Mark 11:20 AV
And in the morning, as they passed by,
they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Other translations
In the morning, when they were passing along, they noticed that the fig tree was withered [completely] away to its roots. [AMP] As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. [ESV] In the morning, walking along the road, they saw the fig tree, shriveled to a dry stick. [MSB] And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. [KJV] In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. [NIV] The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it was withered from the roots. [NLT] Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. [NKJV]
Study
In the morning after He had slept, as during all this week, at Bethany, as they passed by, on His way going into Jerusalem again, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots, not partially, leaving life in the root; but it was now absolutely dead, root and branch.
In Matthew 21:19 it is said it withered away as soon as it was cursed. But the full blight had not appeared probably at once; and in the dusk perhaps, as they returned to Bethany, they had not observed it.
The precision with which Mark distinguishes the days is not observed by Matthew, intent only on holding up the truths which the incident was designed to teach.
In Matthew the whole is represented as taking place at once, just as the two stages of Jairus’ daughter –dying and dead– are represented by him as one.
The only difference is between a mere summary and a more detailed narrative, each of which only confirms the other.
Apparently they didn’t notice it withering right away, neither did they notice it in the evening, as they went from Jerusalem to Bethany. Maybe because it was then in the evening, or maybe they took a different route, the Bible doesn’t tell; but anyway, now in the morning, as they came along, they observed it; not only that the tender branches and boughs of it, but the trunk and body of the tree, and even the roots of it, were all dried up; so that it was entirely dead, and there was no room ever to expect it would revive, and bear any more fruit.
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