Judges 9:12
in Judges 9Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘Come and reign over us.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
KJV
Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
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This verse in Judges 9
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Then the trees said to the fig tree
on Judges 9:10-13
Olive, fig and vine are the crops of a settled land, listed at Deuteronomy 8:8. Each refuses in the same terms, that ruling would cost it its fruit. The vine's "wine that cheers both God and man" points at the drink offering of Numbers 15:5 as well as the table.
This site's exposition
Come and reign over us
The trees say the same words they said to the fig tree, and they will say them once more to the thornbush in verse 14. The request never changes. Only the tree asked changes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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.
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 the trees unto the vine,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
To the grapevine. This refers to Gidon, 6 Yalkut, ibid. a descendant of Yoseif, of whom it is said, "A flourishing son"—"like a grapevine positioned, etc." 7 “A flourishing son over a wellspring”. (Bereishis,:22). Targum Onkelos there interprets, “like a grapevine positioned over a wellspring.”
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Which brings joy to God. As the Levi'im chant the hymns of glory only during the wine libation ceremony. 8 Berachos,:b.
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
7 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָעֵצִ֖ים | haetzim | the trees | H6086 → | 328 times |
| לַגָּ֑פֶן | lagafen | to the vine | H1612 → | 55 times |
| לְכִי־ | lekhi- | come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַ֖תְּ | ʾat | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מָלְכִ֥י | malokhi | reign | H4427 → | 348 times |
| עָלֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾaleinu | over us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֥וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
הָעֵצִ֖יםthe trees
haetzimH6086 →328 times
לַגָּ֑פֶןto the vine
lagafenH1612 →55 times
לְכִי־come
lekhi-H1980 →1546 times
אַ֖תְּyou
ʾatH859 →1094 times
מָלְכִ֥יreign
malokhiH4427 →348 times
עָלֵֽינוּ׃over us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Against Lying 13.28; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Methodius of Olympus, BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10.2.