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The last chapter of the book shows us the ways and means in which their hearts were drawn out, in order to repair the dismal gap which divine judgment had wrought in Benjamin, and indeed in Israel. They did not believe that God would enforce His claims. Peter - A watchman of His Word. And the fig tree said unto them, "Should I forsake my sweetness, my good fruit? The men of Shechem put their confidence in him: The men of Shechem lost their confidence in Abimelech, so they chose a new leader named Gaal, the son of Ebed. 13). The extent of Abimelechs kingdom was very limited; only Shechem, Beth-millo, Arumah (Judges 9:41) and Thebez (Judges 9:50) are mentioned as under his jurisdiction and it is unlikely that it extended beyond a portion of western Manasseh. (Cundall), iii. But if God's people have got into subjection to the world, none are so heartless about, if not bitter against, him who breaks fully with the enemy. Judges 8 He permitted that there should be no confidence in the peaceable intentions of Israel, for the very purpose of putting them in possession of the land. Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem--The idolatry which had been stealthily creeping into Israel during the latter years of Gideon was now openly professed; Shechem was wholly inhabited by its adherents; at least, idolaters had the ascendency. The people took refuge in the stronghold, which was set on fire, and all in it perished. What a figure of, but contrast with, His death who only pursued to that final point His absolute devotedness to the will of God, not doing it only but suffering it to the uttermost, and thus righteously by His death securing what no living obedience could have touched! Judges 9:15 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary Chapter 9Now here's what happened. Scanty honour paid he to his parents, but ardently gave himself up to the pursuance of his own plans. So they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and made merry. The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them: In the parable told by Jotham, the worthy trees (such as the olive, the fig, and the vine) didnt want to be king; but the unworthy bramble agreed to be king. But, (2.) The end of the book and it is important to make this remark consists of an appendix. With the advantage of their superior position, Abimelech and his soldiers drove out Gaal and his men. The case before us, in Judges 17:1-13; Judges 18:1-31, is one where God was openly, deliberately, and systematically dishonoured. This is always true in the ways of God. Then can we joy in Him, and it is our strength for all service, and is the spring of worship. Dear Pilgrims Christianity is singular and not plural all things plural become corrupt Jesus begins each letter/epistle in Revelation to a church (plural) but He ends each letter/epistle addressing individual/s (singular) (i.e. The king of the Ammonites did not speak candidly. What an opinion he had of them! The bramble is a worthless plant, not to be numbered among the trees, useless and fruitless, nay, hurtful and vexatious, scratching and tearing, and doing mischief; it began with the curse, and its end is to be burned. I presume that the reason why these incidents are not given before in the order of time may have been that, if inserted earlier, it would have completely interrupted the course of the history, and the main instruction of the book of Judges. . Judges 9:8 "And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? Nevertheless, I have little doubt that, though the dying hour of Samson brought more honour to God than all his life, its manner was in itself a chastening in its character; and in this, too, may one discern a representation of the condition to which Israel had come similar to what was noticed in the life and person of Samson. b. Zebul said to him, You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men: Zebul deceived Gaal, allowing Abimelechs troops to take position. Now; in Abimelech's history we see that he had begun with the most intense selfishness taking an utterly reckless advantage of those who had a better claim to represent their father than himself. WebJudges Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete) Bible Study Tools Join PLUS Login. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. And, of course, thats what parables do they enrich our understanding. a. Let us not forget that we have got a nature exempt from nothing we deplore in Samson, and the person that does not believe it may live to prove it, especially if a believer, who should know himself better; whilst he who does take it home to his soul is thereby enabled to judge himself by the Spirit before God. how many there are in these days of audacious free-thinking who are disposed to sit in judgment on His word, and give His revelation no credit for telling us the truth as it was and is. When a suitable occasion arose and Abimelech was in another town, a group of Shechemites plotted to overthrow him. b. This certainly stimulated him though I am far from insinuating no better underneath. b. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. The woman then tells her husband of the angel's visit, and they both entreat Jehovah, Manoah particularly, that the man of God might be sent again. for oil and wine were used both at God's altars and at men's tables. He hereby exposes the ridiculous ambition of Abimelech, whom he compares to the bramble or thistle, Judges 9:14; Judges 9:14. The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. He extricated failing Samson from the direct consequences of his sinful association; but He dealt retributively with treachery by the hands of their own people. We come to look at a parable, the parable of the trees. Judges 9:29 Septuagint; Hebrew him. Then he said to Abimelek, Call out your whole army! Judges 9:37 The Hebrew for this phrase means the navel of the earth. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Thanks. They had not done to him according to the deserving of his hands,Judges 9:16; Judges 9:16. And the oxen, as he would go around, would pull the stick and it would cause this millstone to go around the groove. 