Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:16
Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king,…. If they had done this conscientiously, and in the uprightness of their hearts, to take such a base man, and a murderer, and make him their king, which Jotham doubted, and put it in this manner to them, that they might consider of it themselves:
if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal, and his house; if they could think so, which surely they could not, when they reflected upon the murder of his family they had consented to:
and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; to his memory, and to his family, according to the merit of his works which he had performed on their account, next mentioned.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In Jdg 9:16-20 Jotham gives the application of his fable, for there was no necessity for any special explanation of it, since it was perfectly clear and intelligible in itself. These verses form a long period, the first half of which is so extended by the insertion of parentheses introduced as explanations (Jdg 9:17, Jdg 9:18), that the commencement of it (Jdg 9:16) is taken up again in Jdg 9:19 for the purpose of attaching the apodosis. “ If ye have acted in truth and sincerity, and (i.e., when he) made Abimelech king; if ye have done well to Jerubbaal and his house, and if ye have done to him according to the doing of his hands … as my father fought for you … but ye have risen up to-day against my father’s house, and have slain … if (I say) ye have acted in truth and sincerity to Jerubbaal and his house this day: then rejoice in Abimelech ….” , to throw away his life, i.e., expose to death. , “ from before him,” serves to strengthen the . Jotham imputes the slaying of his brothers to the citizens of Shechem, as a crime which they themselves had committed (Jdg 9:18), because they had given Abimelech money out of their temple of Baal to carry out his designs against the sons of Jerubbaal (Jdg 9:4). In this reproach he had, strictly speaking, already pronounced sentence upon their doings. When, therefore, he proceeds still further in Jdg 9:19, “If ye have acted in truth towards Jerubbaal … then rejoice,” etc., this turn contains the bitterest scorn at the faithlessness manifested towards Jerubbaal. In that case nothing could follow but the fulfilment of the threat and the bursting forth of the fire. In carrying out this point the application goes beyond the actual meaning of the parable itself. Not only will fire go forth from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and the inhabitants of Millo, but fire will also go forth from them and devour Abimelech himself. The fulfilment of this threat was not long delayed, as the following history shows (Jdg 9:23.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(16) Now therefore.Here follows the epimuthion. or application of the fable. Jdg. 9:16-18 are the protasis of the sentence, which is a long and parenthetic series of premisses; the conclusion, or apodosis, follows in Jdg. 9:19.
If ye have done truly and sincerely.A bitterly ironical supposition with a side glance at the phrase used by the bramble (see Jdg. 9:15).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Now therefore Jotham proceeds to apply his fable, so that no one can possibly fail to see and feel its force.
Truly and sincerely Literally, in truth and integrity. These words, repeated again in Jdg 9:19, when taken in connection with the mention of the debt of gratitude which the Shechemites owed to Jotham’s father, contain a most scornful and caustic rebuke for all the men of Shechem, and implied, as surely as he spake by inspiration, that their lack of truth and integrity would bring upon them swift destruction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and uprightly, in that you have made Abimelech king, if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal, and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands, for my father fought for you and ventured his life (‘cast his life before him’) and delivered you out of the hand of Midian, but you are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, all seventy, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his bondwoman, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;”
Jotham now outlined the position that they had taken and challenged them to justify it. They were of those who had requested that Gideon, and his sons after him, might reign over them. And they had not meant the ‘son of a bondwoman’ (Jotham’s aristocratic scorn is palpable). They had meant his full sons who had the right to inherit. Let them now consider whether they were dealing fairly and uprightly. Were they even doing what they themselves had requested? They did it originally because they knew such sons would be worthy, because they would be sons like Gideon. And yet now they were accepting, not an olive tree or a fig tree or a vine, all of which had been on offer to them, but a boxthorn.
Furthermore let them consider that Gideon hazarded his life for their sakes, and delivered them from a most terrible situation, for Shechem had suffered from the Midianite incursions along with the rest. And what reward were they now giving him? Have they done what their hero deserved, in rising up and destroying his full sons, and doing it in the most heinous way? And then finishing up by giving his inheritance to one who had no right to it? And they were doing it for purely selfish reasons. There was no honour in it, no high feelings. They were doing it for what they could get out of it. They were doing it simply because Abimelech was related to them, and they thought they could control him.
Note the constant use of seventy. It was not the exact number that mattered, (if the seventy had been originally exact then only sixty nine had been slain) it was what the number signified, it signified those who were within the sphere of the divine perfection. Their sin was thus against Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Nothing can be more evident, from the sequel of Abimelech’s history, and which this chapter relates, than that there was a great deal of a prophetic spirit in this declaration of Jotham. The mutual destruction of Abimelech and the Shechemites, set forth this very strikingly.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 9:16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
Ver. 16. Now therefore. ] This is the , the explication and application of the parable, the key to it, and use of it, bringing it home to the hearers.
If ye have done truly and sincerely.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
according: Jdg 8:35
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:23 – dealt Isa 8:6 – rejoice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 9:16. Now therefore if ye have done truly and sincerely, &c. In these and the following words, Jotham applies his parable to the Shechemites, and signifies, if they had dealt sincerely, and done that which was right to the family of Gideon, in slaying all his legitimate sons, and making the son of his concubine their king, that then he wished they might be happy in Abimelech as their king; but if they had done that which was unjust and ungenerous, (as they certainly had,) he prays that mutual jealousies might break out between them, and that they might plague, injure, and destroy each other. And this prayer, we find, was heard, for it is said expressly in the 23d verse, that within three years God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.