Judges 9:14

Updated Bible Version

Then all the trees said to the bramble, You come, and reign over us.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Finally, all the trees said to the bramble,“Come and reign over us.”

Hebrew Names Version
Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come, and reign over us.

King James Version
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

Lexham English Bible
So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You, come rule over us.'

English Standard Version
Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.'

New Century Version
"Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be king over us.'

New English Translation
"So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!'

Amplified Bible
"Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come and reign over us.'

New American Standard Bible
"Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'You, come, reign over us!'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said all the trees vnto the bramble, Come thou, and reigne ouer vs.

Legacy Standard Bible
But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,

Contemporary English Version
Finally, they went to the thornbush and asked, "Will you be our king?"

Complete Jewish Bible
Finally, all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You, come and rule over us!'

Darby Translation
Then said all the trees to the thorn-bush, Come thou, reign over us.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Finally, all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.'

George Lamsa Translation
Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come you, and reign over us.

Good News Translation
So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You come and be our king.'

Literal Translation
And all the trees said to the bramble bush, You come, reign over us.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The sayde all the trees vnto the thorne bußshe: Come thou, and be kynge ouer vs.

American Standard Version
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

Bible in Basic English
Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then said all the trees vnto the bryer: Come thou and raigne ouer vs.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said all the trees unto the bramble: Come thou, and reign over us.

King James Version (1611)
Then said all the trees vnto the Bramble, Come thou, and reigne ouer vs.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou and reign over us.

English Revised Version
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

Berean Standard Bible
Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and reign over us.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And alle trees seiden to the ramne, ether theue thorn, Come thou, and be lord on vs.

Young's Literal Translation
And all the trees say unto the bramble, Come thou, reign over us.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come thou, [and] reign over us.

World English Bible
Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come you, and reign over us.

New King James Version
"Then all the trees said to the bramble, "You come and reign over us!'

New Living Translation
"Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said, ‘Come, you be our king!'

New Life Bible
Then all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You come and rule over us!'

New Revised Standard
So all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said all the trees, unto the bramble, - Come, thou, to reign over us.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us.

Revised Standard Version
Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come you, and reign over us.'

THE MESSAGE
All the trees then said to Tumbleweed, "You come and reign over us." But Tumbleweed said to the trees: "If you're serious about making me your king, Come and find shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire shoot from Tumbleweed and burn down the cedars of Lebanon!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Finally all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come, reign over us!'

Contextual Overview

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 to them, Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ One time the trees went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive-tree, Reign over us. ⁹ But the olive-tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, which by me they honor God and men, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig-tree, You come, and reign over us. ¹¹ But the fig-tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? ¹² And the trees said to the vine, You come, and reign over us. ¹³ And the vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, You come, and reign over us. ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. ¹⁶ Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and uprightly, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

bramble: or, thistle, 2 Kings 14:9

Reciprocal: Judges 9:18 - Abimelech Ecclesiastes 10:6 - Folly

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said all the trees unto the bramble,.... Perceiving they could not prevail upon any of the useful and fruitful trees to take the government of them, they unite in a request to a bramble, scarce to be called a tree, and however a very barren and fruitless one, yea, hurtful and distressing:

come thou, and reign over us; this respects Abimelech, and describes him as a mean person, the son of a concubine, as having no goodness in him, not any good qualifications to recommend him to government, but all the reverse, cruel, tyrannical, and oppressive; and this exposes the folly of the Shechemites, and their eagerness to have a king at any rate, though ever so mean and despicable, useless and pernicious.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This fable and that noted in the marginal reference are the only two of the kind found in Scripture. Somewhat different are the parables of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 12:1-4; 2 Samuel 14:5-11; 1 Kings 20:39-40.

Judges 9:9

Honour God and man - Alluding to the constant use of oil in the meat-offerings Leviticus 2:1-16, and in the holy ointment Exodus 30:24-25. In like manner, the allusion in Judges 9:13 is to the drink-offerings of wine. See Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:10.

Judges 9:14

The bramble - Said to be the Rhamnus Paliurus of Linnaeus, otherwise called Spina-Christi, or Christ’s Thorn, a shrub with sharp thorns. The application is obvious. The noble Gideon and his worthy sons had declined the proffered kingdom. The vile, base-born Abimelech had accepted it, and his act would turn out to the mutual ruin of himself and his subjects.

