{"id":55603,"date":"2019-05-15T21:20:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T18:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=55603"},"modified":"2022-12-07T18:56:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T16:56:43","slug":"a-parable-as-lovely-as-a-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-parable-as-lovely-as-a-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"A Parable As Lovely As A Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[704],"acf":{"old_id":"55603","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Followed by shadows of irony in the mountains","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joyce Kilmer (who, incidentally, was killed while serving in the American army during World War I), famously wrote: \u201cI think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.\u201d \u00a0In our chapter, Yotam, youngest and sole surviving son of Gideon, disparaged his fellow Shechemites for choosing his half-brother Avimelekh to be their king. The instrument he employed was a parable about \u201cthe trees of the forest who sought themselves a king\u201d (v.8 ff.).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We read that the olive tree declines to rule lest it cease producing its respected oil (9), the fig tree declines lest it cease to produce its succulent fruit (11), and the vine declines lest it interrupt the production of its delightful wine (13). Finally, out of frustration, the trees turn to the lowly bramble bush, which consents to rule over them providing they can all take refuge in its meager shadow; otherwise, it threatens to ignite the entire forest (15). \u00a0The moral of the parable, as Yotam related it, is that Avimelekh was unworthy of their respect. They would be unable to take refuge in his meager shadow in which case he will ignite them and they would be consumed by one another\u2019s flame (20).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the continuation of the story, something akin to a civil war broke out between Avimelekh and his patrons\u2014fulfilling Yotam\u2019s augury of a conflagration that consumed both sides. After Shechem reconciled with Avimelekh, seeing him as a lesser threat than their hired gun, Gaal ben Eved (literally, \u201cloathsome son of a slave\u201d), Avimelekh set an ambush for Gaal in the neighboring hills. As Gaal spotted the ambush, the mayor of Shechem, Zevul, reassured him that he was mistaken, claiming that \u201cthe shadow of the mountain appears to you as people\u201d (36).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recall that in Yotam\u2019s parable the shadow of the bramble signified Avimelekh\u2019s protection and it was meant sarcastically. How ironic that Zevul used that very figure of speech (deliberately?) to protect Avimelekh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Photo from: Neot Kedumim Park<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55604,"id":55604,"title":"jud9-atad","filename":"jud9-atad.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-parable-as-lovely-as-a-tree\/jud9-atad\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud9-atad","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55603,"date":"2019-05-15 18:19:48","modified":"2019-05-15 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