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Judges 9:14

in Judges 9

Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and reign over us.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

KJV

Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

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This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Then said all the trees unto the bramble - The word אטד atad, which we translate bramble, is supposed to mean the rhamnus, which is the largest of thorns, producing dreadful spikes, similar to darts. See Theodoret on Psa 58:10. There is much of the moral of this fable contained in the different kinds of trees mentioned. 1. The olive; the most profitable tree to its owner, having few equals either for food or medicine.

This site's exposition

all the trees said to the thornbush

on Judges 9:14-15

The thornbush bears no fruit and no shade worth standing in, and dry thorn catches fire faster than anything in a field. It invites the trees to "find refuge in my shade," the Hebrew verb used of taking refuge in God at Psalm 2:12. Its threat to "consume the cedars of Lebanon," the tallest trees Scripture names, is carried out twice before the chapter ends.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Methodius of Olympus

BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10.2 · Written before 311.

proposed

But lest I should appear to some to be sophistical, and to conjecture these things from mere probabilities, and to babble, I will bring forward to you, O virgins, from the Old Testament, written prophecy from the book of Judges, to show that I speak the truth, where the future reign of chastity was already clearly foretold.…Now it is clear that these things are not said of trees growing out of the earth. Inanimate trees cannot be assembled in council to choose a king since they are firmly fixed to the earth by deep roots.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Against Lying 13.28 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

And no one has been so illiterate as to think that similar fables of Aesop, related for the same purpose, ought to be called lies. But also in the sacred writings such passages are found, as in the book of Judges the trees look for a king to rule over them and speak to the olive and the fig and the vine and the bramble. Surely, all this is invented in order that we may reach the matter intended by means of a narrative [that is] fictitious, to be sure, but bearing a true and not a false signification.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then said all the trees unto the bramble,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Which brings joy to God. As the Levi'im chant the hymns of glory only during the wine libation ceremony. 8 Berachos,:b.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Judges 9:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּאמְר֥וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעֵצִ֖יםthe trees

    haetzimH6086 →328 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָאָטָ֑דthe thorn bush

    haatadH329 →6 times

  • לֵ֥ךְcome

    lekhH1980 →1546 times

  • אַתָּ֖הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • מְלָךְ־reign

    melokh-H4427 →348 times

  • עָלֵֽינוּ׃over us

    ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Kings 14:9

    But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a…

    it leads to

    • Judges 9:8–15

      One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’

    • Hosea 9:6

      For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.

    • Proverbs 26:9

      Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

    • 2 Chronicles 33:11

      So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

    • 2 Samuel 12:1–4

      Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

About Judges

The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 9 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Against Lying 13.28; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Methodius of Olympus, BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10.2.

Read on in Judges 9 →