Judges 9:7

JOTHAM CURSES THE SHECHEMITES (Judges 9:7-21)

"And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign over us. But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have made Abimelech king and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands (for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother."

(Regarding the setting for this confrontation, see the article on `Shechem.')

"The top of mount Gerizim" (Judges 9:7). This was not the summit, but that pulpit-like projection from Gerizim overlooking the acoustically perfect valley, where, in all probability, some kind of a public festival was being conducted. From such an eminence, Jotham was able to make himself heard by a great multitude.

THE FABLE OF THE TREES

The difference between a fable and a parable is that a parable teaches a lesson by mentioning occurrences that actually happened, or at least, could have happened, whereas, the "dramatis personnae" in a fable are animals, trees, etc. This fable and the brief one in 2 Kings 14:9 are the only two fables in the Old Testament.

There are tremendous lessons in this fable. The general worthlessness of kings appears in this. "This contempt for the monarchy reflects a very early date for Judges. In this fable, the briar, which is good for nothing else, has the leisure to become king, but it cannot provide shelter for the trees, and is more likely to catch fire and involve them all in its ruin."[10]

However, Campbell's opinion differed from this. "Jotham was not condemning the monarchy itself, but was rather pointing out that Abimelech was a worthless person."[11] (Inasmuch as the anointing of a king over Israel was contrary to the will of God and, in fact, was an outright rejection of divine rule, according to 1 Samuel 8:7, this writer favors the opinion of Bruce in New Bible Commentry Revised, as given above.)

"Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant" (Judges 9:18). Armerding interpreted this as a slur upon Abimelech,[12] but Boling was of the opinion that, "The words here do not impute to Abimelech's mother either high or low social status."[13] Nevertheless, there was some difference between a concubine and a slave-girl, and therefore we are inclined to view this reference to Abimelech's mother as derogatory.

"Rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you" (Judges 9:19). Moore noted the irony in this passage, paraphrasing it, "Much happiness may you have in this bramble-king of yours."[14] It is as though he had said, "You treacherous criminals certainly deserve one another"!

Having laid the foundation for the curse which he was about to utter, Jotham announced it in Judges 9:20.

"Let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and devour Abimelech" (Judges 9:20). This was the curse of Jotham, and it was exactly fulfilled within the space of about three years. See the last verse of this chapter for its fulfillment.

That the tower of Shechem, or Millo House, was destroyed about 1150, (as noted above), drew this comment from Boling: "This means that we are dealing with authentic early tradition."[15] My own view is that we are dealing with early inspired writings, probably by Samuel himself, at a time well ahead of the anointing of Saul, and that such inspired writing is far more authentic than any tradition.

"And Jotham ... went to Beer, and dwelt there" (Judges 9:21). "`Beer' simply means `well'; and there were many places in Israel that could have been indicated by this."[16]