⚔️WEB · Judges 9:8
What does Judges 9:8 mean?
"The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’"
— Judges 9:8 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
He went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.
When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honor God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
“The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’
“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
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