig, the first fig of the season, ripening around June on the previous year's growth. It comes from the root bkr, 'firstborn, first,' the same root as bikkûrîm, the firstfruits offerings.
Against the English: KJV's 'firstripe fruit' keeps the idea of 'first' but loses the fig. BSB, WEB and most modern versions rightly say 'early fig.'
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 28:4: the early fig is eaten the moment someone sees it. Hosea 9:10: 'like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers,' where God remembers early Israel as a delicious first fig. Jeremiah 24:2: 'very good figs, like first-ripe figs.'

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 28:4 כְּבִכּוּרָהּ֙ like an early fig

The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

Jeremiah · 1

Jeremiah 24:2 הַבַּכֻּר֑וֹת the early figs

One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

Hosea · 1

Hosea 9:10 כְּבִכּוּרָ֤ה like early fig[s]

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.

Here: The first-ripe fig of the year, a well-known delicacy that people picked and ate eagerly (Isa 28:4; Mic 7:1; Jer 24:2). It is related to the word for 'firstborn' and 'firstfruits'.

Micah · 1

Micah 7:1 בִּכּוּרָ֖ה early fig[s]

Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.

Here: The first fig of the year, ripe around June and famously sweet (Isaiah 28:4; Hosea 9:10). It is the treat a hungry person most longs to find. It comes first in its clause for emphasis.

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