ings of fine flour, cakes prepared in the pan, &c., had in the first sense. See on ver. 13. 13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which An. Exod. Ir. 286. cheereth God and man, and go Anno ante I. Olymp. 429. to be promoted over the trees? 14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. Or, thistle. invested with power for the public good can be no privilege to the sovereign. If he discharge the office faithfully, it will plant his pillow with thorns, fill his soul with anxious cares, rob him of rest and quiet, and, in a word, will be to him a source of distress and misery. All this is represented here under the emblem of the trees losing their fatness, their sweetness and good fruits, and their cheering influence. In short, we see from this most sensible fable that the beneficent, benevolent, and highly illuminated mind, is ever averse from the love of power; and that those who do seek it are the thoughtless, the yain, the ambitious, and those who wish for power merely for the purpose of self-gratification; persons who have neither the disposition nor the knowledge to use power for the advantage of the Verse 13. Which cheereth God and man] I believe community; and who, while they boast great things, on elohim here is to be taken in the same sense and make great pretensions and promises, are the typroposed on ver. 9. Vast libations of wine, as well rants of the people; and often through their ambition, as much oil, were used in heathenish sacrifices and-of-like the bramble in the fable, kindle a flame of foreign ferings; and it was their opinion that the gods actually or domestic war, in which their subjects are consumed. partook of, and were delighted with, both the wine, and oil. Verse 14. Then said all the trees unto the bramble] The word T, atad, which we translate bramble, is supposed to mean the rhamnus, which is the largest of thorns, producing dreadful spikes, similar to darts. See Theodoret on Psa. Iviii. 10, The sleepless nights and corroding cares of sovereignty, are most forcibly described by a poet of our own, whose equal in describing the inward workings of the human heart, in all varieties of character and circumstances, has never appeared either in ancient or modern times. Hear what he puts in the mouth of two of his care-worn kings : "How many thousand of my poorest subjects Are at this hour asleep?-Sleep, gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse! how have I frighted thee, The pagan mythology furnishes the most exquisite wines to its gods in heaven, and hence the nectar and ambrosia so much talked of and praised by the ancients. It is not reasonable to suppose that Jotham makes any reference here to the sacrifices, oblations, and perfumes offered to the true God. This language the idolatrous Shechemites could scarcely understand. What could the worshippers of Baal-berith know of the worship of the God who gave his law to Moses? And it is not very likely that Jotham himself was well acquainted with the sacred rites of the Mosaic reli-That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, gion, as they had been little preached in his time. And steep my senses in forgetfulness? Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber; Than in the perfumed chambers of the great, Under the canopies of costly state, And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody? Othou dull god! why liest thou with the vile In foathsome beds; and leav'st the kingly couch A watch-case, or a common 'larum bell? Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious surge; And in the visitation of the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them, With deafening clamours, in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes? Canst thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose To the wet sea-boy, in an hour so rude; And, in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, There is much of the moral of this fable contained in the different kinds of trees mentioned. 1. The olive; the most profitable tree to its owner, having few equals either for food or medicine, 2. The fig tree; one of the most fruitful of trees, and yielding one of the most delicious fruits, and superior to all others for sweetness. 3. The vine, which alone yields a liquor that, when properly prepared, and taken in strict moderation, is friendly both to the body and mind of man, having a most direct tendency to invigorate both. The bramble or thorn, which, however useful as a hedge, is dangerous to come near; and is here the emblem of an impious, cruel, and oppressive king. As the olive, fig, and vine, are said in this fable to refuse the royalty, because in consequence, they intimate, they should lose their own privileges, we learn that to be 4. The parable of Jotham A. M. 2799. B. C. 1205. An. Exod. Isr. 286. Anno ante CHAP. IX. to the men of Shechem. 15 And the bramble said unto | with Jerubbaal and with his house the trees, If in truth ye. anoint this day, then rejoice ye in Abime king over you, then come and melech, and let him also rejoice put your trust in shadow: in you: my and if not, "let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 1. Olymp. 429. V W ac A. M. 2789. B. C. 1205. An. Exod. Isr. 286. Anno ante I. Olymp. 429. 