SEV Biblia, Chapter 9:7
¶ Cuando se lo dijeron a Jotam, fue y se puso en la cumbre del monte de Gerizim, y alzando su voz clamó, y les dijo: Oídme, varones de Siquem; que Dios os oiga.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Judges 9:7
Verse 7. Stood in the top of Mount Gerizim] Gerizim and Ebal were mounts very near to each other; the former lying to the north, the latter to the south, and at the foot of them Shechem. But see some remarks on the extent of the human voice in some hilly countries in the following extract from a late traveler in the East: - "The great extent to which the sound of the voice is conveyed may be mentioned. Some persons have thought this a proof of the extreme rarity of the atmosphere. A similar observation is made by Captain Parry in his Voyage of Discovery to the Polar Regions in 1819-20, where he states that in the depth of winter the sound of the men's voices was heard at a much greater distance than usual. This phenomenon is constantly observed on the Neilgherries. I have heard the natives, especially in the morning and evening, when the air was still, carry on conversation from one hill to another, and that apparently without any extraordinary effort. They do not shout in the manner that strangers think necessary in order to be heard at so great a distance, but utter every syllable as distinctly as if they were conversing face to face. When listening to them, I have often been reminded of those passages in holy writ where it is recorded that Jotham addressed the ungrateful men of Shechem from Mount Gerizim, that David cried 'from the top of a hill afar off' to Abner and to the people that lay about their master Saul, and that Abner addressed Joab from the top of a hill." -Letters on the Climate, Inhabitants, Productions, &c., &c., of the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains of Coimbatoor, South India, by James Hough, of Madras: 1829. That God may hearken unto you.] It appears that Jotham received this message from God, and that he spoke on this occasion by Divine inspiration.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 7. And when they told it to Jotham , etc.] 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 f199 , 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-21 - There was no occasion for the trees to choose a king, they are all the trees of the Lord which he has planted. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to set a king over them, for the Lord was their King. Those wh bear fruit for the public good, are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise, more than those who merely make a figure. All thes fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promote over the trees; or, as the margin reads it, to go up and down for the trees. To rule, involves a man in a great deal both of toil and care Those who are preferred to public trust and power, must forego all private interests and advantages, for the good of others. And thos advanced to honour and dignity, are in great danger of losing their fruitfulness. For which reason, they that desire to do good, are afrai of being too great. Jotham compares Abimelech to the bramble of thistle, a worthless plant, whose end is to be burned. Such a one wa Abimelech.
Original Hebrew
ויגדו 5046 ליותם 3147 וילך 1980 ויעמד 5975 בראשׁ 7218 הר 2022 גרזים 1630 וישׂא 5375 קולו 6963 ויקרא 7121 ויאמר 559 להם שׁמעו 8085 אלי 413 בעלי 1167 שׁכם 7927 וישׁמע 8085 אליכם 413 אלהים׃ 430
