08. The King of the Trees
CHAPTER VIII (a) “ THE KING OF THE TREES “
“ THE trees went out set upon anointing a king over themselves and they said to the olivetree: ’ Be king over us ’; but the olive said to them: ’ Shall I forsake my fatness by which gods and men are honoured to go to lord it over the trees? ’ Then the trees said to the figtree: ’ Come thou, be king over us ’; but the fig-tree answered them: ’ Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit to go to lord it over the trees? ’ So the trees said to the vine, * Come thou, be king over us ’; but the vine replied to them: ’ Shall I leave my wine which cheereth gods and men to go to lord it over the trees? ’ All the trees then said to the thorn-bush: ’ Come thou, be king over us ’; and the thorn-bush said to the trees: * If indeed you anoint me to be king over you, come, trust in my shadow; but if not, let fire go forth from the thorn and let it burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’“ Jdg 9:8-15. The ’ Parable as Fable ’ brings us to the second of the categories outlined in Chapter I. The fable is associated with a very early stage of literature and “ draws its characters from the lower brute creation and even from the inanimate world. Thus foxes and wolves, eagles and tortoises, trees and flowers, pots and pans converse with one another like human beings “(A. C. Zenos). There are two fables in the Old Testament Jotham’s (given here) and Jehoash’s (in next chapter) in both of which trees are made to speak and to teach. Neither of the fables can be interpreted without reference to the particular historical occasions to which it is related, but they become parables for two reasons: first, even without the historical information they are stories which have obviously some lesson, however obscure, to teach; and second, they suggest (at least locally) a moral.
They embodied such a moral originally and were spoken for that purpose. Under modern circumstances they cannot be altogether lacking in appeal, message and warning, for they compel us to ask their meaning. The fable of the election of a king over the trees is common to many countries, languages and literatures. Sir James G. Fraser gives a very interesting chapter to Jotham’s Fable in his P ’oik-Lore of the Old Testament, revealing how popular this type of story was in antiquity. In various forms it is found in the fables of JEsop, in a poem by Callimachus the Alexandrian poet, in Armenian stones and in writings by Phaedrus which became very popular during the Middle Ages. As described by Josephus the fable of Jotham entrances a reader, and in that form it should certainly be read because of its delightful narrative and its naive summing-up where we learn that Jotham told his listeners “ that what he had said was no laughing matter.”
WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES?
After Gideon’s death there was a family feud no uncommon experience in olden times which was aggravated by the fact that he left seventy sons by recognised wives and one son by a concubine. So well had Gideon acquitted himself as leader and liberator, that he had been asked to become king. The desire for a monarchy had already possessed the Israelites and it grew stronger daily. Though he had been highly admired and appraised, yet Gideon declined all preferred honours and set before the people the true viewpoint: “I will not rule over you, neither will my son rule over you, the Lord will rule over you.” Gideon’s seventy sons were willing to abide by his decision, but the remaining son, Abimelech, had great and mischievous ambitions. He planned well and trusted much to a reactionary movement against the house of Gideon by Baal-worshippers. His mother, reputed to be very wealthy, was a native of Shechem, and the Shechemites had been enraged when Gideon overthrew the altajrs erected to Baal. With an open and generous purse, and by a strong religious appeal to the men of Shechem to avenge themselves, Abimelech proceeded to slay the seventy sons of Gideon near the very spot where the altars of Baal had been cast down by Gideon. His net failed to enclose the youngest son, Jotham, who escaped, only to make a dramatic appearance on Mount Gerizim, where he shouted out his story. Truth and righteousness cannot be altogether exterminated. There is always ’ some youngest son ’ who escapes and later perplexes; who keeps alive the spirit of truth and goodness and proves that judgment is the Lord’s. The warriors of Shechem assembled near a station or post which is described as ’ an oak of a garrison ’ and there they proclaimed Abimelech king. Their celebrations were rudely disturbed and seriously clouded when a voice was heard ringing out from a projecting ledge on Mount Gerizim where Jotham stood, shouting so that all could hear. Shechem (now Nablus) lay in a valley between two hills Mt. Ebal on the north and Mt. Gerizim on the south and it is said that at certain times the human voice can be heard clearly over the width of the valley. There are sound reasons for regarding the occasion on which the parable was narrated to have been a later assembly of the people, so that time had elapsed during which Jotham learned of Abimelech’s proposals; but this is unnecessary. As a lonely fugitive, Jotham garners all the information he can about Abimelech’s movements, and his sudden appearance makes the irony and bitter sarcasm of his words the more annoying. His best opportunity was on that day when they gathered around the * oak of the garrison ’ the mercat-cross of Shechem.
