Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
The invitation to the vine to reign is part of Jotham's parable from Mount Gerizim rebuking the people of Shechem for their folly, injustice, and ingratitude in making Abimelech king. The olive, fig, and vine refuse to leave their useful fruit-bearing work to seek power, picturing unselfish leaders like Gideon and his sons, while the worthless bramble eagerly takes the honor, picturing Abimelech grasping for rule and destroying those better than himself. The council of trees seeking a ruler and asking the vine to reign is fictitious and imaginary, an invented story meant to impress a moral truth about kings in a striking way. It gives inanimate things the speech, reasoning, and actions of living rational persons, as if alive and taking part in an election. Since the trees are not conscious and do not literally speak, their speaking cannot prove the dead are conscious, and the same personification explains the speaking dead in hades in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.
Jotham's Parable and Lesson
The verse belongs to Jotham's parable of the trees seeking a king, spoken from Mount Gerizim to the people of Shechem while they were celebrating Abimelech as king. It rebukes their folly in choosing Abimelech, who had caused his brothers to be slain, and exposes their folly, injustice, and ingratitude in making him king. The invitation to the vine to reign is part of that rebuke of the men of Shechem for their choice.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant, who caused Gideon's sons to be slain so that he might become ruler of Israel. He utterly destroyed Shechem, the city Jeroboam later rebuilt as the capital of his kingdom. The episode belongs to the fearfully checkered history of Israel in the time of the judges, showing how the family of Gideon degenerated because they trusted in things which are seen instead of in the unseen power.
The olive refuses to leave its oil, the fig tree its fruit, and the vine its wine to become king, refusing to leave fruit-bearing work to reign. Their refusal portrays the unselfish, unambitious conduct of Gideon and his sons, who would not grasp kingly honor. The olive, fig tree, and vine represent noble leaders such as Moses and Joshua, who served others without seeking rank or power.
Those doing valuable work for the Lord have no desire to rule over their brethren, and ambition to be exalted over others is evidence of unfitness to lead. By contrast the worthless bramble readily takes the honor. It represents Abimelech, who grasped for honor and destroyed those better than himself.
The trees' invitation to the vine shows how a vivid word picture can hold attention and convey a moral point, but also that parables can be misunderstood without explanation. Trees electing a king belongs to fable, in contrast to human beings who can choose and are accountable for their choices. The vine's place as one invited to rule pictures a contest over which church will bear the best fruit.
Fable Form and Personification
The verse is part of an apologue or fable in which trees are imagined holding a council and making speeches to one another while seeking a ruler. Within that council the trees are pictured as speaking together and asking the vine to reign over them. The conversation and election are fictitious, invented and imaginary, not events that actually happened. They are not presented as things trees can literally say or do.
The verse uses personification, giving inanimate things the speech, personality, actions and language of living persons. The trees are made to speak and reason as if they were rational beings, taking part in an election and holding council with speeches and an invitation to reign. They are given the figure, sentiments, actions and language of rational beings, represented as animated and acting as though alive. Scripture in this way makes inanimate things speak and act as if alive, attributing to them the words, reasoning and sentiments of living, rational persons.
Listeners recognize the impossibility and understand that the story is meant to impress a moral truth in a striking way. It is an invented narrative representing real matters, in this case the work of kings. Attributing speech to beings that cannot speak is a fictitious feature used to make the parable work, and does not make the speaker false.
Witness Against Conscious Dead
The invitation to the vine to reign is part of a parable that puts speech into trees that are not conscious and do not actually speak or talk literally. The speaking is figurative, belonging to an invented scene in Judges 9:7-15 in which trees appear as speaking characters searching for a king. Because unconscious trees are made to speak, their speaking cannot prove that the dead are conscious, nor does it show that trees themselves are conscious or able literally to speak.
The trees holding council, making speeches, and conducting an election in which the vine is asked to reign are inanimate things personified and represented as animated, given the figure, sentiments, actions, language, personality and reasoning of living rational beings while they are not alive as persons. By the Spirit of God they are made to speak and act as though alive and rational concerning an election. That same personification explains how the dead in hades are made to speak and act as though alive concerning the facts of their cases in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Therefore the speech of dead people in Luke 16 does not establish that the dead are conscious, any more than the speech of trees establishes consciousness in trees.