20. But if not, a let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the 16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. and his house, and have done unto him cording to the deserving of his hands; 17 (For my father fought for you, and ventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: ad 18 And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechein, because he is your brother ;) 19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely Isa. xxx. 2; Dan. iv, 12; Hos. xiv. 7. xxi. 28; Ezek. xix. 14.2 Kings xiv. 9; ii. 13; xxxvii. 24; Ezek. xxxi. 3. Ch. cast his life. Ver. 5, 6.-- Isa. viii. 6; Verse 20; Num. Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down! "O hard condition! twin-born with greatness, And what have kings, that privates have not too, ""Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball, SHAKSPEARE. This is precisely the sentiment expressed in the denial of the olive, fig tree, and vine. Verse 15. Come and put your trust in my shadow] The vain boast of the would-be sovereign; and of the man who is seeking to be put into power by the suffrages of the people. All promise, no performance. Let fire come out of the bramble] A strong catachresis. The bramble was too low to give shelter to any tree; and so far from being able to consume others, that the smallest fire will reduce it to ashes, and that in the shortest time. Hence the very transitory mirth of fools is said to be like the cracking of thorns under a pot. Abimelech was the bramble; and the cedars of Lebanon, all the nobles and people of Is 21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. 22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, A. M. 2802. B. C. 1202. An. Exod. Isr. 289. Anno ante 1.Olymp. 426. spirit between Abimelech and 24 That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their bro a Ver. 15, 56, 57.- -b 2 Sam. xx. 14. 1 Sam. xvi. 14; xviii. 9, 10; see 1 Kings xii. 15; xxii. 22; 2 Chron. x. 15; xviii. 19, &c.; Isa. xix. 2, 14.—d Isa. xxxiii. 1.— 1 Kings ii. 32; Esth. ix. 25; Psa. vii. 16; Matt. xxii. 35, 36. rael. Could they therefore suppose that such a lowborn, uneducated, eruel; and murderous man, could be a proper protector, or a humane governor ? He who could imbrue his hands in the blood of his brethren in order to get into power, was not likely to stop at any means to retain that power when possessed. If, therefore, they took him for their king, they might rest assured that desolation and blood would mark the whole of his reign.. The condensed moral of the whole fable is this: Weak, worthless, and wicked men, will ever be foremost to thrust themselves into power; and, in the end, to bring ruin upon themselves, and on the unhappy people over whom they preside. Verse 20. Let fire come out from Abimelech] As the thorn or bramble may be the means of kindling other wood, because it may be easily ignited; so shall Abimelech be the cause of kindling a fire of civil discord among you, that shall consume the rulers and great men of your country. A prophetic déclaration of what would take place. Verse 21. Went to Beer] Mr. Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 64, 5th edit., mentions a place of this name, which he thinks to be that to which Jotham Hed, and supposed to be the same as Michmash, 1 Sam. xiv. It is situated, he says, towards the south, on an easy declivity; and has a fountain of excellent. water at the bottom of the hill from which it has taken its name. Verse 23. God sent an evil spirit] He permitted jealousies to take place which produced factions; and these factions produced insurrections, civil contentions, and slaughter, Gaal and the Shechemites A. M. 2802. ther, which slew them; and upon | privily, saying, Behold, Gaal A. M. 2802. 289. Anno ante 1. Olymp. 426. An. Exod. Isr. the men of Shechem, which the son of Ebed and his brethren An. Exod. Isr. f aided him in the killing of his be come to Shechem; and, bebrethren. hold, they fortify the city against thee. 289. Anno ante I. Olymp. 426. 25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them and it was told Abimelech. 32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: 33 And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. 34 And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: 28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Je-and Abimelech rose up, and the people that rubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the were with him, from lying in wait. men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? k -5 Or, songs; sce Isa.. f Heb. strengthened his hands to kill. xvi. 9, 10; Jer. xxv: 30.-- h Verse 4. 1 Kings xii. 16.- k Gen. xxxiv. 2, 6.Verse 25. The men of Shechem set liers in wait] It pleased God to punish this bad man by the very persons who had contributed to his iniquitous elevation. So God often makes the instruments of men's sins the means of their punishment. It is likely that although Abimelech had his chief residence at Shechem, yet he frequently went to Ophrah, the city of his father; his claim to which there was none to oppose, as he had slain all his brethren. It was probably in his passage between those two places that the Shechemites had posted cut-throats, in order to assassinate him; as such men had no moral principle, they robbed and plundered all who came that way. Of this person 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 37 And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of a Meonenim.. 38 Then said Zebul unto him, Where is m Or, hot.