Judges 9

— upon one stone.] This stone some will have to be an altar, which Abimelech dedicated to the idol Berith, and erected in the same place where his father Gideon had destroyed his altar before: and so they account, that this slaughter of his sons was designed for an expiatory sacrifice of their father’s pretended crime, in demolishing the altar and grove dedicated to that idol. Stockhouse, Bp. Patrick.

melech.] How could Abimelech hope for fidelity from them, whom he had made and found traitors to his father’s blood? He, that has been unfaithful to one, knows the way to be perfidious, and is only fit to be trusted by him, who deserves to be deceived. The friendship that is begun in evil cannot stand: wickedness, both of its own nature, and through the curse of God, is ever unsteady; whereas that affection which is knit in God is indissoluble. Bp. Hall.

Chap. X. ver. 1.—after Abimelech there arose &c.] Abimelech was no judge or governour of God’s appointment, but an usurper and a tyrant: these, who succeeded, appear to have arisen by Divine instigation and appointment; keeping the Israelites in the worship of the true God, maintaining their laws, and defending them from their enemies, without assuming over them a monarchical power. Dr. Wells, Pyle.

Judges 9:4

4.—that rode on thirty ass colts.] It is probable that this circumstance is here mentioned, because these persons were ordered by their father to ride circuit up and down the country, to administer justice according to the law, as Samuel did when he judged Israel, 1 Sam. vii. 16. Bp. Patrick. As in those days the Israelites had but few chariots, and were not allowed to keep many horses; the most honourable of them were used to be mounted on asses, which, in Eastern countries, were much higher and more beautiful than they are with us. Stackhouse. See the note on Numb. xxii. 21.

—Havots-jair] Other towns had been called by the same name, Numb. xxxii. 41; Deut. iii. 14; by a former Jair, an ancestor probably of the person here mentioned. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 9:6

6. — all the house of Millo.] The word Millo, it is probably thought, is derived from a Hebrew word which signifies, “to be full or filled.” Many learned persons consider it to denote in the sacred writings a large capacious place, which was designed for publick meetings. Accordingly, in this place, by “all the house of Millo,” are meant all the principal inhabitants who were wont to assemble in the publick townhouse; and who on this occasion consented to the setting up of Abimelech as king. Dr. Wells. See note on 2 Sam. v. 9.

— by the plain of the pillar] Our margin translates, “by the oak of the pillar,” which refers us to the stone set up by Joshua, under the oak in Shechem. Jos. Mede. See the note on Gen. xii. 6.

Judges 9:7

7. — the top of mount Gerizim.] Which overlooked the city of Shechem. Deut. xxvii. 12, 13. Bp. Patrick.

7.—Philistines,—children of Ammon.] The Ammonites vexed them on the east, and the Philistines on the west: thus, by the invasion of their enemies on both sides, their punishment increased with their idolatry. The two oppressions seem to have happened at the same time; but, to avoid confusion, Scripture first gives an account of the war with the Ammonites, managed by Jephthah, ch. xi. xii. then of that with the Philistines, ch. xiii. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 9:8

8. The trees went forth &c.] It hence appears, that such fictions as these, wherein the most serious truths are represented, were in use among the Jews in ancient times, as they are still in Eastern countries. They seem to have made choice of them for two reasons; 1st, Because men would suffer themselves to be reproved in this manner, when they would not endure plain words; 2nd, Because they heard these fictions with delight and

Judges 9:13

13. — wine, which cheereth God and man.] A poetical expression, denoting the common custom of the world, of offering up and drinking wine to the honour of their gods. Pyle. The words in the original may be rendered in the plural, “gods and men;” according to which we must suppose, that Jotham speaks of “gods” because he was addressing himself to the idolatrous Shechemites, and adapted his discourse to their notions. Dr. Waterland. Again, the words Elohim and anasim, translated God and man, may mean only “kings, and men of inferiour quality,” “high and low.” Dr. Wall. “Prince and peasant.” Script. illust.

Judges 9:14

14. — the bramble.] The meanest of all trees, good for nothing but to be burnt; aptly representing Abimelech, from whom they could receive no benefit, but much trouble and vexation.

