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Since it is obvious that some great, symbolic importance IS attached to this
unusual event, let us now examine the fig tree itself in greater detail, and see whether it
also has any symbolic significance.

Identifying the Tree!

The first mention of the fig tree, in the Bible, is found in Genesis 3:

And when the woman [Eve] saw that the tree [of the knowledge of good and evil]
was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, AND A TREE TO BE
DESIRED TO MAKE ONE WISE, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband [Adam] with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them
both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed FIG
LEAVES together, and made themselves aprons. -- Verses 6-7.

Although the Genesis account does not DIRECTLY say that the fig tree is the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it alludes to it by having Adam and Eve sew fig
leaves together to hide their shame RIGHT AFTER describing the eating of the tree's
fruit.

Harold N. Moldenke and Alma L. Moldenke, in their bookPlants of the Bible,
make this association:

While tradition usually holds that it was the "apple" (that is, apricot) which was
the "tree of knowledge" in the garden of Eden, OTHER LEGENDS say that this
mythical tree WAS THE FIG. The latter claim is doubtless based on the statement
in Genesis that Adam and Eve took FIG LEAVES with which to clothe
themselves IMMEDIATELY after eating of the forbidden fruit. -- Chronica
Botanica Co., Waltham, Mass. 1952. Page 105.

W.R. Paton suggests that the story of Adam and Eve and their aprons is
reminiscent of an ancient custom of fertilizing fig trees BY A PAIR OF HUMAN
SCAPEGOATS who, like the victims of the Thargelia, associated themselves WITH
THE TREE by wearing its foliage or fruit (ibid, page 104 -- footnote).

Is this, then, a CORRECT association to make? Should we rightfully associate the
sewing together of fig leaves with the eating of the fruit? Let's see what Jewish tradition
has to say:

What was the tree of which Adam and Eve ate? Rabbi Yosi says:

It was the FIG TREE...the FIG whereof he ate the fruit opened its doors and took
him in (Midrash, Bereshith Raba, 15,7).

The FIG LEAF which brought remorse to the world (ibid., 19,11).