Judges 9:13 Komentář

The apostasy of Israel after the death of Gideon is punished, not as the former apostasies by a foreign invasion, or the oppressions of any neighbouring power, but by intestine broils among themselves, which in this chapter we have the story of; and it is hard to say whether their sin or their misery appears most in it. It is an account of the usurpation and tyranny of Abimelech, who was base son to Gideon; so we must call him, and not more modishly his natural son: he was so unlike him. We are here told, I. How he thrust himself into the government at Shechem, his own city, by subtlety and cruelty, particularly by the murder of all his brethren (Jdg 9:1-6). II. How his doom was read in a parable by Jothan, Gideon's youngest son (Jdg 9:7-21). III. What strifes there were between Abimelech and his friends the Shechemites (v. 22-41). IV. How this ended in the ruin of the Shechemites (Jdg 9:42-49), and of Abimelech himself (Jdg 9:50-57). Of this meteor, this ignis fatuus of a prince, that was not a protector but a plague to his country, we may say, as once was said of a great tyrant, that he came in like a fox, ruled like a lion, and died like a dog. "For the transgression of a land, such are the princes thereof."

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 9 This chapter contains an account of the craft and cruelty of Abimelech, by which he got himself made king of the Shechemites, Jdg 9:1 of the parable of Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, concerning the trees, in which he exposes their folly in making Abimelech king, and foretells the ruin of them both, Jdg 9:7 of the contentions which arose between Abimelech, and the men of Shechem, increased by Gaal the son of Ebed, Jdg 9:22 who was drawn into a battle with Abimelech, and beaten and forced to fly, Jdg 9:30 but the quarrel between Abimelech and the men of Shechem ceased not, but still continued, which issued in the entire ruin of the city and the inhabitants of it, Jdg 9:42 and in the death of Abimelech himself, according to Jotham's curse, Jdg 9:50.

And the vine said unto them,.... By way of denial and refusal, as the other two: shall I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man; which being used in the drink offerings was acceptable to God, and of a sweet savour to him, Num 15:7 and being drank by than, revives, refreshes, and makes glad, when before sorrowful, drooping, faint, and weary, Psa 104:15 though some by Elohim, rendered God, understand great personages, as men of quality, magistrates, &c. and by man the common people, and so in Jdg 9:9. and go to be promoted over the trees? all speak the same language, being of the same sentiment.

But lest I should appear to some to be sophistical, and to conjecture these things from mere probabilities, and to babble, I will bring forward to you, O virgins, from the Old Testament, written prophecy from the book of Judges, to show that I speak the truth, where the future reign of chastity was already clearly foretold.…Now it is clear that these things are not said of trees growing out of the earth. Inanimate trees cannot be assembled in council to choose a king since they are firmly fixed to the earth by deep roots. But on the whole these things are narrated concerning souls that—before the incarnation of Christ—luxuriated too deeply in transgressions, who approach God as beggars asking for mercy so that they may be governed by his pity and compassion. This mercy is what Scripture expresses by the figure of the olive, because oil is of great advantage to our bodies: it takes away our fatigue and ailments and offers light. For all lamplight increases when nourished by oil. So also God’s mercies entirely dispel death, assist the human race and nourish the light of the heart. Consider the laws [which were in effect] from the first created man successively on to Christ. Weren’t they imaginatively set forth in these words by the Scripture, in opposition to which the devil has deceived humanity? In it the fig tree has been associated with the command given to the man in paradise, because, when he was deceived, he covered his nakedness with the leaves of a fig tree; and the vine [has been related] to the instruction given to Noah at the time of the deluge, because he was mocked when overpowered by wine. The olive signifies the law given to Moses in the desert, because the prophetic grace, the holy oil, had failed from their inheritance when they broke the law. Lastly, the bramble aptly refers to the law that was given to the apostles for the salvation of the world: by their instruction we have been taught virginity, which is the only figure that the devil has not been able to make into a deceptive image. For this reason, also, the four Gospels have been given, because God has four times given the gospel to the human race and has instructed them by four laws, the times of which are clearly known by the diversity of the fruits. For the fig tree, on account of its sweetness and richness, represents the delights of man, which he had in paradise before the fall. Indeed, as we shall afterwards show, the Holy Spirit frequently takes the fruit of the fig tree as an emblem of goodness. But the vine, on account of the gladness produced by wine and the joy of those who were saved from wrath and from the deluge, signifies the change produced from fear and anxiety into joy. Moreover, the olive, on account of the oil that it produces, indicates the compassion of God, who again, after the deluge, bore patiently when people turned aside to ungodliness, so that he gave them the law and manifested himself to some, and nourished by oil the light of virtue, which is now almost extinguished.

And no one has been so illiterate as to think that similar fables of Aesop, related for the same purpose, ought to be called lies. But also in the sacred writings such passages are found, as in the book of Judges the trees look for a king to rule over them and speak to the olive and the fig and the vine and the bramble. Surely, all this is invented in order that we may reach the matter intended by means of a narrative [that is] fictitious, to be sure, but bearing a true and not a false signification.

ABIMELECH IS MADE KING BY THE SHECHEMITES. (Jdg 9:1-6) Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem--The idolatry which had been stealthily creeping into Israel during the latter years of Gideon was now openly professed; Shechem was wholly inhabited by its adherents; at least, idolaters had the ascendency. Abimelech, one of Gideon's numerous sons, was connected with that place. Ambitious of sovereign power, and having plied successfully the arts of a demagogue with his maternal relatives and friends, he acquired both the influence and money by which he raised himself to a throne. communed . . . with all the family of the house of his mother's father--Here is a striking instance of the evils of polygamy--one son has connections and interests totally alien to those of his brothers.

wine, which cheereth God and man--not certainly in the same manner. God might be said to be "cheered" by it, when the sacrifices were accepted, as He is said also to be honored by oil (Jdg 9:9).

Judgment upon the House of Gideon, or Abimelech's Sins and End - Judges 9 After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, his bastard son, opened a way for himself to reign as king over Israel, by murdering his brethren with the help of the Shechemites (Jdg 9:1-6). For this grievous wrong Jotham, the only one of Gideon's seventy sons who escaped the massacre, reproached the citizens of Shechem in a parable, in which he threatened them with punishment from God (Jdg 9:7-21), which first of all fell upon Shechem within a very short time (vv. 22-49), and eventually reached Abimelech himself (Jdg 9:50-57).