Judges 9:11

JPS Old Testament

But the fig-tree said unto them: Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruitage, and go to hold sway over the trees?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But the fig tree said to them,“Should I stop givingmy sweetness and my good fruit,and rule over trees?”

Hebrew Names Version
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?

King James Version
But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Lexham English Bible
But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?'

English Standard Version
But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?'

New Century Version
"But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit and go and sway over the other trees?'

New English Translation
But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!'

Amplified Bible
"But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'

New American Standard Bible
"But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'

Geneva Bible (1587)
But the fig tree answered them, Should I forsake my sweetenesse, and my good fruite, and goe to aduance me aboue the trees?

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have poured themselves into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Contemporary English Version
But the fig tree replied, "I won't stop growing my delicious fruit, just to have my branches wave above the other trees."

Complete Jewish Bible
But the fig tree replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my sweetness and my good fruit just to go and hold sway over the trees?'

Darby Translation
But the fig-tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?

Easy-to-Read Version
"But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my good, sweet fruit just to go and sway over the other trees?'

George Lamsa Translation
But the fig tree said to them, I am not going to leave my sweetness and my good fruit, to be abominated for reigning over the trees.

Good News Translation
But the fig tree answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.'

Literal Translation
And the fig said to them, Should I cease from my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to hold sway over the trees?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the fygge tre sayde vnto the: Shal I leaue my swetnes and my good frute, and go to be puft vp aboue the trees?

American Standard Version
But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

Bible in Basic English
But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The figge tree aunswered them: should I forsake my sweetnes, and my good fruite, and go to be promoted ouer the trees?

King James Version (1611)
But the Figge tree saide vnto them, Should I forsake my sweetenesse, and my good fruit, and goe to be promoted ouer the trees?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But the fig-tree said to them, Shall I leave my sweetness an my good fruits, and go to be promoted over the trees?

English Revised Version
But the fig tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

Berean Standard Bible
But the fig tree replied, 'Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which answeride to hem, Whether Y may forsake my swetnesse and swetteste fruytis, and go that Y be auaunsid among othere trees?

Young's Literal Translation
And the fig saith to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

Update Bible Version
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?

Webster's Bible Translation
But the fig-tree said to them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

World English Bible
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?

New King James Version
But the fig tree said to them, "Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, And go to sway over trees?'

New Living Translation
But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?'

New Life Bible
But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my good sweet fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'

New Revised Standard
But the fig tree answered them, ‘Shall I stop producing my sweetness and my delicious fruit, and go to sway over the trees?'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and mine excellent increase, - and go to wave to and fro, over the trees?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?

Revised Standard Version
But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'

Contextual Overview

⁷ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them: 'Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. ⁸ The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree: Reign thou over us. ⁹ But the olive-tree said unto them: Should I leave my fatness, seeing that by me they honour God and man, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig-tree: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹¹ But the fig-tree said unto them: Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruitage, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹² And the trees said unto the vine: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹³ And the vine said unto them: Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁴ Then said all the trees unto the bramble: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹⁵ And the bramble said unto the trees: If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. ¹⁶ Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands--

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Luke 13:6, Luke 13:7

Cross-References

Genesis 9:21
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

Genesis 9:22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

Genesis 9:23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

Isaiah 54:9
For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the fig tree said unto them,.... Rejecting the offer made:

should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit; for such the fruit of the fig tree is, sweet and good: so Julian d the emperor shows from various authors, Aristophanes, Herodotus, and Homer, that nothing is sweeter than figs, excepting honey, and that no kind of fruit is better, and, where they are, no good is wanting:

and go to be promoted over the trees? the same is designed by this as the former.

d Opera, par. 2. ep. 24. Sarapioni, p. 142.

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 9:11. But the fig tree said - Should I forsake my sweetness — The fruit of the fig tree is the sweetest or most luscious of all fruits. A full-ripe fig, in its own climate, has an indescribable sweetness; so much so that it is almost impossible to eat it, till a considerable time after it is gathered from the trees, and has gone through an artificial preparation. This I have often noticed.