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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 9:7-21

Jotham’s fable 9:7-21Before Abimelech’s sole surviving brother went into hiding, he uttered a protest against Abimelech that predicted the effect of his rule. Jotham (lit. Yahweh is perfect, honest) stood on the same mountain where six of Israel’s tribes had declared the blessings of abiding by the Law of Yahweh and denounced the Shechemites for their foolish and wicked actions. The contrast between the Israelites’ commitments in Joshua 8, 24 and this passage must be one reason the writer... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 9:1-57

The Story of AbimelechThis chapter breaks the regular order of the book, since Abimelech is not thought of as a judge, and the Canaanites are not here regarded as oppressors. The story, however, throws a valuable light on the way in which Israel fell into unfaithfulness, when free from the yoke of foreign oppression.1-6. The rise of Abimelech.1. As being born out of regular wedlock, Abimelech would be brought up at first in his mother’s family, and reckoned as belonging to it (Judges 9:2). It... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 9:7

(7) In the top of mount Gerizim.—Unless Shechem is not to be identified with Neapolis (Nablous), and was rather, as De Saulcy decides, on Mount Gerizim itself, at a spot still marked by extensive ruins, it would have been entirely impossible for Jotham to be heard at Shechem from the actual summit of Gerizim. But over the town of Nablous is a precipitous rock, to the summit of which the name Gerizim might be loosely given. Here Jotham might well have stood; and it seems certain that in the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 9:1-57

Judges 9:11 A tallow dip, of the long-eight description, is an excellent thing in the kitchen candlestick, and Betty's nose and eye are not sensitive to the difference between it and the finest wax; it is only when you stick it in the silver candlestick, and introduce it into the drawing-room, that it seems plebeian, dim, and ineffectual. Alas for the worthy man who, like that candle, gets himself into the wrong place! George Eliot, Amos Barton. Does he not drink more sweetly that takes his... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Judges 9:1-57

5ABIMELECH AND JOTHAMJudges 8:29-35; Judges 9:1-57THE history we are tracing moves from man to man; the personal influence of the hero is everything while it lasts and confusion follows on his death. Gideon appears as one of the most successful Hebrew judges in maintaining order. While he was there in Ophrah religion and government had a centre "and the country was in quietness forty years." A man far from perfect but capable of mastery held the reins and gave forth judgment with an authority... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Judges 9:1-57

CHAPTER 9 Abimelech the King and His Wickedness 1. The murder of Gideon’s sons (Judges 9:1-6 ) 2. Jotham’s parable (Judges 9:7-21 ) 3. Scenes of strife and destruction of Shechem (Judges 9:22-49 ) 4. Abimelech’s end (Judges 9:50-57 ) The story of Abimelech is intensely interesting in its typical meaning. Abimelech was the offspring of an unlawful union: the son of Gideon and the concubine in Shechem. He was half Israelite and half Canaanite. Abimelech means “my father was king”; he... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Judges 9:1-57

GIDEON TO JAIR ABIMELECH’S USURPATION (Judges 9:1-6 ) The close of the last lesson shows idolatry creeping into Israel, the fruit of which is reaped in the years following. God is forgotten and Gideon also (Judges 8:34-35 ), the meaning of the last verse being interpreted by the story of Abimelech. This Abimelech fraternized with his nearest of kin, the relatives of his mother’s side (Judges 9:1-3 ), a striking instance, as one says, of the evils of polygamy, where one son of a father has... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Judges 9:1-57

Abimelech The Bramble King Judges 9:0 IS Abimelech dead? Has he reappeared in our own days? Or after the devil made Abimelech did he throw the mould away? These questions are not difficult. We can easily determine them, either in the positive or in the negative. It would be something worth doing to be able to establish as a fact the absolute certainty of the death of Abimelech and all his progeny. But we must take the evidence as we find it, and abide by the issue to which it points, whatever... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Judges 9:7

The Lord, by his providence, had saved Jotham, from the general massacre of his brethren, and no doubt, the same gracious God, which had saved him from destruction, led him to make the declaration to the Shechemites, for there was much of a prophetic spirit in what he spake. read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Judges 9:7

Stood on. As Abimelech was a figure of Antichrist, who will reign for a time, so Joatham denotes the pastors of the church, who shall stand up for the truth. (Worthington) --- Garizim. At the foot of this mountain Sichem was built. Joatham addressed the people of the city, probably during the absence of Abimelech, (Calmet) when, Josephus ([Antiquities?] v. 9.) says, a great festival was celebrated. read more

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