2 Samuel 12:1-4; 2 Kings 14:9-10). Thus it was proved that Israel had, in whatever light regarded, a valid title, not only from long-continued possession, but from a right founded on their conquest of one of the enemies devoted to destruction by God Himself, but an enemy who had wantonly attacked them, when they would have left him unharmed, as they would the Ammonite now. And shall I leave my sweetness, saith the fig-tree, and my good fruit (Judges 9:11; Judges 9:11), and go to be promoted over the trees? Let fire come out of the bramble A strong catachresis. Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? In senseless fury Abimelech carried his attack to other towns, but his uncontrolled rage and lack of caution soon brought about his own death. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. It has been already said to have been an early fact in the history of the "Judges," and not chronologically near the close of the book. They need not be at the trouble. Is it then a matter of wonder that men went wrong in early days under the Christian profession? Most likely, when we talk about parables, our thoughts immediately And this is the great point for us that we can and ought to count on. Planted in orchards they look not unlike apple trees, but the leaves are slender like willow leaves and silvery as they are turned up by the wind. And they would often hook an oxen to it and they had this stone groove that went around in a circle. Nor was this the only intervention of the Lord, but personal succour follows at His hand. "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, and he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife" (Judges 14:1-20). Degraded to the utmost, Samson becomes their sport as well as their slave. . . Judges 9:8 - Bible Verse Meaning and Commentary The death of Abimelech, fulfilling Jotham's curse, ver. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place. "Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man.". This would have the effect of reducing the number of travelers and caravans in such a troubled area, thus emptying the pockets of Abimelech as well as hitting as his pride, for he could not guarantee the safety of travel in his domain. (Cundall), Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. Never then let the breath of suspicion enter your soul. Let none expect to do ill and fare well. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. ". The bramble said to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Then the trees said to the vine, We see that God was faithful; but the fidelity even of those whom He used in deliverance is another matter. This is our calling; but we see even in Israel that outside the limits, the very narrow limits, in which God called them to be the executors of divine vengeance even they calmly bear and brook as they best might; and there were those that understood the mind of God, and knew perfectly well why they were not so called to do. It seems to me then that the reserve of the Holy Spirit is as strikingly according to God as the rashness of Jephthah is a solemn warning to man. There was the plainest proof of what God could be, even where there was but one man to work by; but this very fact showed to what a depth was Israel now sunk. 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. (30-33) The role of Zebul, the ruler of the city. He supposes the trees to make their court to him: Come thou and reign over us, perhaps because he knew not that the first motion of Abimelech's preferment came from himself (as we found, Judges 9:2; Judges 9:2), but thought the Shechemites had proposed it to him; however, supposing it so, his folly in accepting it deserved to be chastised. That's not an exaggeration. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him." 89-95.]. They did not wish to quarrel with the king of Heshbon, Amorite as he was, unless he were actually in the holy land; but it was of God that these Amorites, to their own ruin, would not let them pass peaceably through. After this bold warning he ran away and fled for fear of his life. It is the expression of the agent of divine power in no way the seal of redemption or the earnest of the inheritance, as we know Him dwelling in us now since the shedding of the blood of Jesus. 5. went unto . Nor are you thus called to believe anything like an extravagance, though it surely would be so if the Bible were a human book, and so to be treated like any other, which after all even infidels do not: witness their occupation with it and zeal against it. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Samson made great destruction among the Philistines. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Not that God did not work mightily afterwards, and even more in his death than in his life. if a man attempts: to put himself under it for shelter, he will find it will be of no use to him, but harmful, since, the nearer and closer he comes to it, the more he will be scratched and torn by it: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon; signifying, that if they did not heartily submit to his government, and put confidence in him, and prove faithful to him, they should smart for it, and feel his wrath and vengeance, even the greatest men among them, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon; for thorns and brambles catching fire, as they easily do, or fire being put to them, as weak as they are, and placed under the tallest and strongest cedars, will soon fetch them down to the ground; and the words of the bramble, or Abimelech, proved true to the Shechemites, he is made to speak in this parable. This only gains the day; for it alone is as wise and holy as it is good. 