The invitation to the vine to reign is part of Jotham's parable from Mount Gerizim rebuking the people of Shechem for their folly, injustice, and ingratitude in making Abimelech king. The olive, fig, and vine refuse to leave their useful fruit-bearing work to seek power, picturing unselfish leaders like Gideon and his sons, while the worthless bramble eagerly takes the honor, picturing Abimelech grasping for rule and destroying those better than himself. The council of trees seeking a ruler and asking the vine to reign is fictitious and imaginary, an invented story meant to impress a moral truth about kings in a striking way. It gives inanimate things the speech, reasoning, and actions of living rational persons, as if alive and taking part in an election. Since the trees are not conscious and do not literally speak, their speaking cannot prove the dead are conscious, and the same personification explains the speaking dead in hades in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.
Jotham's Parable and Lesson
The verse belongs to Jotham's parable of the trees seeking a king, spoken from Mount Gerizim to the people of Shechem while they were celebrating Abimelech as king. It rebukes their folly in choosing Abimelech, who had caused his brothers to be slain, and exposes their folly, injustice, and ingratitude in making him king. The invitation to the vine to reign is part of that rebuke of the men of Shechem for their choice.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant, who caused Gideon's sons to be slain so that he might become ruler of Israel. He utterly destroyed Shechem, the city Jeroboam later rebuilt as the capital of his kingdom. The episode belongs to the fearfully checkered history of Israel in the time of the judges, showing how the family of Gideon degenerated because they trusted in things which are seen instead of in the unseen power.
The olive refuses to leave its oil, the fig tree its fruit, and the vine its wine to become king, refusing to leave fruit-bearing work to reign. Their refusal portrays the unselfish, unambitious conduct of Gideon and his sons, who would not grasp kingly honor. The olive, fig tree, and vine represent noble leaders such as Moses and Joshua, who served others without seeking rank or power.
Those doing valuable work for the Lord have no desire to rule over their brethren, and ambition to be exalted over others is evidence of unfitness to lead. By contrast the worthless bramble readily takes the honor. It represents Abimelech, who grasped for honor and destroyed those better than himself.
The trees' invitation to the vine shows how a vivid word picture can hold attention and convey a moral point, but also that parables can be misunderstood without explanation. Trees electing a king belongs to fable, in contrast to human beings who can choose and are accountable for their choices. The vine's place as one invited to rule pictures a contest over which church will bear the best fruit.
Fable Form and Personification
The verse is part of an apologue or fable in which trees are imagined holding a council and making speeches to one another while seeking a ruler. Within that council the trees are pictured as speaking together and asking the vine to reign over them. The conversation and election are fictitious, invented and imaginary, not events that actually happened. They are not presented as things trees can literally say or do.
The verse uses personification, giving inanimate things the speech, personality, actions and language of living persons. The trees are made to speak and reason as if they were rational beings, taking part in an election and holding council with speeches and an invitation to reign. They are given the figure, sentiments, actions and language of rational beings, represented as animated and acting as though alive. Scripture in this way makes inanimate things speak and act as if alive, attributing to them the words, reasoning and sentiments of living, rational persons.
Listeners recognize the impossibility and understand that the story is meant to impress a moral truth in a striking way. It is an invented narrative representing real matters, in this case the work of kings. Attributing speech to beings that cannot speak is a fictitious feature used to make the parable work, and does not make the speaker false.
Witness Against Conscious Dead
The invitation to the vine to reign is part of a parable that puts speech into trees that are not conscious and do not actually speak or talk literally. The speaking is figurative, belonging to an invented scene in Judges 9:7-15 in which trees appear as speaking characters searching for a king. Because unconscious trees are made to speak, their speaking cannot prove that the dead are conscious, nor does it show that trees themselves are conscious or able literally to speak.
The trees holding council, making speeches, and conducting an election in which the vine is asked to reign are inanimate things personified and represented as animated, given the figure, sentiments, actions, language, personality and reasoning of living rational beings while they are not alive as persons. By the Spirit of God they are made to speak and act as though alive and rational concerning an election. That same personification explains how the dead in hades are made to speak and act as though alive concerning the facts of their cases in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Therefore the speech of dead people in Luke 16 does not establish that the dead are conscious, any more than the speech of trees establishes consciousness in trees.