Judges 9:15

If in truth - i. e. consistently with truth, honor, and uprightness, as explained in the interpretation in Judges 9:16, Judges 9:19.

Let fire come out ... - The propriety of the image is strictly preserved, for even the thorns of the worthless bramble might kindle a flame which would burn the stately cedars to the ground. See Psalms 58:9.

Judges 9:16-20

These verses contain the interpretation of the fable. In them Jotham points out the base ingratitude of the people in raising Abimelech upon the ruin of Gideon’s house, and foretells the retribution which would fall upon both parties.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 9:14. Then said all the trees unto the bramble — The word אטד atad, which we translate bramble, is supposed to mean the rhamnus, which is the largest of thorns, producing dreadful spikes, similar to darts. See Theodoret on Psalms 58:10.

There is much of the moral of this fable contained in the different kinds of trees mentioned.

1. The olive; the most profitable tree to its owner, having few equals either for food or medicine.

2. The fig tree; one of the most fruitful of trees, and yielding one of the most delicious fruits, and superior to all others for sweetness.

3. The vine, which alone yields a liquor that, when properly prepared, and taken in strict moderation, is friendly both to the body and mind of man, having a most direct tendency to invigorate both.

4. The bramble or thorn, which, however useful as a hedge, is dangerous to come near; and is here the emblem of an impious, cruel, and oppressive king.

As the olive, fig, and vine, are said in this fable to refuse the royalty, because in consequence, they intimate, they should lose their own privileges, we learn that to be invested with power for the public good can be no privilege to the sovereign. If he discharge the office faithfully, it will plant his pillow with thorns, fill his soul with anxious cares, rob him of rest and quiet, and, in a word, will be to him a source of distress and misery. All this is represented here under the emblem of the trees losing their fatness, their sweetness and good fruits, and their cheering influence. In short, we see from this most sensible fable that the beneficent, benevolent, and highly illuminated mind, is ever averse from the love of power; and that those who do seek it are the thoughtless, the vain, the ambitious, and those who wish for power merely for the purpose of self-gratification; persons who have neither the disposition nor the knowledge to use power for the advantage of the community; and who, while they boast great things, and make great pretensions and promises, are the tyrants of the people, and often through their ambition, like the bramble in the fable kindle a flame of foreign or domestic war, in which their subjects are consumed.

The sleepless nights and corroding cares of sovereignty, are most forcibly described by a poet of our own, whose equal in describing the inward workings of the human heart, in all varieties of character and circumstances, has never appeared either in ancient or modern times. Hear what he puts in the mouth of two of his care-worn kings: -

"How many thousand of my poorest subjects

Are at this hour asleep? - Sleep, gentle sleep,

Nature's soft nurse! how have I frighted thee,

That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,

And steep my senses in forgetfulness?

Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,

Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee,

And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber

Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,

Under the canopies of costly state,

And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody?

O thou dull god! why liest thou with the vile

In loathsome beds; and leav'st the kingly couch

A watch-case, or a common 'larum bell?

Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast

Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains

In cradle of the rude imperious surge;

And in the visitation of the winds,

Who take the ruffian billows by the top,

Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them,

With deafening clamours, in the slippery clouds,

That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?

Canst thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose

To the wet sea-boy, in an hour so rude;

And, in the calmest and most stillest night,

With all appliances and means to boot,

Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down!

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."____

"O hard condition! twin-born with greatness,

Subjected to the breath of every fool,

Whose sense no more can feel but his own wringing!

What infinite heart's ease must kings neglect,

That private men enjoy!

And what have kings, that privates have not too,

Save ceremony, save general ceremony?"____

"'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball,

The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,

The intertissued robe of gold and pearl,

The farced title running 'fore the king,

The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp

That beats upon the high shore of this world,

No, not all these, thrice gorgeous ceremony,

Not all these, laid in bed majestical,

Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave."

SHAKESPEARE

This is precisely the sentiment expressed in the denial of the olive, fig tree, and vine.