Judges 9:15

“The thornbush replied, ‘If you truly want to appoint me to be your king, come into the shade of my tiny branches. But if you do not want to do that, I hope/desire that fire will come out from me and burn up all the huge cedar trees in Lebanon country!’”

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

In Context

14“Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king!’

16“ After Jotham finished telling them this parable, he said, “So now I ask you, were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king [RHQ]? And have you treated Gideon and his family [RHQ] fairly? Have you rewarded Gideon by honoring him as he deserved because of all the good things he did for you? No!

Read all of Judges 9

Cross References

Numbers 21:28A fire blazed from Heshbon; it burned down Ar city in Moab, it destroyed everything on the hills along the Arnon River.

Judges 9:44Abimelech and the men who were with him ran to the city gate. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and attacked them.

2 Kings 14:9But King Jehoash replied to King Amaziah: “Once a thornbush growing in the mountains in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in order that he may marry her.’ But a wild animal in Lebanon passed by the thornbush and trampled it.

Isaiah 1:31Those among you who are very strong will become like [MET] dry wood, and the work they do will be like [MET] a spark; both they and the evil things that they do will burn up completely, and no one will be able to put out the fire.

Isaiah 30:2You went to Egypt to ask their rulers for help, without asking for my advice. You have trusted in the army of the king of Egypt to protect you; you have trusted in them like people sit in the shade to protect themselves from the sun [MET].

Lamentations 4:20Our king, whom Yahweh appointed, was the one who enabled us to remain alive [MTY]; he was the one whom we trusted to protect us [IDM] from the armies of other nations. But he was captured like animals are [MET] caught in a pit.

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:8-22

Jotham's Parable. ( b. c. 1209.) 7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in 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 on a time 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, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 10 And the trees said… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Judges 9:15