- - Heb. craftily, or, to Tormah.. Lo Heb. as thine hand shall find; 1 Sam. x. 7; xxv. 8; Eccles. ix, 10.- Heb. navel.- - Or, the regarders of the times; Deut. xviii. 14. Verse 29. Would to God this people were under my hand] The very words and conduct of a sly, hypocritical demagogue. Increase thine army, and come out.] When he found his party strong, and the public feeling warped to his side, then he appears to have sent a challenge to Abimelech, to come out and fight him. Verse 31. They fortify the city against thee.] Under pretence of repairing the walls and towers, they were actually putting the place in a state of defence, intending to seize on the government as soon as they should find Abimelech coming against them. Fortifying the city may mean seducing the inhabitants from their loyalty to Abimelech. Verse 26. Gaal the son of Ebed] we know no more than is here told. Verse 35. Stood in the entering of the gate] Having bly one of the descendants of the Canaanites, who probably got some intimation of the designs of Zebul hoped from the state of the public mind, and their dis-and Abimelech. affection to Abimelech, to cause a revolution, and thus Verse 37. By the plain of Meonenim.] Some transto restore the ancient government as it was under Hamor, the father of Shechem. Verse 28. Zebul his officer] p pekido, his overseer; probably governor of Shechem in his absence. fate, by the way of the oaks, or oaken groves; others, by the way of the magicians, or regarders of the times, as in our margin. Probably it was a place in which augurs and soothsayers dwelt. Abimelech defeats Gaal, and A. M. 2802. An. Exod. Isr. 289. Anno ante I. Olymp. 426. now thy mouth, wherewith thou | Shechem heard that, they enter I saidst, Who is Abimelech, that ed into a hold of the house of 47 And it was told Abimelech, we should serve him? is not the god Berith. this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. 39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. A. M. 2802. Anno ante that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. V 48 And Abimelech gat him up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with 40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, before him, and many were overthrown and and cut down a bough from the trees, and took wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the 41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah and people that were with him, What ye have seen Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that me do, make haste, and do as I have done. they should not dwell in Shechem. 49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 42 And it came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43 And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city and he rose up against them, and smote them. 44 And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. t Verse 45. And sowed it with salt.] Intending that the destruction of this city should be a perpetual memorial of his achievements. The salt was not designed to render it barren, as some have imagined; for who would think of cultivating a city? but as salt is an emblem of incorruption and perpetuity, it was no doubt designed to perpetuate the memorial of this transaction, and as a token that he wished this desolation to be eternal. This sowing a place with salt was a custom in different nations to express permanent desolation and abhorrence. Sigonius observes that when the city of Milan was taken, in A. D. 1162, the walls were razed, and it was sown with salt. And Brantome informs us that it was an ancient custom in France to sow the house of a man with salt, who had been deelared a traitor to his king. Charles IX., king of France, the most base and perfidious of human beings, caused the house of the Admiral Coligni (whom he and the Duke of Guise caused to be murdered, with thousands more of Protestants, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, 1572) to be sown with salt! How many VOL. II. ( 10 ) 50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. 52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull. houses have been since sown with salt in France by the just judgments of God, in revenge for the massacre of the Protestants on the eve of St. Bartholomew ! Yet for all this God's wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Verse 46. A hold of the house of the god Berith.] This must mean the precincts of the temple, as we find there were a thousand men and women together in that place. pelach Verse 53. A piece of a millstone] recheb, a piece of a chariot wheel; but the word is used in other places for upper millstones, and is so understood here by the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic. And all to break his skull.] A most nonsensical version of inhaba na vattarits eth gulgolto, which is literally, And she brake, or fractured, his skull. Plutarch, in his life of Pyrrhus, observes that this king was killed at the siege of Thebes, by a piece of a tile, which a woman threw upon his head. Verse 54. Draw thy sword, and slay me] It was a God requites Abimelech A. M. 2802. An. Exod. Isr. man his armour-bearer, and said 56 Thus God rendered the unto him, Draw thy sword, and wickedness of Abimelech, which 289. Anno ante slay me, that men say not of me, he did unto his father, in slaying I. Olymp. 426. A woman slew him. And his his seventy brethren: young man thrust him through, and he died. