Bible Strands
Luke 19:4
So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs a sycamore-fig tree as Jesus approaches to pass that way.
The words — προδραμὼν (prodramōn) means “having run,” and ἀνέβη (anebē) means “he went up,” describing the urgent physical ascent.
The thread — The action parallels Luke 5:19, where believers climb to see Jesus through a crowd, while 1 Chronicles 27:28 and Isaiah 9:10 reference sycamore trees in agricultural and rebuilding contexts.
Why it lands — The text demands that obstructed seekers take deliberate, urgent action to overcome barriers and gain sight of Christ.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 9:10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
- Luke 5:19 but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
- 1 Chronicles 27:28 Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the foothills. Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.
- 1 Kings 10:27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.
- Amos 7:14 “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
- Psalms 78:47 He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.