Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:20
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
20. but if not etc.] ‘Your chief will be fatal to you and you to him,’ cf. Jdg 9:15 b. This was Jotham’s ‘curse’; the fulfilment comes in Jdg 9:44 ff., Jdg 9:56 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 20. Let fire come out from Abimelech] As the thorn or bramble may be the means of kindling other wood, because it may be easily ignited; so shall Abimelech be the cause of kindling a fire of civil discord among you, that shall consume the rulers and great men of your country. A prophetic declaration of what would take place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This is not a prediction, but an imprecation or curse, as it is called, Jdg 9:57, which, being grounded upon just cause, and being the only way by which Jotham could perform the duty of the avenger of his brethrens blood, which was incumbent upon him, had its effect, as others in like case had, as Jos 6:26, compared with 1Ki 16:34; 2Ki 2:24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But if not,…. If it appeared that they had not acted uprightly and sincerely in this matter:
let fire come out of Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; let wrath, rage, and fury, break out from Abimelech like fire, and issue in the destruction of those that made him king, both those of Shechem and of Millo:
and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech; let them be incensed against Abimelech, and seek his ruin, and procure it: the sense is, that he wishes that strife, contention, and quarrels, might arise among them, and they mutually destroy each other; the words are imprecative of evil upon them both, and which had its exact fulfilment.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(20) Let fire come out.The malediction is that they may perish by mutual destruction. It was exactly fulfilled (Jdg. 9:45-49). So when (etes is crucified as he had crucified Polykrates, Herodotus notices the similarity of the Nemesis (3:128).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Devour Abimelech The application transcends the fable itself. Not only shall Abimelech, the accursed bramble, kindle a fire to the destruction of many lords of Shechem, but also fires of revengeful judgment shall come out in fury from the latter, and devour Abimelech himself. All this, as the subsequent history shows, was a true prophecy. See Jdg 9:49-57.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 9:20. Let fire come out This is not an execratory, but a prophetical expression, a prediction of what would follow from their cruel and injurious conduct. Mr. Maundrell gives an account of Beer, to which Jotham fled in his journey to Aleppo, p. 64. He says, that it enjoys a very pleasant situation on an easy declivity, fronting Southward. At the bottom of the hill it has a fountain of excellent water, from which it has its name. At the upper side are the remains of an old church built by the empress Helena.
REFLECTIONS.Jotham alone, of all the sons of Gideon, escaped; and on a day when the men of Shechem were assembled, perhaps the very day that Abimelech is elected, in the plain, from the top of mount Gerizim, whence he could be heard, and yet escape if they attempted to seize him, he gives the Shechemites a reproof for their baseness, and a warning of the consequences of their folly; and this he couches under an elegant fable, the contrivance of which is as beautiful as the application was apposite.
1. The fable itself. The trees are represented as choosing a king; the olive, vine, and fig-tree, to whom the sovereignty is offered, decline the honour; while the wretched bramble grasps at the dominion, vaunts the protection he would give them, and threatens to fire the cedars which should dare refuse allegiance and submission. In the one, we see the modesty of Gideon’s sons; in the other, the vanity of Abimelech, and the scourge they might expect from that fiery bramble. Note; (1.) The high office which the proud man covets the humble and wise decline, knowing its weight. (2.) They who are elected to public service must forego all private advantages, as the trees in this fable intimate. (3.) None so insolent and overbearing as a low person raised above his station.
2. He makes a pathetic application to the people; reminds them of the services of his father, upbraids them with their ingratitude to their benefactor’s family, appeals to their consciences for the baseness of their proceedings, and to the issue of them for a proof of their wickedness; therein prophetically warning them of the mutual miseries and contentions which would ensue from their present choice. Note; (1.)
Ungrateful man is sadly apt to forget his generous benefactors. (2.) When we see men rejoice in prosperous wickedness, let us mark their end; and we shall usually be convinced, here below, that there is a God that judgeth the earth.
3. Jotham flies hereupon from the resentment of Abimelech, and finds a safe retreat to Beer; where, if he had not Abimelech’s greatness, he hath better, a good conscience; and his low estate is his security.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
Ver. 20. But if not. ] As your own consciences, those domestical chaplains, will tell you: for
“ Conscia mens ut cuique sua est, ira concipit intra
Pectora pro facto spemque metumque, suo. ” – Ovid.
Let fire come. ] See Jdg 9:15 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
let fire come out: Jdg 9:15, Jdg 9:23, Jdg 9:56, Jdg 9:57, Jdg 7:22, 2Ch 20:22, 2Ch 20:23, Psa 21:9, Psa 21:10, Psa 28:4, Psa 52:1-5, Psa 120:3, Psa 120:4, Psa 140:10
Reciprocal: Num 21:28 – a fire Jdg 9:44 – rushed forward Jdg 9:45 – he took Jdg 9:49 – put them Jdg 9:53 – woman 2Sa 5:9 – Millo 1Ki 9:15 – Millo 2Ki 2:24 – cursed them 1Ch 11:8 – Millo Psa 57:4 – set Pro 26:1 – so Ecc 4:16 – they also Son 2:3 – I sat Jer 51:35 – The violence Eze 28:18 – therefore Amo 1:4 – I will Amo 6:13 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 9:20. Devour Abimelech This is not so much a prediction as an imprecation, which, being grounded upon just cause, had its effect, as others in like case have had.