Bible Strands
Proverbs 27:18
Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses the reader as a practical instructor closing a unit on human relationships and mutual accountability. The proverb stands between two nature metaphors about reciprocal influence and self-knowledge.
The words — נֹצֵר (no.Tzer) means "keeps" or "tends," and שֹׁמֵר (sho.Mer) means "protects" or "looks after." Both verbs describe active, ongoing care that produces a direct return.
The thread — The same agricultural stewardship principle appears in 1 Corinthians 9:7, 2 Timothy 2:6, and Song of Solomon 8:12, where faithful labor is consistently linked to rightful reward.
Why it lands — The text states that faithful service to a fig tree yields fruit, and faithful service to a master yields honor. It demands that readers recognize stewardship as a transaction of loyalty that produces measurable outcomes.
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 Hebrew words
King James Version
Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 9:7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?
- 2 Timothy 2:6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops.
- Song of Solomon 8:12 But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
- Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
- John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- Matthew 24:46 Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
- Luke 12:43 Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
- Luke 19:17 His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
- 1 Corinthians 3:8 He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
- Genesis 39:22 And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison.