Judges 9:7-21
New English Translation
Jotham’s Parable
7 When Jotham heard the news,[a] he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,[b] “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8 “The trees were determined to go out[c] and choose a king for themselves.[d] They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’[e] 9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’[f]
10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’[g] 11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’[h]
12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king!’[i] 13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’[j]
14 “So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!’[k] 15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose[l] me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches.[m] Otherwise[n] may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub Baal and his family,[o] if you have properly repaid him[p]— 17 my father fought for you; he risked his life[q] and delivered you from Midian’s power.[r] 18 But you have attacked[s] my father’s family[t] today. You murdered his seventy legitimate[u] sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative.[v] 19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub Baal and his family[w] today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness![x] 20 But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!” 21 Then Jotham ran away[y] to Beer and lived there to escape from[z] Abimelech his half-brother.[aa]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 9:7 tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
- Judges 9:7 tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”
- Judges 9:8 tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”
- Judges 9:8 tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”
- Judges 9:8 tn Or “Rule over us!”
- Judges 9:9 tn Heb “Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
- Judges 9:10 tn Or “and rule over us!”
- Judges 9:11 tn Heb “Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
- Judges 9:12 tn Or “and rule over us!”
- Judges 9:13 tn Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
- Judges 9:14 tn Or “and rule over us!”
- Judges 9:15 tn Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”
- Judges 9:15 tn Heb “in my shade.”
- Judges 9:15 tn Heb “If not.”
- Judges 9:16 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 9:16 tn Heb “if according to the deeds of his hands you have done to him.”
- Judges 9:17 tc Heb “threw his life out in front,” that is, “exposed himself to danger.” The MT form מִנֶּגֶד (minneged, “from before”) should probably be read as מִנֶּגְדּוֹ (minnegdo, “from before him”); haplography of vav has likely occurred here in the MT.
- Judges 9:17 tn Heb “hand.”
- Judges 9:18 tn Heb “have risen up against.”
- Judges 9:18 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 9:18 tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 9:18 tn Heb “your brother.”
- Judges 9:19 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 9:19 tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”
- Judges 9:21 tn Heb “fled and ran away and went.”
- Judges 9:21 tn Heb “there from before.”
- Judges 9:21 tn Heb “his brother.”
Judges 9:7-21
Common English Bible
Jotham’s fable
7 When Jotham was told about this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He raised his voice and called out, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8 “Once the trees went out to anoint a king over themselves. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’
9 “But the olive tree replied to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, which is how gods and humans are honored, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’
10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be king over us!’
11 “The fig tree replied to them, ‘Should I stop producing my sweetness and my delicious fruit, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and be king over us!’
13 “But the vine replied to them, ‘Should I stop providing my wine that makes gods and humans happy, so that I can go to sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally, all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be king over us!’
15 “And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you’re acting faithfully in anointing me king over you, come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’
16 “So now, if you acted faithfully and innocently when you made Abimelech king, and if you’ve done right by Jerubbaal and his household, and have treated him as his actions deserve— 17 my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from Midian’s power, 18 but today you’ve risen up against my father’s household, killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, his female servant’s son, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he’s your relative— 19 so if you’ve acted faithfully and innocently toward Jerubbaal and his household today, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. 20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and burn up Abimelech.”
21 Then Jotham ran away. He fled to Beer and stayed there for fear of his brother Abimelech.
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