Verse 9
9. My fatness A reference to the olive oil, which was manufactured and used in great quantities among the ancients. The fatness of the olive, and its chief value, was its oil.
Honour God and man God was honoured by the fatness of the olive in its use for light in his sanctuary, (Exodus 27:20,) and for the holy offerings and rites of his house. Exodus 29:23; Exodus 29:40. Man was honoured by it in its various domestic uses, and especially by its use in anointing prophets, priests, and kings.
To be promoted over the trees Better, to wave over the trees. The Hebrew verb נוע , to wave, to reel, is often used of the staggering motion of a drunken man, and also of a wandering person, going up and down, as the margin has it, and might aptly characterize a king like Abimelech, who reels and wanders to and fro among the people, and is no benefit to any one. Jotham may have meant, in the use of this word, to throw a contemptuous gibe at Abimelech. But the word is here in keeping with the imagery of trees; and the waving of one tree over another is a beautiful image of royal supremacy and power.
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