And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.
The verse closes the picture of Solomon's kingdom at its height: a whole nation at rest, each family owning its own ground. Writers ask why Scripture returns again and again to this image of the vine and the fig tree, and whether such peace lasted.
The whole land at rest
The two place names mark the far ends of the country, so the peace described has no gaps in it.
Morrish Bible DictionaryAfter Israel settled the land, Beersheba is always named as the most southern part of the land they held, and Dan as the most northern. So "from Dan to Beersheba" was the common way of saying the whole country, even in the days of Solomon.
What filled that territory was not only safety but ownership. Every household had something of its own to sit under.
H. L. RossierSolomon's subjects ate and drank and made merry (v. 20). They had plenty; nothing they needed was lacking. Joy filled their hearts, and security reigned everywhere (v. 25). Everyone had his own property, and lived under his vine and under his fig tree. Men look for this in vain in a world of sin, a world that cast Christ out. They will have it in full when the Lord reigns over all the kingdoms of the earth, acknowledged by all.
A promise God had already made
This prosperity was not a lucky season. It matched what God had pledged to Israel long before.
W. W. FeredayThe prosperity and peace of the people fulfilled the word of the LORD in Leviticus 26:5: "Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in the land safely. And I will give peace to the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid."
From civil war to shared ground
These same people had lately been killing one another in battle.
J. G. BellettThey had been counting each other as targets for the sword in the wood of Ephraim. Now the sword has become a ploughshare. The days of Solomon were, as a picture or in spirit, millennial days, and a sweet and surprising goodness marks them. Instead of going out again to the battlefield, they sit, every man with his neighbour, under the vine and under the fig tree.
Why the vine and the fig tree
The fig tree makes a natural shelter.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe fig tree fits the picture of "sitting under the fig tree" for rest. Its branches and leaves give protection from the heat of the sun.
The phrase then became a fixed way of speaking about Israel's future blessing under God's king.
George BellIn the Old Testament Scriptures the expression "under the fig tree" represents the blessing of Israel in the kingdom. "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it" (Micah 4:4; 1 Kings 4:25; Zechariah 3:10).
A sample of a greater reign
Writers see Solomon's calm as a small model of a kingdom still to come. The rest in it will come from changed hearts, not only from full storehouses.
Leslie M. GrantJudah and Israel lived safely in their land, "each man under his vine and his fig tree" (v.25). The millennial age will bring out this quiet contentment. There will be no robbing. There will be no fighting to pile up fortunes or to gain power over others. Instead there will be the calm faith that leans on the well-proven goodness of God, for everyone in Israel will be born again.
Even at its best, Solomon's day was the lesser thing.
W. W. FeredayIn Solomon's day all Israel sat in peace, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinking and making merry. Yet that prosperity was nothing compared with what God will give His people in the reign of David's greater Son.
The limit written into the verse
The verse dates the peace. It lasted "all the days of Solomon," and no longer. So can any man hold such a place by his own strength?
The Bible TreasuryThis place is the highest favour and dignity possible, short of new and eternal life, and God gives it directly. Can a man hold it by his own strength? Let Solomon's fall answer. But did the promise of God depend on Solomon's faithfulness? No. The kingdom of God does not hang on Solomon's faithfulness. It rests on One greater than Solomon, who will surely establish it at the right and appointed time.
Summary
- Promise — this safety and plenty fulfilled God's pledge in Leviticus 26. He promised bread to the full, a safe land, and no one to make them afraid.
- Peace — people who had lately counted each other as targets for the sword now sat down as neighbours. The sword became a ploughshare.
- Possession — every household had its own vine and fig tree, with shade to rest under. This ran from Dan to Beersheba, the whole land without a gap.
- Preview — the phrase became Scripture's set picture of Israel's blessing in the kingdom. Micah 4:4 and Zechariah 3:10 take it up again.
- Permanence — Solomon's peace lasted only "all the days of Solomon" and died with him. The kingdom never rested on his faithfulness, but on One greater than Solomon.