Judges 9:9

But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Wherewith by me they honour God and man.—The words may also mean, which gods and men honour in me (Vulg., quâ et dii utuntur et homines; Luther, meine Fettigheit, die beide Götter und menschen an mir preisen; and so some MSS. of the LXX.). In either case the mention of gods or God (Elohim) refers to the use of oil in sacrifices, offerings, consecrations, &c. (Genesis 28:18; Exodus 30:24; Leviticus 3:1-16). Oil is used in the East as one of the greatest luxuries, and also as possessing valuable medicinal properties (James 5:15; Luke 10:34).

Go to be promoted over the trees.—The English Version here follows the Vulg. (ut inter ligna promovear); but the verb in the original is much finer and more picturesque, for it expresses the utter scorn of the olive for the proffered honour. The margin renders it, go up and down for other trees, but it means rather “float about” (LXX., kineisthai; Vulg., agitari); as Luther admirably renders it, dass ich uber den Baümen Schwebe. (Comp. Isaiah 19:1 (be moved), Isaiah 29:9 (stagger); Lamentations 4:14 (wander), &c.) When, in 1868, the crown of Spain was offered to Ferdinand of Portugal, he is reported to have answered, Pour moi pas si imbécile.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 9:9. My fatness, wherewith they honour God — Oil being used in God’s worship for divers things, as in sacrifices, in the dedication of persons and things to holy offices and uses, and for the lamps in the sanctuary; and man — For oil was used in constituting kings, and priests, and prophets, and for a present to great men, and to anoint the head and face; and go to be promoted — Hebrew, לנוע, lanuang, to shake and move hither and thither, to wander to and fro, to exchange my sweet tranquillity and peace for incessant cares and travels. To undertake “the government of others,” says Henry, “involves a man in a great deal of both toil and care. He that is promoted over the trees must go up and down for them, and make himself a perfect drudge to business. Those that are preferred to places of public trust and power, must resolve to forego all their private interests and advantages, and sacrifice them to the good of the community.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:7-21 There was no occasion for the trees to choose a king, they are all the trees of the Lord which he has planted. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to set a king over them, for the Lord was their King. Those who bear fruit for the public good, are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise, more than those who merely make a figure. All these fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promoted over the trees; or, as the margin reads it, to go up and down for the trees. To rule, involves a man in a great deal both of toil and care. Those who are preferred to public trust and power, must forego all private interests and advantages, for the good of others. And those advanced to honour and dignity, are in great danger of losing their fruitfulness. For which reason, they that desire to do good, are afraid of being too great. Jotham compares Abimelech to the bramble or thistle, a worthless plant, whose end is to be burned. Such a one was Abimelech.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Honour God and man - Alluding to the constant use of oil in the meat-offerings Leviticus 2:1-16, and in the holy ointment Exodus 30:24-25. In like manner, the allusion in Judges 9:13 is to the drink-offerings of wine. See Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:10.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jud 9:7-21. Jotham by a Parable Reproaches Them.

7. he … stood in the top of mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice—The spot he chose was, like the housetops, the public place of Shechem; and the parable [Jud 9:8-15] drawn from the rivalry of the various trees was appropriate to the diversified foliage of the valley below. Eastern people are exceedingly fond of parables and use them for conveying reproofs, which they could not give in any other way. The top of Gerizim is not so high in the rear of the town, as it is nearer to the plain. With a little exertion of voice, he could easily have been heard by the people of the city; for the hill so overhangs the valley, that a person from the side or summit would have no difficulty in speaking to listeners at the base. Modern history records a case, in which soldiers on the hill shouted to the people in the city and endeavored to instigate them to an insurrection. There is something about the elastic atmosphere of an Eastern clime which causes it to transmit sound with wonderful celerity and distinctness [Hackett].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In the worship and service of God oil was used for divers things; as, about the lamps, Exodus 35:14, and offerings, Leviticus 2:6,7, and for the anointing of sacred persons and things. Oil was also used in the constitution of kings, and priests, and prophets, and for a present to great persons, and to anoint the head and face, &c.

To be promoted, Heb. to move hither and thither, to wander to and fro, to exchange my sweet tranquillity for incessant cares and travels for the good of others, as a king ought to do.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But the olive tree said unto them,.... In reply to the request of the trees:

should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man; by "fatness" oil is meant, pressed out of the fruit of the olive tree, and which was much made use of both in the burning of the lamps in the tabernacle, and in many sacrifices, as the meat offerings and others, whereby God was honoured; and it was also made use of in the investiture of the greatest personages with the highest offices among men, as kings, priests, and prophets, as well as eaten with pleasure and delight by all sorts of men, and even by the greatest, and so men are honoured by it:

and go to be promoted over the trees; desert so useful a station, in which it was planted and fixed, to move to and fro, as the word signifies, and reign over trees; suggesting that it was unreasonable, at least not eligible to a good man to desert a private station in life, to which he was called of God, and in which he acted with honour and usefulness to others, and take upon him a public office, attended with much care and trouble, and with neglect of private affairs, and with the loss of much personal peace and comfort.

