And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
It is part of Jotham's invented fable spoken from Mount Gerizim to expose the folly and injustice of choosing Abimelech as king. The council of talking trees and the answering vine are personification crediting lifeless things with speech and choice to teach a moral truth in a striking way. In its plain sense the vine refuses to leave its wine that gladdens God and people in order to be promoted over the trees, choosing useful fruitfulness over seeking elevation and rule. The cheering wine is the fresh, unfermented juice of the ripe grape, wholesome and blessing, gladdening God as poured out in the drink offering, while those who held the other view taught that it is fermented wine picturing a life fully surrendered with sin removed. The refusal portrays unselfish and upright leaders like Gideon and his sons who would not seek kingship, in contrast to the worthless and grasping bramble Abimelech, teaching that those doing valuable work do not seek to rule and that ambition to be exalted disqualifies for rulership.
Jotham's Parable and Form
Judges 9:13 belongs to the history of Abimelech, the son of Gideon's maid, who caused Gideon's sons to be slain in order that he might become ruler of Israel and who utterly destroyed Shechem, the very ancient stopping-point of Jacob when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan. It was spoken by Jotham from Mount Gerizim to the multitude celebrating Abimelech as king. It was a fitting parable exposing the folly and injustice of their course and reproving their choice of Abimelech as king. It stands as a literary example of satirical invective and Hebrew eloquence.
The passage is a fictitious parable, fable, or apologue, an invented and imaginary scene rather than a record of events that literally happened. In it the trees hold a council and an election and choose a king. The invented scene is used to convey a moral truth in a striking way. Its vivid word picture reproves the choice of Abimelech as king.
The speaking trees and vine are personification, a legitimate device of allegory and parable that credits inanimate things with speech, reasoning, sentiments, and human actions. The trees and vine cannot literally talk or reason. Hearers understand the speech as figurative and know the trees cannot literally speak, so the story does not teach that they can. For the same reason the device does not prove that trees have conscious intelligence.
Wine That Cheers God
The verse presents wine as something regarded as gladdening both God and people. It is said to cheer God because wine was used as a libation in the sacrifices, and the hymn to God did not begin until the drink offering had been poured out.
The vine's wine is tirosh, a word applied to ripe grapes or their fresh juice before fermentation. Some take the word to mean the whole ripe fruit, and fresh grape juice, especially when cool, is refreshing and cheering. That gladness to God and people identifies good wine as unfermented, alcohol-free, wholesome, blessing and uplifting, and a symbol of blessing, in contrast to fermented, intoxicating wine.
Those who held the opposite view taught that the joy-giving wine is fermented wine poured out before God in the drink-offering as a token of a life fully surrendered to Him. Though people have sin in their natures like fermented wine, the wine represents sin removed, God is gladdened by the poured-out offering and gladly accepts the service rendered, and the surrendering sinner is blessed. The wording about wine cheering God and people is also applied to Melchisedec's gift of bread and wine to Abraham as temperate hospitality, in contrast to Abraham's serving meat to his heavenly guests.
Vine's Refusal and Lesson
The vine declines to leave its wine to be promoted over the trees, taking its place among the worthy trees that refuse kingship rather than abandon the wine that serves others. It is unwilling to rule because ruling would mean giving up producing wine that brings joy to God and people. The contrast is between useful fruitfulness and seeking elevation or rule.
Jotham spoke this from Mount Gerizim to the multitude celebrating Abimelech as king, as a fitting parable exposing the folly and injustice of their course. The vine's refusal portrays the unselfish, unambitious conduct of Gideon and his sons, who would not seek kingship. It represents noble, upright leaders such as Moses and Joshua, who blessed their fellow people and did not seek rank or power. By contrast the bramble represents the worthless Abimelech who grasped the honor, grasping and destructive.
Those doing valuable work in the Lord's cause do not seek to rule over their brethren. Ambition to be exalted over others shows a lack of qualification for rulership.
The verse belongs to a fable in which trees seek a king and the vine refuses the position rather than leave its wine which cheers God and people. It is part of an image of trees choosing a ruler, yet unlike the trees in the fable, humans are not trees and can choose and be held accountable for their choices.
Judges 9:8-15 presents trees speaking as a parable, and their speech is figurative since trees do not actually talk. It is a fictitious parable used to represent the work of kings and convey a truth, an example of Scripture using invented narrative to portray something real and not a literal account. Jotham's fable pictures inanimate objects as speaking and reasoning, with the trees holding an election and making speeches, including the vine refusing to leave its wine to rule over them, which does not mean vines and trees literally reason and talk. The same device explains the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16: the dead speaking and acting as though alive is figurative and does not mean the dead are conscious or actually converse.
