Judges 9:7-21

JOTHAM’S PARABLE, Judges 9:7-21.

The following beautiful apologue, commonly called the parable of Jotham, is rather a fable than a parable. The parable moves in the higher realm of spiritual thought. Its imagery is always taken from real life, and its narrative that which may have been objectively true, and often has its parallel in the history of man. See note, Matthew 13:3. The fable is based on imaginary actions of irrational creatures or inanimate things, and can therefore never be true to actual life. It deals with talking trees and beasts, imagery which all know has no foundation in fact, but which may still serve a useful purpose in setting forth most suggestive and valuable lessons for the people. Such a fable is this discourse of Jotham, the oldest and one of the best apologues in the world.