Judges 9:10

New Living Translation

"Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the trees said to the fig tree,“Come and reign over us.”

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

King James Version
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

Lexham English Bible
Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come rule over us.'

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

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

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

Amplified Bible
"Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and reign over us!'

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

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the trees sayde to the fig tree, Come thou, and be King ouer vs.

Legacy Standard Bible
But these men blaspheme the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

Contemporary English Version
Then they asked the fig tree, "Will you be our king?"

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

Darby Translation
And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, reign over us.

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

George Lamsa Translation
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come you, and reign over us.

Good News Translation
Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king.'

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

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the trees vnto the fygge tre: Come thou and be kynge ouer vs.

American Standard Version
And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

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

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the trees sayd to the figge tree: Come thou, and be kyng ouer vs.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the trees said to the fig-tree: Come thou, and reign over us.

King James Version (1611)
And the trees said to the Figge tree, Come thou, and reigne ouer vs.

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

English Revised Version
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

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

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the trees seiden to the fige tree, Come thou, and take the rewme on vs.

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

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

Webster's Bible Translation
And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, [and] reign over us.

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

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

New Life Bible
Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and rule over us!'

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

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

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

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

THE MESSAGE
The trees then said to Fig Tree, "You come and rule over us." But Fig Tree said to them, "Am I no longer good for making sweets, My mouthwatering sweet fruits, and to be demoted to waving over trees?"

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

Contextual Overview

⁷ When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God to listen to you! ⁸ Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king. First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!' ⁹ But the olive tree refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?' ¹⁰ "Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!' ¹¹ But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?' ¹² "Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!' ¹³ But the grapevine also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?' ¹⁴ "Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said, ‘Come, you be our king!' ¹⁵ And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'" ¹⁶ Jotham continued, "Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 2:30 - them

Cross-References

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede.

Genesis 9:1
Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

Genesis 9:5
"And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person's life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die.

Genesis 9:6
If anyone takes a human life, that person's life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.

Genesis 9:15
and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.

Genesis 9:16
When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."

Psalms 145:9
The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.

Jonah 4:11
But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the trees said to the fig tree,.... Another useful and fruit bearing tree, and to which also good men are sometimes compared, see Song of Solomon 2:13,

come thou, and reign over us: which Jarchi applies to Deborah, but may be better applied to one of Gideon's sons, who, though they had not a personal offer of kingly government themselves, yet it was made to them through their father, and refused, as for himself, so for them; and had it been offered to them, they would have rejected it, as Jotham seems to intimate by this parable.

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.