characterized by unlimited fruitfulness and abundance (Telford 1980). The barrenness of the fig tree reflects the faithlessness of the temple leadership. Although Isaiah (56:7) had written that the temple was to be called “a house of prayer for all the [gentile] nations,” the temple hierarchy had made it into a “robbers’ hideout,” where they huddled together, claiming the protection of the holy place despite their failure to recognize the inauguration of the eschaton when “all the gentiles” will