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. Salem Media Group. Even his father and mother knew nothing about their son's movements. Thus we may find the most striking manifestations of power in men as disorderly as the Corinthian Christians; but the same persons are a plain proof that it is a far harder thing to do the will of the Lord, and harder still to suffer according to God, than to work any miracles whatever. It is the Danites again; only the account of Samson is chronologically at the close, whereas the new tale, as we have remarked, was comparatively early. But again, "And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." It was bad enough when Gideon had only three hundred that God would employ. Either they could not reach him or they were so far convinced that they would not add the guilt of his blood to all the rest. On them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal: God had warned the men of Shechem through Jotham. But the wages of transgressors are hard, and the guilty man falls under the strange woman's spell again and again. But now, as we know, the one whom he had made partner of his sin wheedled it from him that she might sell it to the Philistines. especially to posterity, when the benefactor if forgotten, as Joseph was among the Egyptians. I am not speaking of what men of the world may be, for they may be conscientious and honourable in their own way; but it is different with God's people. After the death of Gideon, this Abimelech who was the son of his concubine in Shechem. a. After this we find how the pride of the men of Ephraim takes fire at a person of such an origin as Jephthah, spite of the signal deliverance by his means for Israel, so that they come forth to fight. There was, there could be, none any longer as Israel was. Judges 9:8 We have seen how grace overruled, broke up an evil association before it was consummated, and gave him righteous ground to take vengeance on the Philistines, followed by his judging Israel for twenty years. None could "reign" in Israel, except by rebellious usurpation; and hence the reign of Abimelech is expressed in the original by a word signifying "despotism," not that which describes the mild and divinely authorized rule of the judge. rejoice in Abimelech: But if not, then let fire come forth from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and the fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech ( Judges 9:19-20 ). Yet he is still alive when the tragic deed was done which had nearly uprooted the tribe of Benjamin in its results. But, if you ignore God and just reduce this world to what you can see, you will eliminate the value of human life and be capable of heinous things. You'd never come up for sure.Well now there was this woman in the tower and she had a piece of a millstone. how the very thought of Jehovah's name seems lost at this time among the children of Israel. Here sound decibels are rising year by year and all of the sounds that we're subjected to the sound pollution. 7. he . Now, broken down before God who had ordered their defeat, they are made to feel for their brother, guilty as he was, no doubt. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. If his only desire is to destroy those who disagree, then he is much like the bramble plenty of good points, but no real substance for good. There was then "a man of mount Ephraim whose name was Micah," who, not satisfied with carrying out the impiety of his mother in making a graven and a molten image of silver dedicated to Jehovah, for this purpose gets a Levite to be consecrated as his priest. The olive and fig trees and the grape vine represented productive human beings-oil, figs, and wine being among the most important products of Canaan. Of course, that's where Jesus was addressing so many people, and also they're at the Temple Mount where Jesus addressed so many people.So this Jotham, son of Gideon, the one that Abimelech didn't kill, went up to the top of Mount Gerizim, and here is Shechem down below. Not only were they in slavery, but content to be slaves, yea, traitors. But God reserved great things for his death. Often God finds a way to do it both in this life and the life to come. It was the business of the Ammonites to have defended their claims as best they could against the Amorites. You can check these in your browser security settings. The danger was incomparably greater where the trial was to stand to the truth fully revealed and to walk in the Spirit, and not subjection to commandments and ritual observances. Then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, Increase your army and come out!. Here he told a parable to rebuke the men of Shechem for their choice of Abimelech as a king. c. Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, A woman killed him.: Abimelech considered it manlier to be killed by his own armor bearer; but he was still dead afterward. But in the end He acts in His own way, which will ever be what we little expect. He not only turned with the grossest insults on their speech, but fell on themselves, and slew at the passage of Jordan forty and two thousand men of one of the chief tribes of Israel. In other words, let there come strife between the men of Shechem and Abimelech. Nevetheless, Abimelech became the first person ever to be crowned king in Israel. Again, it is not of course any attainment of mine that leads me to speak as I have done now. . And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains! But Zebul said to him, You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men. So Gaal spoke again and said, See, people are coming down from the center of the land, and another company is coming from the Diviners Terebinth Tree. Then Zebul said to him, Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you despised? But we must look a little into the great principles of divine truth that meet us in weighing the history of Samson. "Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and wept before Jehovah until even, and asked counsel of Jehovah. Bad as were the features we have seen, we have to see even worse still; yet he was heard and answered when he called. He created us. If this be so, the captivity might be the Assyrian, and not that of the Philistines. A very reprehensible action on the part of Jerubbaal, unconscionable. And he gave him a real rebuke and then he took off running as fast as he could go. This latter view is the more probable, from the Shechemites ( Judges 9:24 ) aiding in it. There was but one thing really involved obedience. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman" with the promise that a child should be born, at the same time enjoining that she was to drink no wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; and that, when the child was born, no razor was to come upon his head. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower. "For the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.". In the instance before us it was an extraordinary Nazariteship, stretching through the whole life. We know that the spirit of ease and self-indulgence readily finds a lion in the way can make one where none is; but here was a real lion that roared against the self-willed youth. It does not throw a veil, as man loves to do, over that which is uncomely and distressing in those that bear the name of the Lord; especially as the very object the Spirit of God has here in view is to show the frightful results of a vow so little weighed before God, not at all drawn from His guidance. On his unshorn locks hung his invincible might by divine will. What is to become of you then? Proud member Who doubted the unfriendliness of Moab and of Edom? You said, you know, if he were just here I'd handle him.". Abimelech and the Shechemites, that had strengthened one another's hands in this villany, would certainly be a plague and ruin one to another. He aggravates their unkindness to his father's family. He had far too often made a wretched use of them in times that were past; and even now, in spite of the work of God in his soul, was there nothing weightier, was there nothing deeper, was there nothing to lament over more than the loss of those two eyes? Which is above the city of Shechem and it is sort of a natural amphitheater. We can easily therefore comprehend how the holy wisdom of Scripture avoids details on a fact so contrary to the mind of God, as a man dealing thus with a human being, yea, with his own daughter. etc. serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? Then Abimelech the Son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem: Abimelech was the son of Jerubbaal (another name for Gideon given in Judges 8:35), but he was not the clear successor to his fathers place of leadership. But there is one thing that God's Spirit always assumes the perfect goodness and the unswerving holiness of God. III. But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women; all the people of the city; fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. When he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. Separateness from what was allowed to an Israelite was not only commanded but made life-long in Samson's case, as I cannot but believe it significant of what was due to God in consequence of the state in which the people of God then lay. On the other hand, is there not real beauty in the obscurity in which Scripture treats a matter so painful? Abimelech probably grew up in Shechem (Judges 8:31). For on the contrary after Samson's days, the sufferings of the children of Israel reached even a higher degree than they had ever attained under Samson or before. Undoubtedly the iniquity was beyond measure on the part of the men of Benjamin, and an utter disgrace to God or even to Israel. Judges Commentary But we are sanctified by the Spirit unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and are called to obey, as the wife her husband. You can also change some of your preferences. i. Click on Abimelech for more of the story. The reference to the men of Shechem (Judges 9:2) is literally the baals of Shechem, the word having here its original meaning of lord or owner. (Cundall). . Thus the king of Ammon had lost his old claim, and had no present title to question Israel's right of conquest. Really he said, "Put a millstone on her neck, throw him in the sea." I doubt that any believer, without inspiration, would have felt it desirable to write that verse, and many more, as God has done it. But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelechs head and crushed his skull. WebCommentary, explanation and study verse by verse. Therefore does the second part of the appendix (Judges 19:1-30; Judges 21:1-25) find a place directly afterwards. His heart was glad of a better living and of a larger sphere (verses 19, 20), as he goes off from the house of Micah with the lawless children of Dan to blot out Laish with fire and sword, and call their new city after their own name, where the graven image was set up, and a succession that failed not till the day of the captivity of the land; for error takes root faster, and bears fruit more luxuriantly as well as permanently than the truth. "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." In due time the child was born, "and the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol." (e) By this parable he declares that those that are not ambitious, are most worthy of honour and that the ambitious abuse their honour both to their own destruction and others. i. Gaal . It was the energy of His Spirit who thought of His people showing out by the way, as we have remarked, in that wayward man the fallen state to which they were reduced by their own sin, with the highest claims outwardly but morally in as low a condition as could then be conceived. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. 6. all the men of Shechem . And so Abimelech led a group of vain fellows and they came to the houses of Gideon's sons and they wiped them all out with the exception of just one of his sons, Jotham. But it need surprise none that the proper history of this judge terminates according to the mind of God here; for what has the Lord to tell in the next chapter? Carried away by his uncurbed feelings (to whatever end God might turn all, for He always governs), he was mighty to act; but as to intelligence, little more than an unconscious instrument. The circumstances also were highly remarkable. So low were things now in Israel, that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance; and so evidently in all this was God stamping on the people His moral sentence of their state. . (Psalm 61:3). By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. (Compare Psalms 78:60-61) Such are the prominent points of instruction in this appendix. 12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. (Judges 9:7-15) It is not sure whether Millo is the name of a place by Shechem or of a family. So whomsoever Jehovah our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. I don't want them, I don't want them to say a woman killed me." What a wonderful understanding of God that we can obtain from Judges 9:8-15 if we take the time to learn obedience to the Word is preferred over following the traditions of men.