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. z Ver. 24; Job xxxi. 3; Psa. xciv. 23; Prov. v. 22. disgrace to be killed by a woman; on this account, Seneca the tragedian deplores the death of Hercules :O turpe fatum! femina Herculeæ necis Autor feritur. HERC. OETEUS, ver. 1177. A. M. 2802. B. C. 1202. An. Exod. Isr. 289. Anno ante 1. Olymp. 426. 57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads and upon them, came a the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. a Ver. 20. choicest treasures of wisdom, and the most perfect rules for governing a people. This book they presented to their rajahs, who kept it with the greatest secrecy and care. About the time of Mohammed's birth, or the latter end of the sixth century, Noishervan the Just, who then reigned in Persia, discovered a great inclination to see that book; for which purpose Burzuvia, a physician, who had a surprising talent in learnAbimelech was also afraid that if he fell thus mortallying several languages, particularly Sanskerritt, was inwounded into the hands of his enemies, they might troduced to him as the most proper person to be emtreat him with cruelty and insult. "O dishonourable fate! a woman is reported to have been author of the death of Hercules." Verse 56. Thus God rendered, &c.] Both the fratricide Abimelech, and the unprincipled men of Shechem, had the iniquity visited upon them of which they had been guilty. Man's judgment may be avoided; but there is no escape from the judgments of God. I HAVE said that the fable of Jotham is the oldest, and perhaps the best, in the world; and have referred for other particulars to the end of the chapter. On the general subject of fable, apologue, and parable, the reader will find a considerable dissertation at the end of Matt. xiii.; I shall add but a few things here, and they shall refer to the oldest collection of fables extant. These are of Indian origin, and are preserved in the Sanscreet, from which they have been translated into different languages, both Asiatic and European, under various titles. The collection is called Hitopadesa, and the author Veshnoo Sarma; but they are known in Europe by. The Tales and Fables of Bidpay, or Pilpay, an ancient Indian Philosopher. Of this collection Sir William Jones takes the following notice :-"The fables of Veshnoo Sarma, whom we ridiculously call Pilpay, are the most beautiful, if not the most ancient, collection of apologues in the world. They were first translated from the Sanscreet, in the sixth century, by Buzerchumihr, or bright as the sun, the chief physician, and afterwards the vizir of the great Anushirwan; and are extant under various names, in more than twenty languages. But their original title is Hitopadesa, or amicable instruction; and as the very existence of Esop, whom the Arabs believe to have been an Abyssinian, appears rather doubtful, I am not disinclined to suppose that the first moral fables which appeared in Europe were of Indian or Ethiopian origin." ployed to get a copy of it. He went to India, where, after some years' stay, and great trouble, he procured it. It was translated into the Pehluvi (the ancient Persian language) by him and Buzrjumehr, the vizir. Noishervan, ever after, and all his successors, the Persian kings, had this book in high esteem, and took the greatest care to keep it secret. At last Abu Jaffer Munsour zu Nikky, who was the second caliph of the Abassi reign; by great search got a copy of it in the Pehluvi language, and ordered Imam Hassan Abdal Mokaffa, who was the most learned of the age, to translate it into Arabic. This prince ever after made it his guide, not only in affairs relating to the government, but also in private life. As "In the year, 380 of the Hegira, Sultan Mahmud Ghazi put into verse; and afterwards, in the year 515, by order of Bheram Shah ben Massaud, that which Abdal Mokaffa had translated was retranslated into Persic by Abdul Mala Nasser Allah Mustofi; and this is that Kulila Dumna which is now extant. this latter had too many Arabic verses and obsolete phrases in it, Molana Ali ben Hessein Vaes, at the request of Emir Soheli, keeper of the seals to Sultan Hossein Mirza, put it into a more modern style, and gave it the title of Anuar Soheli. "In the year 1002, the great moghul Jalal o Din Mohommed Akbar ordered his own secretary and vizir, the learned Abul Fazl, to illustrate the obscure passages, abridge the long digressions, and put it into such a style as would be most familiar to all capacities; which he accordingly did, and gave it the name of Ayar Danish, or the Criterion of Wisdom." Thus far Mr. Frazer, under the word Ayar Danish. "In the year 1709," says Dr. Wilkins, "the Kulila Dumna, the Persian version of Abul Mala Nasser Allah Mustofi, made in the 515th year of the Hegira, was translated into French, with the title of Les Con Mr. Frazer, in his collection of Oriental MSS. at the end of his History of Nadir Shah, gives us the fol-seils et les Maximes de Pilpay, Philosophe Indien, sur lowing account of this curious and instructive work :- les divers Etats de la Vie. This edition resembles the "The ancient brahmins of India, after a good deal | Hitopadesa more than any other then seen; and is eviof time and labour, compiled a treatise, (which they dently the immediate original of the English Instruccalled Kurtuk Dumnik,) in which were inserted the tive and entertaining Fables of Pilpay, an ancient ( 10 ) b 146 |