But _Jesus_ is said to come to the Figtree at an unseasonable Time; _For the Time of Figs was not yet_; which Expression has been the Perplexity of _Commentators_, who with all their Wit and Sagacity can't get well over it. I shall not mention here all or any of their pretended Solutions of this Difficulty; but let us see whether we can't easily and at once unlose it. St. _Mark_'s Words are [Greek: ou gar ên kairos sykôn], which are and have been commonly translated, _for the Time of Figs is not yet_. But if we change the _Point_ into an _Interrogation_, and read thus, _for was it not the Time of Figs?_ the Difficulty vanishes as certainly, as that it is absurd to suppose _Christ_ should come to his Figtree and look for Fruit, when he could not reasonably expect any. This my Solution of this Difficulty certainly serves the Purpose of the mystical Interpretation; and if it does not the litteral, I answer, we are not to heed the Letter, which seldom or never has any Sense or Truth in it. But, by the by, it does the litteral too, since there are no Grounds from the Text to think, what has been the common Opinion, that it was about the _Jewish_ Passover that _Jesus_ came to the Figtree. If this my Solution of the Difficulty don't please, I must say with[176] _Heinsius_, that it must be left as a Knot for _Elias_ to untie, who, according to the[177] ancient _Jews_, is first to gather Fruits off this mystical Figtree, and present them to the intellectual Taste of Mankind. But, that my Solution is good, will appear by what follows. And _Jesus_ finding Leaves only says, in St. _Matthew_, to the Figtree, _Let no Fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever_; which (with its parallel Place in St. _Mark_) is in my Opinion a false Translation: The Original is, [Greek: Mêketi ek sou karpos genêtai eis ton aiôna], and ought to be englished, _not as yet_, or _not until now_, (that I come) _against the_ (grand) _Age_ (of the Sabbath) has Fruit grown on thee. So that the Miracle of _Jesus_ was to make the Figtree of the Church fruitful; and if her preceding unfruitful State, which (in St. _Mark_) _Jesus_ is said to curse, or rather to devote to Ruin, wasted away, it was by Consequence.