Judges 9:11

Green's 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?

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.'

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?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But the fig-tree said unto them: Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruitage, and go to hold sway over 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 they told Jotham, and he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. And he lifted up his voice and cried, and said to them, Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, and God shall listen to you. ⁸ Going the trees went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive, Reign over us. ⁹ And the olive said to them, Should I cease from my fatness, by which they honor God and man, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig, You come, reign over us. ¹¹ And the fig said to them, Should I cease from my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹² And the trees said to the vine, You come, reign over us. ¹³ And the vine said to them, Should I cease from my new wine, which rejoices God and men, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁴ And all the trees said to the bramble bush, You come, reign over us. ¹⁵ And the bramble bush said to the trees, If you truly anoint me king over you, come seek refuge in my shade. And if not, let fire come out of the bramble bush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon. ¹⁶ And now if you have acted in truth and integrity when you made Abimelech king; and if you have done well with Jerubbaal and his house; and you have done to him as his hands did,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Luke 13:6, Luke 13:7

Cross-References

Genesis 9:21
And he drank from the wine, and was drunk. And he uncovered himself inside his tent.

Genesis 9:22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. And he told his two brothers outside.

Genesis 9:23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment and put it on both their shoulders. And they went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, their faces backward. And they did not see the nakedness of their father.

Isaiah 54:9
For this is the waters of Noah to Me; for as I swore to refrain from passing over the waters of Noah over the earth again, so I have sworn from being angry with you and rebuking you.

2 Peter 3:7
But the heavens and the earth now, having been stored up by the same Word, are being kept for fire to a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

2 Peter 3:11
Then all these being about to be dissolved, of what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness,

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.