Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.

15. put your trust in my shadow ] take refuge in : an absurdity which sharpens the point of the moral.

let fire come out ] A fire will sometimes spread from a thornbush to the monarchs of the forest (cf. Isa 9:18); the base bramble thus becomes the starting-point of all the ruin.

So the fable points a contrast: on the one hand were those who naturally would have been the men to rule, Gideon and his sons, or (generally) more than one able member of the community, but they would have nothing to do with the proposal; on the other hand was the worthless Abimelech, who not only seized power with avidity but threatened those who refused to submit to him. Here the fable is dropped, though an echo of it is heard in Jdg 9:20; what follows is not strictly an application of it, but a couple of fresh topics: a stern reproof of the Shechemites for ingratitude, and a warning that they and their upstart chief are doomed to destroy one another.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 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 protector, or a humane governor? He who could imbrue his hands in the blood of his brethren in order to get into power, was not likely to stop at any means to retain that power when possessed. If, therefore, they took him for their king, they might rest assured that desolation and blood would mark the whole of his reign.

The condensed moral of the whole fable is this: Weak, worthless, and wicked men, will ever be foremost to thrust themselves into power; and, in the end, to bring ruin upon themselves, and on the unhappy people over whom they preside.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

If in truth you anoint me king over you; if you deal truly and justly in making me king.

Put your trust in my shadow; then you may expect protection under my government.

Let fire come out of the bramble; instead of protection, you shall receive destruction by me; especially you cedars, i.e. nobles, such as the house of Millo, who have been most forward in this work.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

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 confidence in him, and prove faithful to him, they should smart for it, and feel his wrath and vengeance, even the greatest men among them, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon; for thorns and brambles catching fire, as they easily do, or fire being put to them, as weak as they are, and placed under the tallest and strongest cedars, will soon fetch them down to the ground; and the words of the bramble, or Abimelech, proved true to the Shechemites, he is made to speak in this parable.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(15) If in truthi.e., with serious purpose. The bramble can hardly believe in the infatuation of the trees.

Put your trust in my shadow.The mean leaves and bristling thorns of the rhamnus could afford no shadow to speak of, and even such as they could afford would be dangerous; but the fable is full of fine and biting irony.

If not.The bramble is not only eager to be king, but has spiteful and dangerous threatsthe counterpart of those, doubtless, which had been used by Abimelechto discourage any withdrawal of the offer.

Let fire come out of the bramble.Some suppose that there is a reference to the ancient notions of the spontaneous ignition of the boughs of the bramble when rubbed together by the wind. The allusion is far more probably to the use of thorns for fuel: Exo. 22:6, If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn . . . be consumed; Psa. 58:9, Or ever your pots be made hot with thorns; Ecc. 7:6, the crackling of thorns under a pot.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Put your trust in my shadow The bramble has no shadow worthy of the name, and the language here is a biting irony upon those who had chosen a worthless man for a king. A thorn bush give shade and protection to the olive or the fig tree! As well might one expect to gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles.

Let fire come out of the bramble Thorn-bushes are commonly used for fuel in the East. They easily catch fire and soon burn out, and yet they may kindle a fire that will burn and destroy the greatest of trees, even the noble cedars of Lebanon. So a weak and worthless ruler may provoke civil discords, or incur foreign wars, which in their fiery progress swallow up and devour the brave, the virtuous, and the noble. So it was in the case of Abimelech.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“ And the boxthorn said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow, and if not let fire come out of the boxthorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ ”

The picture was deliberately ridiculous. Large trees coming and putting themselves under the shadow of the lowly boxthorn. Yet how else could he wave to and fro over the trees? Thus they would have to demean themselves and become stunted. And the boxthorn was capable of only one thing, bursting into flame and causing a forest fire.

The final phrase was Jotham’s judgment. The boxthorn was good for one thing. It would burn easily. Thus it could easily be ignited in hot weather causing a forest fire, and in that fire the mightiest of the trees, the cedars of Leabanon, would be devoured. So Jotham pictured Abimelech’s kingship as one that would demean them and eventually result in conflagration and destroy them all.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 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.

Ver. 15. If in truth ye anoint me king over you. ] Whereunto he also must be entreated for fashionsake: like as Richard III was by the Londoners at the solicitation of Buckingham, who knew his mind and factored for him, as here Abimelech’s uncles did. This base bramble, a dry, empty, sapless kex and weed, apt and able only to scratch, tear, and vex, must needs be up, and hoised into a high room, and domineer over others. Men of most prostituted consciences are, for most part, the most pragmatical prawlers, saith a grave divine, a after undeserved preferments, and the only men to serve themselves viis et modis, as they say, into offices, honours, and places of advancement.

Then come and put your trust in my shadow. ] At umbra rhamni non est commendabilis. The bramble bush yieldeth no very good shade; the silly sheep flying to it for shelter and defence in weather, is sure to lose part of his fleece, if not of his flesh.

Let fire come out of the bramble. ] Isidore and many other learned men b say, that the bramble being much shaken by the wind, is thereby set on fire, whereby both itself and all the trees about it are consumed. Jotham might allude to this. The counsel is good that one here giveth; Let not the bramble be king; let not earthly things bear rule over thine affections. Fire will arise out of them that will consume thy cedars, emasculate all the powers of thy soul. One bastard will destroy all the true born sons.

a Bishop Hall.

b Testatus, Mercer, Forster, Carthusian, Moller.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

put your trust = flee for refuge. Hebrew. hasah. App-69.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

trust

(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

shadow: Isa 30:2, Dan 4:12, Hos 14:7, Mat 13:32

let fire: Jdg 9:20, Jdg 9:49, Num 21:28, Isa 1:31, Eze 19:14

the cedars: 2Ki 14:9, Psa 104:16, Isa 2:13, Isa 37:24, Eze 31:3

Reciprocal: Gen 19:8 – therefore Jdg 9:23 – God Jdg 9:44 – rushed forward Jdg 9:53 – woman Psa 91:1 – under Ecc 7:12 – a defence Son 2:3 – I sat Isa 16:3 – make Eze 28:18 – therefore

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

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 {f} fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

(f) Abimelech will destroy the nobles of Shechem.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes