CHAPTER IX _Abimelech is made king; and, to secure himself tn the kingdom,_ _slays his brethren; Jotham, the youngest only escapes_, 14. _Jotham reproves him and the Shechemites by a curious and_ _instructive parable_, 7-21. _Abimelech having reigned three years, the Shechemites, headed_ _by G... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:2. _WHETHER IS BETTER FOR YOU, EITHER THAT ALL THE SONS_] This was a powerful argument: Whether will you have seventy tyrants or only _one_! For, as he had no right to the government, and God alone was _king_ at that time in Israel; so he must support his usurped rule by whatever mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:3. _HE_ IS _OUR BROTHER._] We shall be raised to places of trust under him, and our city will be the capital of the kingdom.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:4. _THREESCORE AND TEN_ PIECES _OF SILVER_] Probably _shekels_; and this was the whole of his exchequer. As he was now usurping the government of God, he begins with a _contribution_ from the idol temple. A work begun under the name and influence of the devil is not likely to end to t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:5. _SLEW HIS BRETHREN_] His brothers by the father's side, Judges 8:30. This was a usual way of securing an ill-gotten throne; the person who had no right destroying all those that had right, that he might have no competitors. _YET JOTHAM - WAS LEFT_] That is, all the seventy were ki... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:6. _AND ALL THE HOUSE OF MILLO_] If _Millo_ be the name of a _place_, it is nowhere else mentioned in the sacred writings. But it is probably the name of a _person_ of note and influence in the city of Shechem - _the men of Shechem and the family of Millo_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:7. _STOOD IN THE TOP OF MOUNT GERIZIM_] _Gerizim_ and _Ebal_ were mounts very near to each other; the former lying to the north, the latter to the south, and at the foot of them Shechem. But see some remarks on the extent of the human voice in some hilly countries in the following ext... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:8. _THE TREES WENT FORTH_ ON A TIME] This is the _oldest_, and without exception the _best fable_ or _apologue_ in the world. See the observations at the end of this chapter. It is not to be supposed that a fable, if well formed, requires much illustration; every part of this, a few... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:9. _WHEREWITH - THEY HONOUR GOD AND MAN_] I believe the word אלהים _elohim_ here should be translated _gods_, for the parable seems to be accommodated to the idolatrous state of the Shechemites. Thus it was understood by the _Vulgate, Arabic_, and others. It is true that _olive oil_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:11. _BUT THE FIG TREE SAID - SHOULD I FORSAKE MY SWEETNESS_] The fruit of the fig tree is the _sweetest_ or most _luscious_ of all fruits. A full-ripe fig, in its own climate, has an indescribable sweetness; so much so that it is almost impossible to eat it, till a considerable time a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:13. _WHICH CHEERETH GOD AND MAN_] I believe אלהים _elohim_ here is to be taken in the same sense proposed on Judges 9:9. Vast libations of wine, as well as much _oil_, were used in heathenish sacrifices and offerings; and it was their opinion that the gods _actually partook_ of, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:14. _THEN SAID ALL THE TREES UNTO THE BRAMBLE_] The word אטד _atad_, which we translate _bramble_, is supposed to mean the _rhamnus,_ which is the largest of thorns, producing dreadful spikes, similar to darts. See _Theodoret_ on Psalms 58:10. There is much of the _moral_ of this fab... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:15. _COME_ AND _PUT YOUR TRUST IN ANY SHADOW_] The vain boast of the _would-be_ sovereign; and of the man who is seeking to be put into power by the suffrages of the people. All _promise_, no _performance_. _LET FIRE COME OUT OF THE BRAMBLE_] A strong catachresis. The bramble was _t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:20. _LET FIRE COME OUT FROM ABIMELECH_] As the thorn or bramble may be the means of kindling other wood, because it may be easily ignited; so shall Abimelech be the cause of kindling a _fire_ of civil discord among you, that shall consume the rulers and great men of your country. A pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:21. _WENT TO BEER_] Mr. Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 64, 5th edit., mentions a place of this name, which he thinks to be that to which Jotham fled, and supposed to be the same as Mishmash, 1 Samuel 14:5; 1 Samuel 14:31. It is situated, he says, towards the so... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:23. _GOD SENT AN EVIL SPIRIT_] He permitted jealousies to take place which produced factions; and these factions produced insurrections, civil contentions, and slaughter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:25. _THE MEN OF SHECHEM SET LIERS IN WAIT_] It pleased God to punish this bad man by the very persons who had contributed to his iniquitous elevation. So God often makes the instruments of men's sins the means of their punishment. It is likely that although Abimelech had his chief res... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _GAAL THE SON OF EBED_] Of this person we know no more than is here told. He was probably one of the descendants of the Canaanites, who hoped from the state of the public mind, and their disaffection to Abimelech, to cause a revolution, and thus to restore the ancient government as it was... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:28. _ZEBUL HIS OFFICER_] פקידו _pekido, his overseer_; probably governor of Shechem in his absence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:29. _WOULD TO GOD THIS PEOPLE WERE UNDER MY HAND_] The very words and conduct of a sly, hypocritical demagogue. _INCREASE THINE ARMY, AND COME OUT._] When he found his party strong, and the public feeling warped to his side, then he appears to have sent a challenge to Abimelech, to c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _THEY FORTIFY THE CITY AGAINST THEE._] Under pretence of repairing the walls and towers, they were actually putting the place in a state of defence, intending to seize on the government as soon as they should find Abimelech coming against them. _Fortifying the city_ may mean seducing the i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _STOOD IN THE ENTERING OF THE GATE_] Having probably got some intimation of the designs of Zebul and Abimelech.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _BY THE PLAIN OF MEONENIM._] Some translate, _by the way_ _of the oaks_, or oaken groves; others, _by the way of the magicians_, or _regarders of the times_, as in our _margin_. Probably it was a place in which augurs and soothsayers dwelt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:45. _AND SOWED IT WITH SALT._] Intending that the destruction of this city should be a _perpetual_ memorial of his achievements. The _salt_ was not designed to render it _barren_, as some have imagined; for who would think of cultivating a city? but as _salt_ is an emblem of _incorru... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:46. _A HOLD OF THE HOUSE OF THE GOD BERITH._] This must mean the _precincts_ of the temple, as we find there were a thousand men and women together in that place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:53. _A PIECE OF A MILLSTONE_] פלח רכב _pelach recheb, a piece_ _of a chariot wheel_; but the word is used in other places for _upper_ _millstones_, and is so understood here by the _Vulgate, Septuagint,_ _Syriac_, and _Arabic_. _AND ALL TO BREAK HIS SKULL._] A most nonsensical versio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:54. _DRAW THY SWORD, AND SLAY ME_] It was a disgrace to be killed by a woman; on this account, Seneca the tragedian deplores the death of Hercules: - _O turpe fatum! femina Herculeae necis_ _Autor feritur_. HERC. OETAEUS, ver. 1177. "O dishonourable fate! a woman is reported to h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Judges 9:56. _THUS GOD RENDERED, C._] Both the fratricide Abimelech, and the unprincipled men of Shechem, had the iniquity visited upon them of which they had been guilty. Man's judgment may be avoided but there is no escape from the judgments of God. I HAVE said that the fable of Jotham is t... [ Continue Reading ]