About Zaccheus' "Sycamore" Tree
They still exist in Jericho today. They have big fat trunks and branches....like Willow Trees. But the "sycamore" Luke describes is not the American Sycamore, rather, it is the common FIG TREE found throughout the Middle East and Africa. That's right, Zaccheus climbed a FRUIT TREE! The Greek word Luke uses is sykomorea (fig tree).
The Bible Background to our Writing Team's Zaccheus lesson set describes Zaccheus' Fig Tree and talks about some very interesting (and teachable) things about figs!
