The first-ripe figs were a very tasty and highly prized fruit, which ripened in June on the branches of the previous year. The figs that grew on the shoots of the current year did not ripen until August. However, the contrast here is not between early and late figs, but between the best quality figs and very bad figs, that is, figs that are too poor to be eaten. Good News Translation translates first-ripe as “those that ripen early.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .