Sycamore Figs

There is hardly anyone that has not heard the story of the "wee little man" Zacchaeus and how he climbed up in the sycamore tree to see Jesus. However, most people in the United States associate a different type of tree with that story. The sycamore trees in the United States are different than the ones in Israel. Those trees are actually sycamore fig trees. Every year, their fruit is harvested and can be purchased throughout the land.

Sycomore Figs

The sycomore fig (Ficus sycomorus) was a staple fruit common in orchards in Israel (II Chronicles 1:15), and can produce small, fig-shaped fruits throughout the year.  They are mentioned several times in the Old Testament, most famously as Amos’s means of living.  The broad, heavily branched trunks would also make it easy for a man like Zacchaeus to climb high enough to see over a crowd (Luke 19:1-4).