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I think I might have asked this question before in this forum under a previous name but I can’t remember the answer, so I’ll try again. Given the importance of the olive tree at the time of Christ, the amount of time He spent in olive groves, and the understanding of agriculture and nature frequently expressed in His parables and teachings, it’s reasonable to assume that Christ knew a bit about olive trees and how they grow. In Jacob chatper 5, Jacob gives a parable about how the branches of an olive tree are mixed and matched with other olive trees, and that the results are quite mixed, with some bearing good fruit and others bearing bad fruit, and some bearing both at once. In Allegory of the Olive Tree: The Olive, the Bible, and Jacob 5 by John W. Welch, Stephen D. Ricks its quite clear that this is something that can and does happen with olive trees. If Christ knew this, why did He then teach that a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. This is exactly what happened in Jacob’s parable, which is based on real life. The parable, accurately reflecting real life, indicates that a good tree can bring forth bad fruit and a bad tree can bring forth bad fruit but Christ clearly taught that they cannot. How can these two teachings be reconciled?