Judges 9:15

_AND THE BRAMBLE SAID UNTO THE TREES, IF IN TRUTH YE ANOINT ME KING OVER YOU, THEN COME AND PUT YOUR TRUST IN MY SHADOW: AND IF NOT, LET FIRE COME OUT OF THE BRAMBLE, AND DEVOUR THE CEDARS OF LEBANON._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

7-21 There was no occasion for the trees to choose a king, they are all the trees of the Lord which he has planted. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to set a king over them, for the Lord was their King. Those who bear fruit for the public good, are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise, more than those who merely make a figure. All these fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promoted over the trees; or, as the margin reads it, to go up and down for the trees. To rule, involves a man in a great deal both of toil and care. Those who are preferred to public trust and power, must forego all private interests and advantages, for the good of others. And those advanced to honour and dignity, are in great danger of losing their fruitfulness. For which reason, they that desire to do good, are afraid of being too great. Jotham compares Abimelech to the bra...

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 _too low_ to give shelter to any tree; and so far from being able to _consume_ others, that the smallest fire will reduce it to _ashes_, and that in the _shortest time_. Hence the very _transitory_ mirth of fools is said to be _like the cracking of_ _thorns under a pot_. Abimelech was the _bramble_; and the _ceders_ of _Lebanon_, all the _nobles_ and _people_ of Israel. Could they therefore suppose that such a low-born, uneducated, cruel, and murderous man, could be a proper pro

This fable and that noted in the marginal reference are the only two of the kind found in Scripture. Somewhat different are the parables of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 12:1; 2 Samuel 14:5; 1 Kings 20:39. Judges 9:9 HONOUR GOD AND MAN - Alluding to the constant use of oil in the meat-offerings Leviticus 2:1, and in the holy ointment Exodus 30:24. In like manner, the allusion in...

EXPOSITION JUDGES 9:7 ON THE TOP OF MOUNT GERIZIM. Mount Gerizim rises on the south-west side of Samaria or Shechem as a sheer rock about 800 feet in height, facing Mount Ebal, which is separated from it by the narrow valley, "some 500 yards wide," in which Samaria, now Nablus, is built. It was from Mount Gerizim that Joshua, in accordance with the directions given by Moses in Deuteronomy 11:29, caused the blessings of the law to be proclaimed, after the capture of At, while the curses were proclaimed from Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:33, Joshua 8:35). Some explain the name to mean "the mount of t

AND THE BRAMBLE SAID UNTO THE TREES,.... Accepting of their offer at once: IF YE IN TRUST ANOINT ME KING OVER YOU; suspecting they were not hearty and cordial in their choice and call to the kingly authority over them: THEN COME AND PUT YOUR TRUST IN MY SHADOW; promising protection to them as his subjects, requiring their confidence in him, and boasting of the good they should receive from him, as is common with wicked princes at their first entering on their office; but, alas! what shadow or protection can there be in a bramble? if a man attempts: to put himself under it for shelter, he will find it will be of no use to him, but harmful, since, the nearer and closer he comes to it, the more he will be scratched and torn by it: AND IF NOT, LET FIRE COME OUT OF THE BRAMBLE, AND DEVOUR THE CEDARS OF LEBANON; signifying, that if they did not heartily submit to his government, and put con...

TRUST (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 2:12). _...

CHAPTER 9 ABIMELECH THE KING AND HIS WICKEDNESS _ 1. The murder of Gideon's sons (Judges 9:1)_ 2. Jotham's parable (Judges 9:7) 3. Scenes of strife and destruction of Shechem (Judges 9:22) 4. Abimelech's end (Judges 9:50) The story of Abimelech is intensely interesting in its typical meaning. Abimelech was the offspring of an unlawful union: the son of Gideon and the concubine in Shechem. He was half Israelite and half Canaanite. Abimelech means “my father was king”; he claims therefore supremacy, lordship over the people Israel on the basis of succession. His father had refused that honor; the bastard offspring

JOTHAM'S FABLE. Only in an apologue could Jotham, the sole survivor of Abimelech's massacre, express what was in his bitter, broken heart. The point of his fable is easily caught. His father and his brothers were the fruitful trees olive, fig-tree and vine who declined to rule over the other trees; his half-brother is the bramble who has accepted the kingship, but who will presently set on fire the cedars of Lebanon. If the Shechemites have acted in good faith to Jerubbaal in choosing Abimelech as king, may they have joy of the choice; but if not, may their king be a devouring fire among them! Judges 9:7. How Jotham got an audience at the top of Gerizim is not said. The language is not to be pressed, and a well- known crag overlooking the town has been pointed out as a natural pulpit. Judges 9:9

PUT YOUR TRUST. flee for refuge. Hebrew. _hasah_. App-69....