Judges 9:12

Bishop's Bible

Then sayde the trees vnto the vine: Come thou and be kyng ouer vs.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Later, the trees said to the grapevine,“Come and reign over us.”

Hebrew Names Version
The trees said to the vine, Come, and reign over us.

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

Lexham English Bible
And the trees said to the vine, ‘You, come rule over us.'

English Standard Version
And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.'

New Century Version
"Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be king over us!'

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

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

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

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayd the trees vnto the Vine, Come thou, and be king ouer vs.

Legacy Standard Bible
These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

Contemporary English Version
Next they asked the grape vine, "Will you be our king?"

Complete Jewish Bible
So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You, come and rule over us!'

Darby Translation
Then said the trees to the vine, Come thou, reign over us.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.'

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

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

Literal Translation
And the trees said to the vine, You come, reign over us.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the trees vnto the vyne: Come thou and be oure kinge.

American Standard Version
And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

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

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the trees said unto the vine: Come thou, and reign over us.

King James Version (1611)
Then saide the trees vnto the Uine, Come thou, and reigne ouer vs.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the trees said to the vine, Come, reign over us.

English Revised Version
And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the trees said to the grapevine, 'Come and reign over us.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Also `the trees spaken to the vyne, Come thou, and comaunde to vs.

Young's Literal Translation
`And the trees say to the vine, Come thou, reign over us.

Update Bible Version
And the trees said to the vine, You come, and reign over us.

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

World English Bible
The trees said to the vine, Come you, and reign over us.

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

New Living Translation
"Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!'

New Life Bible
So the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and rule over us!'

New Revised Standard
Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said the trees unto the vine, - Come! thou, reign over us.

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

Revised Standard Version
And the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.'

THE MESSAGE
The trees then said to Vine, "You come and rule over us." But Vine said to them, "Am I no longer good for making wine, Wine that cheers gods and men, and to be demoted to waving over trees?"

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

Contextual Overview

⁷ And when they tolde it to Ioatham, he went and stoode in the top of mount Garizim, and lyft vp his voyce, & cryed, and sayd vnto them: Hearken vnto me you men of Sichem, that God may hearken vnto you. ⁸ The trees went foorth to annoynt a kyng ouer them, and sayde vnto the Olyue tree: Raigne thou ouer vs. ⁹ But the Olyue tree sayd vnto them: Should I leaue my fatnesse wherwith by me they honour God and man, & to be promoted ouer the trees? ¹⁰ And the trees sayd to the figge tree: Come thou, and be kyng ouer vs. ¹¹ The figge tree aunswered them: should I forsake my sweetnes, and my good fruite, and go to be promoted ouer the trees? ¹² Then sayde the trees vnto the vine: Come thou and be kyng ouer vs. ¹³ The vine sayde vnto them: Should I leaue my wine wherby I cheare both God and man, and go to be promoted ouer the trees? ¹⁴ Then said all the trees vnto the bryer: Come thou and raigne ouer vs. ¹⁵ And the bryer sayde vnto the trees: If it be true that ye will annoynt me kyng ouer you, then come and put your trust vnder my shadow: If no, the fyre come out of the bryer, & waste the Cedar trees of Libanon. ¹⁶ Nowe therfore, if ye do truely and vncorruptly to make Abimelech kyng, and if ye haue dealte well with Ierobaal & his house, and haue done vnto hym according to the deseruing of his handes:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 9:17
And God sayd vnto Noah, This is the token of the couenaunt which I haue made betweene me and all fleshe that is vpon earth.

Genesis 9:23
And Sem and Iapheth takyng a garment, layde it vpon their shoulders, and commyng backwarde, couered the nakednesse of their father, namely their faces beyng turned away, lest they should see their fathers nakednesse.

Genesis 9:25
And he sayde: cursed be Chanaan, a seruaunt of seruauntes shall he be vnto his brethren.

Genesis 9:26
He sayde moreouer: blessed be the Lord God of Sem, and Chanaan shalbe his seruaunt.

Genesis 9:28
Noah liued after the fludde three hundred and fiftie yeres.

Genesis 17:11
Ye shal circumcise the fleshe of your foreskyn, and it shalbe a token of the couenaunt betwixt me and you.

Exodus 12:13
And the blood shalbe vnto you a token in the houses wherin you are: and whe I see the blood, I wyll passe ouer you, and the plague shall not be vpon you to destroy you when I smyte the lande of Egypt.

Exodus 13:16
This shalbe as a token vppon thyne hande, & as a remembraunce betweene thyne eyes, that the Lorde brought vs out of Egypt through a myghtie hande.

Joshua 2:12
Nowe therfore, I pray you sweare vnto me by the Lorde, that as I haue shewed you mercie, ye shall also shewe mercie vnto my fathers house, and geue me a true token:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the trees unto the vine,.... Another emblem of good and useful men; and it may be observed, that Jotham takes no notice of any trees but fruitful ones till he comes to the bramble, and them only such as were well known, and of the greatest use, in the land of Judea, as olives, figs, and vines, see Deuteronomy 8:8

come thou, and reign over us; this Jarchi applies to Gideon; but since there are three sorts of trees brought into the fable, and when the kingdom was offered to Gideon, it was proposed to him, and to his son, and his son's son, and refused, some reference may be had unto it in this apologue. Abarbinel thinks three sorts of men are intended as proper persons for rule and government, as honourable ones, such as are wealthy and rich, and also of good behaviour to God and man, as Gideon's sons were; but Abimelech was all the reverse.

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.