Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 9 · Verses 7-21
7 And they told it vntounto Iotham, who went, & ſtode on the toppe of mount Gerizim, & lift vp his voyce & cried, & ſaid vntounto them: Herkē vntounto me ye men of Sechem, that God may herken vntounto you.
8 The trees went forth to anoynt a king ouer them, and ſayd vntounto the oliue tree, reigne thou ouer vsus.
9 But ye oliue tree ſaid vntounto thē, ſhould I leaue my fatnes, wherwt by me they honor God & man, & go to aduance me aboue the trees.
10 Then the trees ſayd vntounto the figge tree, come thou and reygne ouer vsus.
11 But the fyg tree aunſwered them: Should I forſake my ſwetenes, and my good fruite, and go to aduance me aboue the trees?
12 Then ſayde the trees vntounto the vine: Come thou and be kinge ouer vsus.
13 But the vine ſayd vntounto them: Should I leaue my wyne, which maketh mery both god and man, and go to aduaunce me aboue the trees?
14 Then ſayd al the trees vntounto the bramble: Come thou and raign ouer vsus.
15 And the bramble ſayde vntounto the trees: If ye wyll annoynte me kynge ouer you, come, and put your truſt vnderunder my ſhadow: and if not, let the fyre come out of the bramble, and conſume the Ceders of Lebanon.
16 Now therfore if ye hauehave done truly and vncorruptly, to make Abimelech king: and if ye hauehave delte well with Ierubbaal, and with his houſe: if moreouer ye hauehave done vntounto him according to the deſeruyng of his handes:
17 (For my father foughte for you, and aduentured his life, to deliuer you out of the handes of Madian.
18 And ye are riſen vp againſt my fathers houſe this day, and hauehave ſlayne his children .70. perſons vponupon one ſtone: and hauehave made Abimelech the ſonne of his mayde ſeruant, king ouer the men of Sechem: becauſe he is your brother.)
19 If ye, I ſay hauehave delte truly and vncorruptly with Ierubbaal & his houſe this day, reioyſe ye with Abimelech, & let him reioiſe with you.
20 But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech, and conſume the men of Sechem, & the houſe of Millo. Alſo let a fire come forth from the mē of Sechē, and from the houſe of Millo & deſtroy Abimelech.
21 And Iotham ranne away, and fled, and wēt to Beer and dwelt there from the face of Abimelech his brother.
Iotham the brother of Abimelech inſpired (as it appeareth) with the ſpirite of god, threatneth that puniſhments are at hande both for him and for the Sechemites. He aſcended vponupon the mount Gerizim, The citye of Sechem.whiche was nere vntounto the citye of Sechem. In the booke of Geneſis. 34. chapter. there is mention made of this city: at that tyme Hemor the father of Sechem poſſeſſed it, who rauiſhed Dina: wherefore the citye was deſtroyed by Simeon and Leui. And afterwarde Iacob gaue it vntounto Ioſeph, Ierome A place of Geneſis is expoū ded.to hauehave it beſides his common lot in the lande of Chanaan for his poſterity, as we rede in the ſame booke the 48. chapter. Wherefore it was in the tribe of Manaſſes, and as Ierom in his Hebrew queſtions vponupon Geneſis teſtifieth, Iacob was there healed of his haltyng, which he got by wraſtling wyth the aungell, as it appereth in the ſame boke the 34. chap. namely yt he came Salem to the city of Sichem. And we muſt know, that Salem there is not a name of a city, but ſignifieth ſafe and ſound. Otherwiſe Salem longed not to the Amorhites but to the Iebuſites, whiche afterwarde was called Ieruſalem. In his Epiſtle to Euſtochius. whych conteyneth an Epitaph of Paule, the ſame Ierome writeth that this city lay ſituate by the ſide or roote of mount Gerizim, and in his time it was called Neapolis, and it longed vntounto the Samaritanes. And the ſame is it whiche Iohn maketh mencion of in his Goſpel the .4. chapter, wher it is written Sichar, but (as Ierome ſayth) by a corrupt word, for it ſhould hauehave bene written Sechem. Thither went Ieſus, when he went out of Iewry into Galile.
But the mount Gerizim and Eball lay one ouer agaynſte an other, and in one of them eueryevery yeare were recited bleſſings,The Mountes Gerizim & Eball. and in the other, curſings. Thither did Iotham aſcend, peraduenture at that time (as ſome ſuppoſe) when the multitude was aſſembled, according to the inſtitution to heare the bleſſings and curſinges of the law. Whiche thinge yet (to ſpeake as it is) ſemeth to me not verye likely, for as much as I rather beleue that for the worſhipping of Baal, that ceremonye was omitted, and partelye becauſe it ſeemeth that the multitude did for this cauſe aſſemble thither, with a ſolemne aſſemblye to conſtitute Abimeleche theyr new kyng. Wherefore in that ſolemnitye, Iotham ſpake theſe thinges, vndoubtedly by the holy Ghoſt, as the euent taught. The ſūme of his oration conteineth an exprobation of the wickednes which they had cōmitted, and a threatning of moſt grieuous puniſhments. And that the thinge mighte be made more playne and manifeſt before theyr eyes, he vſeth a moſt elegant Apology.