When did the fig tree wither?

Difficult Passages · Accounts of the Same Event

When did the fig tree wither?

It withered at His word; the disciples saw it the next morning. Matthew tells the account in one place, and Mark gives the days in order.

The Passages

Matthew 21:18-20

18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

Mark 11:12-14

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

The Difficulty

Matthew says that when Jesus spoke to the fig tree, “presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!” (Matthew 21:19–20). Mark says the disciples heard Him speak to the tree (Mark 11:14), and “in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots” (11:20). Did it wither at once, or overnight?

The Answer

It withered at once, “presently,” as Matthew says, when the Lord spoke. The disciples saw it the next morning, as Mark says: they heard what He said to it, but didn’t notice the withering until they came by the next day (Gill). Matthew doesn’t say when they saw it; he finishes the account of the tree in one place, and Mark gives the days in order, the tree cursed one morning (Mark 11:12–14) and seen “dried up from the roots” the next (11:20). In both it is the speed that the disciples wonder at: “How soon is the fig tree withered away!” (Matthew 21:20); “the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away” (Mark 11:21).

Sources

John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol. 1 (1746–48), p. 215, on Matthew 21:20

The next day in the morning, as Mark says: they had heard what Christ had said to it the day before, as the same Evangelist observes; but did not take notice of the immediate withering of the tree; but the next morning, as they returned from Bethany, they saw it dried up from the roots

Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-28