Judges 9:20

Town of. Hebrew, "the house of Mello," ver. 6. (Calmet) --- the imprecation of Joatham was prophetical. He had not the smallest doubt but the people had done wrong; (Haydock) and the three different fruit-trees, which rejected the offer of promotion, represented all the virtuous Israelites, who knew that they could not lawfully assume the regal or judicial authority, without the divine call. Ezechiel (xvii. 24,) attributes knowledge to trees by the same figure of speech, as Joatham does here. (Menochius)