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Luke 13:8 is the transitional use of the postpositive conjunction DE, meaning “Then.” With this we have the articular nominative masculine singular aorist deponent passive participle of the verb APOKRINOMAI, which means “to answer.” The article functions as a third person personal pronoun, meaning “he.” The aorist tense is a constative/historical aorist, which views the action in its entirety as a fact. The deponent passive voice is passive in form but active in meaning with the subject (the gardener) producing the action. The participle is circumstantial and coterminous with the action of the main verb. Then we have the third person singular present active indicative from the verb LEGW, which means “to say: he said.” The present tense is a historical present, which describes the past action as though occurring right now for the sake of vividness or liveliness in the narrative. It is translated by the English past tense. The active voice indicates that the gardener produced the action. The indicative mood is declarative for a simple statement of fact. Next we have the accusative direct object from the third person masculine singular personal use of the intensive pronoun AUTOS, meaning “to him” and referring to the owner of the vineyard/orchard. “Then, answering, he said to him,” is the vocative masculine singular noun KURIOS, meaning “Lord; Master; Sir.” Then we have the second person singular aorist active imperative of the verb APHIĒMI, which means “to let something happen; to allow something; to tolerate something/someone.”1 The aorist tense is a constative aorist, which views the action in its entirety as a fact. The active voice indicates that the owner is requested to produce the action. The imperative mood is an imperative of entreaty. This is followed by the accusative direct object from the third person feminine singular personal use of the intensive pronoun AUTOS, meaning “it” and referring to the fig tree. Next we have the adverbial/adjunctive use of the conjunction KAI, meaning “also.” Then we have the adverbial accusative of measure of extent of time from the neuter singular demonstrative pronoun HOUTOS plus the article and noun HETOS, meaning “for this year.” ““Sir, allow it also for this year,” is the preposition HEWS plus the genitive of time from the 1 BDAG, p. 157, meaning 5. 1 Luke 13:8 masculine singular qualitative relative pronoun HOSTIS, meaning “until which time; until when,” which can be simplified in English to simply “until.” Then we have the first person singular aorist active subjunctive from the verb SKAPTW, which means “to dig.” The aorist tense is a constative/futuristic aorist, which views the action in its entirety as a fact. The active voice indicates that the gardener will produce the action. The subjunctive mood is used in where the action is contemplated as taking place at some indefinite time in the future. Next we have the preposition PERI plus the accusative of place from the third person feminine singular personal use of the intensive pronoun AUTOS, meaning “around it” and referring to the fig tree. Then we have the additive use of the conjunction KAI, meaning “and,” followed by the first person singular aorist active subjunctive of the verb BALLW, which means “to throw; cast; to put, place, apply.”2 The morphology of this verb is the same as SKAPTW (see above). Finally, we have the accusative direct object from the neuter plural noun KOPRION, meaning “dung, manure.” “until I dig around it and apply manure;” Lk 13:8 corrected translation “Then, answering, he said to him, “Sir, allow it also for this year, until I dig around it and apply manure;” Explanation: 1. “Then, answering, he said to him,” a. Jesus continues the parable with the response of the gardener or vinedresser to the owner of the vineyard/orchard. The response to the owner’s demand to cut down the fig tree is polite, thoughtful and gracious, b. The two parties in this conversation are analogous to God the Father (the owner of the fig tree) and the Son of God (the gardener or vinedresser). 2. ““Sir, allow it also for this year,” a. The person inferior in authority makes a polite address to the owner of the fig tree. The workman does this to show his respect for the authority of the owner’s wishes and his ultimate willingness to do what he is told. By using the polite address, the gardener is indirectly telling his boss, I will do whatever you say and do it without question or complaint, but consider another possible course of action that might be better for you and for the fig tree. b. The gardener suggests that the owner allow or permit the fig tree to continue to exist for one more year, that is, let’s just give it one more chance. By analogy this one more chance was the forty-year grace period from the resurrection of Jesus until the fall of Jerusalem. The grace period for the fig tree has to equate to the grace period God gave the Jews before He cut down their nation in 70 A.D. The grace period certainly includes the time from when Jesus spoke this parable until His death, burial, and resurrection. But it also has to include time for the application of the manure and allowing it to do its work, which is mentioned next. 2 BDAG, p. 163, meaning 3. 2 Luke 13:8 3. “until I dig around it and apply manure;” a. The gardener has a plan to try and fix the no fig problem, that is, the no spiritual fruit problem in the nation of Israel. The gardener is going to dig a trench around the drip line of the tree (the drip line is outer edge of where water drips off the leaves to the ground and soaks into the ground at the outer limits of the root system), fill the trench with manure (fertilizer), cover it back over with dirt, and give it a year to grow with the best possible nutrients. Obviously Jesus is describing a common practice with which all the people listening were familiar. b. Manure or fertilizer is designed to be a stimulant to the physical growth of the tree. By analogy the coming of the Holy Spirit, the rise of the Church, the unique spiritual gifts of the pre-Canon period of the Church Age and the gospel message of the apostles were all designed to stimulate the spiritual response of Israel to the gospel. Just as the fertilizer stimulates the physical growth of the tree, so the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts He brought were designed to stimulate the spiritual response of Israel. c. The first forty years of the Church Age saw the rise of Christianity with a phenomenal display of temporary spiritual gifts (for example healing, prophecy, tongues) that were designed to stimulate the Jews to envy, that is, the desire to become a part of that spiritual experience. Paul mentions this in Rom 11:14, “if somehow, I might provoke to envy my race and might save some from them.” d. So by analogy, Jesus’ desire is to fertilize Israel with Jews who believe in Jesus and have spectacular spiritual gifts, including the influence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which might motivate them to believe in Him and join the spiritual party. It is the last great hope for Israel. They can either join with other Jews who will believe in Christ or be destroyed (cut down) as a nation. If the fig tree doesn’t produce fruit after this grace period, then nothing will help it and it deserves to be cut down. e. And before you get too uppity about your royal position in Christ, just remember that we, the members of the Church, are God’s spiritual manure. 4. Commentators’ comments. a. “The vinedresser asks to give the tree another chance to produce fruit within one more year. He will carefully care for it and fertilize it. Additional digging is designed to loosen the soil so moisture can get to the roots more easily. Perhaps additional care will yield fruit, even though the tree has done nothing to deserve such special attention or offer such hope. The image suggests God’s patience and alludes to the short time left for response. The tree faces removal if its response does not change.”3 b. “The tree reminds us of God’s special goodness to Israel (Isa 5:1–7; Rom 9:1–5) and His patience with them. God waited three years during our Lord’s earthly ministry, but the nation did not produce fruit. He then waited about forty years more before He allowed the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem and the temple; and during those years, the church gave to the nation a powerful witness of the Gospel message [that’s the fertilizer]. Finally, the tree was cut down.”4 c. “The vineyard worker intercedes on behalf of the fig tree. Digging around a tree and putting manure around it to fertilize it were common procedures, but fig trees usually did not need manure; the worker does all he can to try to save the tree. Jewish teachers debated whether 3 4 Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke: 9:51–24:53 (Vol. 2, pp. 1209–1210). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible Exposition Commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 224–225). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. 3 Luke 13:8 Israel’s repentance could change the set time of the end, but they agreed that God could suspend His judgment if He saw repentance.”5 d. “Just as the owner was prepared to feed it and give it another chance, so God was prepared to allow Israel an opportunity for repentance.”6 e. “Jesus implied that his nation was having its last opportunity to make good before the judgment of God would fall because of its rebellion and unproductiveness.”7 5 Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Lk 13:8). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 6 Carson, D. A., France, R. T., Motyer, J. A., & Wenham, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 1002). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. 7 Pfeiffer, C. F., & Harrison, E. F. (Eds.). (1962). The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Lk 13:1). Chicago: Moody Press. 4