Description
The fruit of the fig tree was dried in the sun and then pressed together in blocks for storage and for transporting. The same was done with raisins, that is, dried grapes. For blocks of dried fruit used medicinally, see Poultice, fig cake.
Translation
For the fig tree and grapevine, see Fig and Vine respectively. In 1SA 25:18GW has “fig cakes,” but this rendering is likely to give the misimpression that these were baked cakes with figs in them. Most translations consulted also use the word “cakes” but in a phrase like “cakes of pressed figs” (NIV), which is slightly better. However, even here the modern reader is most likely to understand “cake” as a baked food. GECL avoids this problem with “portions of dried figs,” while CEV has “handfuls of dried figs.” It will often be possible (and preferable) to say “lumps of pressed figs” or “blocks of dried figs.” Some languages will have a specific word for such blocks of pressed dried fruit.
In 1SA 30:12RSV has “a piece of a cake of figs,” but GNT is better with “some dried figs.”