Judges 9:7

7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and said unto them, "Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

Judges 9:7 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:7

And when they told it to Jotham
Or when it was told him that Abimelech was made king in Shechem by some of his friends:

he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim;
a mount near Shechem; it hung over the city, as Josephus says F3, and so a very proper place to stand on and deliver a speech from it to the inhabitants of it; who, as the same writer says, were now keeping a festival, on what account he says not, perhaps to Baalberith their idol: over against this mountain was another, called Ebal, and between them a valley; and very likely they were assembled in this valley, where the children of Israel stood when the blessings were delivered from Gerizim, and the curses from Ebal; and if so, Jotham might be heard very well by the Shechemites:

and he lifted up his voice, and cried;
that he might be heard by them:

and said unto them, hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may
hearken unto you;
which was a very solemn manner of address to them, tending to excite attention, as having somewhat of importance to say to them, and suggesting, that if they did not hearken to him, God would not hearken to them when they cried to him, and therefore it behoved them to attend: it is an adjuration of them to hearken to him, or a wish that God would not hearken to them if they were inattentive to him.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 2.

Judges 9:7 In-Context

5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone. Notwithstanding, yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Bethmillo, and went and made Abimelech king by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and said unto them, "Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
8 The trees went forth once to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, `Reign thou over us.'
9 But the olive tree said unto them, `Should I leave my fatness, withwhich by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.