Good Things Come in Trees

Judges Chapter 9, the Strange and the Spectacular

Verses: 57 (!)

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No. Could you imagine how long that would take? (Just kidding … for the most part.)

Famous Quotes/Phrases: None that I could identify, but I have to admit that I giggled when I read Verse 55: “When those on Israel’s side saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone went home.” It sounds like a group of people tired of drama, and not exactly enamored with Abimelech or his memory. Or maybe just tired.

Basic Plot: As we mentioned last week, Gideon had 71 sons. After his death, one of them, Abimelech, decides to seize power by asking the people of the town of Shechem whether they would prefer that he take charge or share power with his brothers. The Shechemites respond in favor of Abimelech, and, feeling empowered, he engages some sketchy people to kill his 70 brothers. Only one brother, Jotham, survives, and goes into hiding. Abimelech is proclaimed king by the Shechemites.

When Jotham hears this, he emerges from his hiding place, and delivers a speech involving a parable about trees seeking out leadership. In this parable, several types of trees decline to become the king of the other trees, until a thornbush agrees, threatening to destroy anything that would dare dispute its status. Jotham compares Abimelech to this thornbush.

Abimelech remains in power for three years, after which God causes the people to oppose him. The opposition is led by Gaal son of Ebed, who engages troops to fight Abimelech and his men. A destructive battle ensues which lays waste to the city of Shechem, but when Abimelech advances to the city of Tebetz, a woman drops a millstone on Abimelech’s head, causing him to die.

What’s Strange: If you look at the chapter’s final verse literally, the phrasing feels odd: “And as for all the evil of the men of Shechem, God brought [it] back on their head[s], and the curse of Jotham son of Jerubaal came to them.” In his book Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept, Joseph Lam notes that this is one of several times in which sin is described as an object that falls upon one’s head. Lam writes, “[T]he metaphor entails (at least) two elements: that God is the ultimate judge who assigns sins’ punishment upon the wrongdoer, and the punishment itself is akin to an object, the deeds themselves, being placed (or hurled) upon the sinner.”

What’s Spectacular: This is of course not the only time this chapter includes a metaphor; Jotham’s speech involving the trees deserves some unpacking. The trees that seek out a king first goes to the olive tree, then a fig tree, then a vine, all of whom decline their offer to reign sovereign. In doing so, they each acknowledge that they bring unique gifts to the world, and don’t wish to diminish those gifts by taking responsibility over the rest of their species.

We can learn from this that while we rely on leaders to set agendas for our society, we rely on so many others who are not necessarily in charge. Whether or not we think of ourselves as leaders, we have the power to do basic acts of kindness and creativity that can directly impact others’ lives for the better. Just like an olive tree can be satisfied by providing rich oil, a fig tree can be satisfied by providing sweet fruit, and a vine can be satisfied by providing tasty wine, we are encouraged to be satisfied with the gifts we provide that gladden the hearts of the people we love most.

Shabbat Shalom!