It is part of Jotham's invented fable spoken from Mount Gerizim to expose the folly and injustice of choosing Abimelech as king. The council of talking trees and the answering vine are personification crediting lifeless things with speech and choice to teach a moral truth in a striking way. In its plain sense the vine refuses to leave its wine that gladdens God and people in order to be promoted over the trees, choosing useful fruitfulness over seeking elevation and rule. The cheering wine is the fresh, unfermented juice of the ripe grape, wholesome and blessing, gladdening God as poured out in the drink offering, while those who held the other view taught that it is fermented wine picturing a life fully surrendered with sin removed. The refusal portrays unselfish and upright leaders like Gideon and his sons who would not seek kingship, in contrast to the worthless and grasping bramble Abimelech, teaching that those doing valuable work do not seek to rule and that ambition to be exalted disqualifies for rulership.
Jotham's Parable and Form
Judges 9:13 belongs to the history of Abimelech, the son of Gideon's maid, who caused Gideon's sons to be slain in order that he might become ruler of Israel and who utterly destroyed Shechem, the very ancient stopping-point of Jacob when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan. It was spoken by Jotham from Mount Gerizim to the multitude celebrating Abimelech as king. It was a fitting parable exposing the folly and injustice of their course and reproving their choice of Abimelech as king. It stands as a literary example of satirical invective and Hebrew eloquence.
The passage is a fictitious parable, fable, or apologue, an invented and imaginary scene rather than a record of events that literally happened. In it the trees hold a council and an election and choose a king. The invented scene is used to convey a moral truth in a striking way. Its vivid word picture reproves the choice of Abimelech as king.
The speaking trees and vine are personification, a legitimate device of allegory and parable that credits inanimate things with speech, reasoning, sentiments, and human actions. The trees and vine cannot literally talk or reason. Hearers understand the speech as figurative and know the trees cannot literally speak, so the story does not teach that they can. For the same reason the device does not prove that trees have conscious intelligence.
Wine That Cheers God
The verse presents wine as something regarded as gladdening both God and people. It is said to cheer God because wine was used as a libation in the sacrifices, and the hymn to God did not begin until the drink offering had been poured out.
The vine's wine is tirosh, a word applied to ripe grapes or their fresh juice before fermentation. Some take the word to mean the whole ripe fruit, and fresh grape juice, especially when cool, is refreshing and cheering. That gladness to God and people identifies good wine as unfermented, alcohol-free, wholesome, blessing and uplifting, and a symbol of blessing, in contrast to fermented, intoxicating wine.
Those who held the opposite view taught that the joy-giving wine is fermented wine poured out before God in the drink-offering as a token of a life fully surrendered to Him. Though people have sin in their natures like fermented wine, the wine represents sin removed, God is gladdened by the poured-out offering and gladly accepts the service rendered, and the surrendering sinner is blessed. The wording about wine cheering God and people is also applied to Melchisedec's gift of bread and wine to Abraham as temperate hospitality, in contrast to Abraham's serving meat to his heavenly guests.
Vine's Refusal and Lesson
The vine declines to leave its wine to be promoted over the trees, taking its place among the worthy trees that refuse kingship rather than abandon the wine that serves others. It is unwilling to rule because ruling would mean giving up producing wine that brings joy to God and people. The contrast is between useful fruitfulness and seeking elevation or rule.
Jotham spoke this from Mount Gerizim to the multitude celebrating Abimelech as king, as a fitting parable exposing the folly and injustice of their course. The vine's refusal portrays the unselfish, unambitious conduct of Gideon and his sons, who would not seek kingship. It represents noble, upright leaders such as Moses and Joshua, who blessed their fellow people and did not seek rank or power. By contrast the bramble represents the worthless Abimelech who grasped the honor, grasping and destructive.
Those doing valuable work in the Lord's cause do not seek to rule over their brethren. Ambition to be exalted over others shows a lack of qualification for rulership.
The verse belongs to a fable in which trees seek a king and the vine refuses the position rather than leave its wine which cheers God and people. It is part of an image of trees choosing a ruler, yet unlike the trees in the fable, humans are not trees and can choose and be held accountable for their choices.
Judges 9:8-15 presents trees speaking as a parable, and their speech is figurative since trees do not actually talk. It is a fictitious parable used to represent the work of kings and convey a truth, an example of Scripture using invented narrative to portray something real and not a literal account. Jotham's fable pictures inanimate objects as speaking and reasoning, with the trees holding an election and making speeches, including the vine refusing to leave its wine to rule over them, which does not mean vines and trees literally reason and talk. The same device explains the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16: the dead speaking and acting as though alive is figurative and does not mean the dead are conscious or actually converse.