Recent excavations have located the tower of Shechem. The modern name for a suburb of the city (* Balata ’) may be derived from the Aramaic ’ Ballut ’ (oak) and so perpetuate the memory of the venerable tree which formed a sacred and central feature of an ancient sanctuary of the plain. Under the oak of Shechem Jacob concealed the idols and amulets of his household. Under the (oak of Shechem ’ Joshua set up the witness-stone and gave his farewell messages to the people. It is possible that the tower of Shechem may be identified with the * oak of the garrison,’ which term has also been translated ’ the massebah-tree ’ (i.e. the tree under which the massebah or sacred stone was set up). Having delivered his scathing and threatening prophecy, Jotham fled, but the sting of his words remained. THE FABLE The parable is simple. In the light of historical knowledge it is pungent. Having decided to have a king the trees proceed to elect one.
We experience some difficulty in reconciling this decision to appoint a king with the refusals to accept office, but that circumstance may be passed over because the story emphasises the acceptance of kingship and not the decision that there should be a king. Among the Israelites the desire to have a monarch had steadily grown. Gideon and his sons had declined the honour when it was proposed to them. Every true Israelite would regard God as king and would refuse the crown. Abimelech’s eagerness to rule was a mark of his baseness. For this reason Jotham tells how the great, useful and valuable trees decline the offer of lordship over the trees, because they realise that in their own sphere they are of more use to gods and men than they could possibly be by waving to and fro over other trees.
Regarding the phrase I gods and men ’ we observe that trees are not supposed to be in a position to speak of * God,’ but they do speak of gods in the same way as of men. Olive and vine were used by the heathen and Israelites in worship and in religious ritual. In some instances the gods were supposed to receive the juice of the vine. As for men, they had many services to which they could apply the fruits of olive, fig and vine. It would not be advisable for the trees to forsake their natural sphere of greatest utility. The thorn-bush or bramble has not the same high ideals of office and responsibility. It is a low, creeping and grovelling plant which seldom reaches higher than six feet.
It is prickly, bears small leaves and insignificant flowers, and is suitable only for fuel.
If there is any tree which ought not to be king of the trees that tree is the thorn-bush; yet this is the tree which is keen to agree conditionally to become ruler of the trees. It lusts for supremacy, not because the others have refused the office, but because it desires pre-eminence and power. What a subtle proposal lies in the condition set forth let the others humble themselves by taking shelter under the shadow of the thorn-bush. They must then be wholly under the control of the thorn-bush and their fruitfulness and growth restricted to whatever limits their king may permit. This is an unacceptable as well as a preposterous condition.
Unwillingness to accept it means destruction, for fire will issue to burn up all the good trees. The thorn-bush may wear a crown, but it is still fit only to be fuel.
Abimelech expects the faithful followers of Gideon’s house and the worshippers of Israel’s God to submit to him a usurping, murderous and unscrupulous Canaanite. He may be made king but his heart remains treacherous, his hands blood-stained, and his reign a period of destruction and death. The men of Shechem will one day be destroyed by him whom now they seek foolishly to honour. Almost in a literal sense fire went out from Abimelech to destroy the men of Shechem. Later, they rebelled against his yoke, and he laid waste their city, burning their tower. In the end he perished, crushed by a mill-stone aimed at him by a woman.
MODERN ABIMELECHS The fable has its valuable suggestions to our own times. There are always Abimelechs in society covetous, crafty and contemptible.
There are grasping usurpers who are never content to fill a humble role, but are eager to occupy positions for which they are unqualified.
Theirs is “ vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.” Self-aggrandisement is often the motive of public service, and the Abimelechs leave no stone unturned until they achieve their selfish purposes. They elbow others aside and decry the labour of good men. Where honourable and well-qualified men decline honours, the Abimelechs claim them with avidity. They even snatch them though unfit to use them with profit to their fellowmen. All civic, ecclesiastical and commercial circles suffer from this type of strategist. Possibly on account of the hesitation of big-hearted, broad-minded and high-souled men to accept posts of responsibility, the adventurer gets his opportunity.
There is urgent demand that wherever men are endowed with gifts they should dedicate them to God through service to humanity. Our people need to be educated to discern the true type of public man for leadership. The populace is too easily deceived. When Jesus was on trial the people at Jerusalem cried out that they knew no king but Caesar. Not many years thereafter the Roman legions came and burned up Jerusalem. The Nemesis is inevitable. The supplanter does not escape. The very trickery by which young Jacob deceives Isaac is later practised by his own sons upon Jacob grown old. Unscrupulous dealing in business or religion, in friendship or society brings its own retribution.
If men who are fit to direct the affairs of state, city, church or business persist in electing the upstart and demagogue to offices of responsibility and control, then they must experience that it will be on the same condition as laid down by the thorn-bush bow down or be ruined. No tyranny is so oppressive as that exercised by the democrat become autocrat or dictator. Beneath his iron heel there is neither liberty nor prosperity.
We are conscious of the crises which arise in our individual inward lives. Selfish, proud, covetous, boastful and conceited elements in our life are continually seeking the mastery. They may be enthroned only at the cost of our peace of mind, our purity and honour. Each of us has a king to appoint over his soul. The thornbush and destroyer is self; the noble and fruitbearing tree is Jesus, the True Vine.