Judges 9 Footnotes

9:13 Scripture, in several instances, issues a warning about the consumption of wine or describes the unhappy results of its use (e.g., Pr 20:1; 23:31-35; Is 28:7). In Jotham’s tale the vine claims that its product cheers “both God and man.” This is part of an allegorical story Jotham tells to mock Abimelech’s false kingship; it is not intended as a prescription for human conduct. The Bible does not issue a general condemnation of the drinking of wine (see Jn 2:1-11; 1Tm 5:23), but only of the excessive use of alcoholic beverages (Eph 5:18; 1Pt 4:3).

9:23 What is this evil spirit that God sends? The Hebrew word translated “evil” has a range of meanings, including the concepts of moral or ethical wickedness, misery, distress, trouble, and injury. God indeed oversees the actions of all beings and can control the activities of evil spirits (i.e., fallen angels). But in this instance he caused a hostile attitude to develop between Abimelech and the men of Shechem so that they would turn against each other.

9:56-57 Scripture has much to say about cursing. (1) Curses generally appear to be uttered in the expectation that they will be fulfilled, yet not all curses come to pass (Pr 26:2). (2) God sometimes placed a curse (judgment) upon people and identified situations in which people could expect to experience his curse (Lv 26:14-39; Dt 11:26-28; 27:15-26; 28:15-68; Pr 28:27; Jr 11:3; 48:10). This is especially true of the curses that were pronounced in the renewal of the Lord’s covenant with Israel; the declaration of these sanctions was a normal part of such ceremonies (Dt 30:19). (3) At times, curses were placed on embodiments of evil (Gn 3:14), inanimate objects (Gn 3:17), or concepts (Jb 3:1; Jr 20:14). (4) God established guidelines for what he allowed to be cursed (2Sm 16:10; 2Kg 2:24) and what he prohibited from being cursed (Ex 21:17; Lv 19:14; 24:15; Nm 22:12; Rm 12:14). (5) Some curses revealed the foolishness of the one cursing (1Sm 14:24-30); other curses revealed that the one who employed a curse had not considered all its implications (Jdg 21:16-18; Ec 10:20). (6) Scripture provides guidelines for how people are to respond to those who curse them (Lk 6:28). (7) The NT also declares that through the work of Christ on the cross, who took upon himself the curse inherent in the covenant law (Gl 3:10), believers have been freed from its curse pronouncements (3:13). God’s people will not be eternally under its curse (Rv 22:3). The curse is the opposite of the blessing, and the effect of each depends on the authority of the person uttering them. The functioning of both blessing and curse in biblical cultures illustrates the power of the spoken word, and how seriously God takes the use of speech (Mt 12:37; Jms 3:5-10).