Judges 9:15

15. — put your trust in my shadow.] By this is admirably represented how ridiculous Abimelech was, in imagining that he should be able to maintain the authority of a king; for a bramble does not spread itself out, so as to afford any shadow or shelter. Bp. Patrick.

— and devour the cedars &c.] By which is represented the vengeance which Abimelech would take of the greatest of them, if they proved unfaithful to him. Bp. Patrick. The preceding fable of the trees choosing a king, is the oldest and most beautiful extant. Jotham pointedly contrasts, with the mild and unassuming dispositions of his pious and honourable brethren, (represented by the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine,) the upstart ambition and arrogance of the wicked and turbulent Abimelech, represented by the bramble; inviting his new and nobler subjects, the cedars of Lebanon, to put their trust in his pigny shadow, which they did not want, and he was unable to afford them; and threatening them imperiously, on their refusal, to send forth a fire from himself, and devour those cedars;

The Shechemites conspire with Gaal against Abimelech. Before CHRIST about 1200. his life. and †adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

Judges 9:20

20. But if not, let fire come out &c.] This is not a prediction, but an execration or curse, as appears from the opposition to the foregoing verse, and from ver. 57, where it is called Jotham’s curse. Bp. Patrick. The meaning of the expression, “let fire come out,” is, May you prove a mutual destruction to each other. Dr. Wells.

Judges 9:23

23. — God sent an evil spirit &c.] God so ordered things in His providence, that they grew jealous and distrustful of each other, and fell into discords and dissensions: by which means He intended to punish Abimelech for the cruel murder of his brethren, and the men of Shechem for assisting him in the commission of that wickedness. Bp. Patrick. The meaning is, as it is explained in the following words, God permitted Abimelech to be deceived and dealt treacherously with by the men of Shechem, that his cruelty, and the blood which he had shed, might come upon him. It is nothing more than an acknowledgment of the justice and wisdom of Providence, in suffering wicked men to be judicially blinded, that they may fall according to their

Judges 9:26

26. — Gaal the son of Ebed] Gaal was probably a known enemy of Abimelech’s, who, hearing that the men of Shechem were on terms of difference with him, came to offer them his service against him. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 9:27

27. — trode the grapes.] In the East they still tread their grapes after the ancient manner. Dr. Chandler, in his Travels, says, “The vintage (near Smyrna) was now begun; the juice of the grapes was expressed for wine: a man with his feet and legs bare was treading Before CHRIST about 1200. craftily, or, is Formah. He overcoweth them, and soweth the city with salt. Before CHRIST about 1208. thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field:

Judges 9:45

45. — sowed it with salt.] As the last insult of a triumphant and enraged enemy. Salt lands are barren: thus, though the mere sowing a place with salt is not sufficient to make it perpetually barren, yet this action was a token of the conqueror’s indignation, and implied his wishes for its utter desolation. Pyle. See the note on Jer. xvii. 6.

Judges 9:53

53. — and all to brake his scull.] “All-to” or “al-to” is entirely. Various instances occur in Chaucer and Abimelech is slain. The Philistines and Ammonites Before CHRIST about 1266.

Judges 9:56

56. Thus God rendered &c.] Here is the concluding lesson of the preceding story: that thus Providence returned upon the head of this man the proper reward of his insatiable ambition and cruelty towards the house of his own father; causing him, and the ungrateful and vain people which set him up, to become in a short space of time the instruments of each other’s ruin and destruction. Pyle. How sure and just are the retaliations of God! Gideon’s ephod is punished with the blood of his sons; the blood of his sons is shed by the procurement of the Shechemites; the blood of the Shechemites is shed by Abimelech; the blood of Abimelech is shed by a woman. The tyrant now has his payment; and that time, which he should have bestowed in calling for mercy on God, and in washing his soul with the last tears of contrition, he vainly spends in deprecating an idle reproach, “Slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him;"—a fit conclusion for such a life. Bp. Hall.

The whole history of the manner in which “God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, &c.” supplies a further striking instance of the method of the Divine administration, now carried on towards His people. The apparent severity in some of these instances arose from the operation of human passions in the agents employed, or permitted, to execute the judgments, without being directly controlled in their conduct; or if in any case the severity was directly commanded, we may be well assured it was indispensably necessary to effect

of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.