Geneva Study Bible

But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. my fatness] i.e. the oil from the crushed berry, almost a necessity of life in Palestine, where it takes the place of butter.

wherewith by me they honour] For by me read by it (LXX. cod. B, Vulgate, Targ.) i.e. whereby they honour gods and men, parallel to cheereth gods and men in Jdg 9:13; they honour has the force of a passive, are honoured. Probably to avoid this sense the text was altered to mean ‘which God and man honour in me,’ RVm., LXX. cod. A, Peshitto A staple article of man’s daily food, oil was offered as sacrificial food to the gods, and among the Hebrews to Jehovah. But oil was not an article of food by itself; accordingly in Hebr. ritual it was not poured out as a libation, but used to moisten and enrich a cereal offering (Micah 6:7; Leviticus 2:1 ff.; Exodus 29:23; Exodus 29:40)1[40] Further, a guest was anointed as a sign of honour and festivity (Psalm 23:5; Psalm 45:7; Psalm 141:5; cf. the anointing of a king and priest); on this analogy we may explain the ancient custom of pouring oil upon sacred stones (Genesis 28:18 E, Genesis 35:14 J; cf. the smearing of sacred furniture Exodus 30:24 ff. P). See Robertson Smith, Rel. of Sem., pp. 203 f., 214 f.

[40] Cf. a similar usage among the Phoenicians, NSI., p. 120 f.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - They honour God and man: God, by the frequent offerings of oil with the meat offerings (Leviticus 2:1-16, etc.); and man, e.g., by the solemn anointing with oil of kings, priests, and prophets (1 Samuel 16:12, 13; 1 Kings 19:16; Psalm 89:21). To be promoted, literally, to wave, or move, over, i.e. to rule, in the case of a tree. Judges 9:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When Jotham, who had escaped after the murder, was told of the election which had taken place, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim, which rises as a steep wall of rock to the height of about 800 feet above the valley of Shechem on the south side of the city (Rob. iii. p. 96), and cried with a loud voice, "Hearken to me, ye lords of Shechem, and God will also hearken to you." After this appeal, which calls to mind the language of the prophets, he uttered aloud a fable of the trees which wanted to anoint a king over them-a fable of true prophetic significance, and the earliest with which we are acquainted (Judges 9:8-15). To the appeal which is made to them in succession to become king over the trees, the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine all reply: Shall we give up our calling, to bear valuable fruits for the good and enjoyment of God and men, and soar above the other trees? The briar, however, to which the trees turn last of all, is delighted at the unexpected honour that is offered it, and says, "Will ye in truth anoint me king over you? Then come and trust in my shadow; but if not, let fire go out of the briar and consume the cedars of Lebanon." The rare form מלוכה (Chethib, Judges 9:8, Judges 9:12) also occurs in 1 Samuel 28:8; Isaiah 32:11; Psalm 26:2 : see Ewald, 228, b.). מלכי (Judges 9:10) is also rare (see Ewald, 226, b). The form החדלתּי (Judges 9:9, Judges 9:11, Judges 9:13), which is quite unique, is not "Hophal or Hiphil, compounded of ההחד or ההחד" (Ewald, 51, c), for neither the Hophal nor the Hiphil of חדל occurs anywhere else; but it is a simple Kal, and the obscure o sound is chosen instead of the a sound for the sake of euphony, i.e., to assist the pronunciation of the guttural syllables which follow one after another. The meaning of the fable is very easy to understand. The olive tree, fig tree, and vine do not represent different historical persons, such as the judges Othniel, Deborah, and Gideon, as the Rabbins affirm, but in a perfectly general way the nobler families or persons who bring forth fruit and blessing in the calling appointed them by God, and promote the prosperity of the people and kingdom in a manner that is well-pleasing to God and men. Oil, figs, and wine were the most valuable productions of the land of Canaan, whereas the briar was good for nothing but to burn. The noble fruit-trees would not tear themselves from the soil in which they had been planted and had borne fruit, to soar (נוּע, float about) above the trees, i.e., not merely to rule over the trees, but obire et circumagi in rebus eorum curandis. נוּע includes the idea of restlessness and insecurity of existence. The explanation given in the Berleb. Bible, "We have here what it is to be a king, to reign or be lord over many others, namely, very frequently to do nothing else than float about in such restlessness and distraction of thoughts, feelings, and desires, that very little good or sweet fruit ever falls to the ground," if not a truth without exception so far as royalty is concerned, is at all events perfectly true in relation to what Abimelech aimed at and attained, to be a king by the will of the people and not by the grace of God. Wherever the Lord does not found the monarchy, or the king himself does not lay the foundations of his government in God and the grace of God, he is never anything but a tree, moving about above other trees without a firm root in a fruitful soil, utterly unable to bear fruit to the glory of God and the good of men. The expression "all the trees" is to be carefully noticed in Judges 9:14. "All the trees" say to the briar, Be king over us, whereas in the previous verse only "the trees" are mentioned. This implies that of all the trees not one was willing to be king himself, but that they were unanimous in transferring the honour to the briar. The briar, which has nothing but thorns upon it, and does not even cast sufficient shadow for any one to lie down in its shadow and protect himself from the burning heat of the sun, is an admirable simile for a worthless man, who can do nothing but harm. The words of the briar, "Trust in my shadow," seek refuge there, contain a deep irony, the truth of which the Shechemites were very soon to discover. "And if not," i.e., if ye do not find the protection you expect, fire will go out of the briar and consume the cedars of Lebanon, the largest and noblest trees. Thorns easily catch fire (see Exodus 22:5). The most insignificant and most worthless man can be the cause of harm to the mightiest and most distinguished.