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From: Judges 9:6-15
Abimelech tries to become king of Shechem
[7] When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim,
and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God
may listen to you. [8] The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and
they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ [9] But the olive tree said to them,
‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honoured, and to sway
over the trees?’ [10] And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over
us.’ [11] But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good
fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ [12] And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come
you, and reign over us.’ [13] But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine
which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ [14] Then all the
trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ [15] And the bramble
said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come
and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and de-
vour the cedars of Lebanon.’
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Commentary:
9:1-57. This account of Abimelech’s royal ambitions teaches the lesson that
the only king of Israel is the Lord, or whomever he anoints, and it has to be read
in that religious context. When someone schemes to obtain political power, he
could well be motivated by greed or ambition rather than a sense of public ser-
vice. Certainly that was true in Abimelech’s case: he murdered his brothers in
order to gain power. Even though at first he convinced the people of Shechem
to go along with him, he eventually lost their trust and was defeated, after cau-
sing great suffering to those who were naive enough to ease his path to power.
Jotham’s fable is a nice example of how those who have really important things
to do (the olive, the fig tree and the vine) find excuses for not getting involved in
government, whereas those most unsuited for it (the bramble) have ambitions
in that direction (vv. 7-15). Abimelech is very different from the other judges: they,
men and women chosen by God, bring the people salvation and peace; he acts
only for himself, and brings destruction, fire and death.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.