Judges 9:8

_THE TREES WENT FORTH ON A TIME TO ANOINT A KING OVER THEM; AND THEY SAID UNTO THE OLIVE TREE, REIGN THOU OVER US._ The trees went forth - literally, 'went on going.'...

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 9:8. _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 expressions excepted, illustrates itself, and tells its own meaning. _TO ANOINT A KING_] Hence it appears that _anointing_ was usual in the installation of kings, long before there was any king in Israel; for there is much evidence that the book of Judges was written before the days of Saul and David. _THE OLIVE TREE_] The _olive_ was the most _useful_ of all the trees in the field or forest, as the _bramble_ was the meanest and the most worthless....

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

THE TREES WENT FORTH ON A TIME TO ANOINT A KING OVER THEM,.... This is an apologue or fable, and a very fine and beautiful one; it is fitly expressed to answer the design, and the most ancient of the kind, being made seven hundred years before the times of Aesop, so famous for his fables, and exceeds anything written by him. By the trees are meant the people of Israel in general, and the Shechemites in particular, who had been for some time very desirous of a king, but could not persuade any of their great and good men to accept of that office: AND THEY SAID UNTO THE OLIVE TREE, REIGN THOU OVER US; a fit emblem of a good man, endowed with excellent virtues and qualifications for good, as David king of Israel, who is compared to such a tree, Psalms 52:8, Jarchi applies this to Othniel the first judge; but it may be better applied to Gideon, an excellent good man, full of frui

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

THE TREES. This is pare allegory (App-6). The _interpretation_ is local and historical. The _application_ is dispensational. WENT FORTH. Verb, duplicated by Figure of speech _Polyptoton_ (App-6). Very emphatic. ". going forth they went forth", or went forth with great earnestness of purpose. THE OLIVE TREE. Israel's _religious_ privileges. Romans 11....

_Jotham's fable_ The author of the fable had several points in his mind: (_a_) the contrast between Gideon's refusal of the kingship and the arrogant claim of the son of his concubine; the other sons (or many respectable members of the community) had qualities which entitled them to rule; it was left to the mean -bramble" to claim the rank of king; (_b_) a warning to the Shechemites of the dangerous character of their upstart chief; his protection was worthless if they trusted him, and if they did not he would be their ruin; (_c_) a rebuke of the Shechemites for their ingratitude towards the house of Gideon. The fable, however, is not entirely consistent with the moral drawn from it; especially after Judges 9:15, the connexion is so difficult to trace, that many think that the fable was not composed for the occasion but borrowed from the folk-tales current at the time. This i