In this article I propose an interpretation of the Marcan fig tree episode (Mark 11:12–14, 20–25) in its final form that draws on a vegetable metaphor widely known in Antiquity, and highlights the connection between the episode and the temple scene (Mark 11:15–19) that divides it. This interpretation addresses the problem posed by the narrator's commentary in verse 13d and makes of it a key element to understand the Marcan Jesus' attitude towards the temple. With the aid of James C. Scott's work on resistance discourse of subordinated groups, I show that this text, together with the other Marcan references to the temple's destruction, belong to one type of Scott's resistance discourse, and deduce some implications for the social setting of the Gospel of Mark.
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