Judges 9:15

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 9:15

(15) If in truth—i.e., with serious purpose. The bramble can hardly believe in the infatuation of the trees.Put your trust in my shadow.—The mean leaves and bristling thorns of the rhamnus could afford no shadow to speak of, and even such as they could afford would be dangerous; but the fable is full of fine and biting irony.If not.—The bramble is not only eager to be king, but has spiteful and dangerous threats—the counterpart of those, doubtless, which had been used by Abimelech—to discourage... 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

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Judges 9:15

9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, [then] come [and] put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let {f} fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.(f) Abimelech will destroy the nobles of Shechem. 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 9:8-15

It was a very favorite way in the Eastern world, to deliver weighty subjects by parable. And hence, in accommodation to this general mode of instruction, our adorable Redeemer chiefly delivered his precious discourses, under the cover of similitudes; so much so indeed, that at one time without a parable Jesus did not speak unto them. See Matthew 13:34 . The figure of the tree chasing a king, and the nobler ones declining the station, while the bramble hastily caught at it, was plainly intended... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Judges 9:15

Shadow or protection, Psalm xvi. 8., and Baruch i. 12. (Calmet) --- Joatham hints at the insolence of Abimelech, (Haydock) and foretels that he and his foolish subjects will soon be at variance, and destroy each other. Fire is often put for war. The people of Sichem began soon to despise their new king, and he made war upon them, and destroyed their city; though the people afterwards took ample revenge, ver. 20. (Calmet) --- Tyrants promise much, but their rage soon falls upon the more wealthy... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Judges 9:7-21

7-21 There was no occasion for the trees to choose a king, they are all the trees of the Lord which he has planted. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to set a king over them, for the Lord was their King. Those who bear fruit for the public good, are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise, more than those who merely make a figure. All these fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promoted over the trees; or, as the margin reads it, to go up and down for the... read more

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