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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 Jdg 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 Exo 22:5). The most insignificant and most worthless man can be the cause of harm to the mightiest and most distinguished.
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 ....” נפשׁו השׁליך, to throw away his life, i.e., expose to death. מנּגד, “from before him,” serves to strengthen the השׁליך. 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,