From: Judges 9:6-15
Abimelech tries to become king of Shechem
[7] When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim,
and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God
may listen to you. [8] The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and
they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ [9] But the olive tree said to them,
‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honoured, and to sway
over the trees?’ [10] And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over
us.’ [11] But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good
fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ [12] And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come
you, and reign over us.’ [13] But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine
which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ [14] Then all the
trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ [15] And the bramble
said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come
and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and de-
vour the cedars of Lebanon.’
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Commentary:
9:1-57. This account of Abimelech’s royal ambitions teaches the lesson that
the only king of Israel is the Lord, or whomever he anoints, and it has to be read
in that religious context. When someone schemes to obtain political power, he
could well be motivated by greed or ambition rather than a sense of public ser-
vice. Certainly that was true in Abimelech’s case: he murdered his brothers in
order to gain power. Even though at first he convinced the people of Shechem
to go along with him, he eventually lost their trust and was defeated, after cau-
sing great suffering to those who were naive enough to ease his path to power.
Jotham’s fable is a nice example of how those who have really important things
to do (the olive, the fig tree and the vine) find excuses for not getting involved in
government, whereas those most unsuited for it (the bramble) have ambitions
in that direction (vv. 7-15). Abimelech is very different from the other judges: they,
men and women chosen by God, bring the people salvation and peace; he acts
only for himself, and brings destruction, fire and death.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 20:1-16
The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard
[9] And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received
a denarius. [10] Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more;
but each of them also received a denarius. [11] And on receiving it they grumbled
at the householder, [12] saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have
made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching
heat.’ [13] But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did
you not agree with me for a denarius? [14] Take what belongs to you, and go; I
choose to give to this last as I give to you. [15] Am I not allowed to do what I
choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? [16] So
the last will be first, and the first last.”
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Commentary:
1-16. This parable is addressed to the Jewish people, whom God called at an
early hour, centuries ago. Now the Gentiles are also being called — with an equal
right to form part of the new people of God, the Church. In both cases it is a mat-
ter of a gratuitous, unmerited, invitation; therefore, those who were the “first” to
receive the call have no grounds for complaining when God calls the “last” and
gives them the same reward — membership of His people. At first sight the labo-
rers of the first hour seem to have a genuine grievance—because they do not rea-
lize that to have a job in the Lord’s vineyard is a divine gift. Jesus leaves us in
no doubt that although He calls us to follow different ways, all receive the same
reward — Heaven.
2. “Denarius”: a silver coin bearing an image of Caesar Augustus (Matthew 22:
19-21).
3. The Jewish method of calculating time was different from ours. They divided
the whole day into eight parts, four night parts (called “watches”) and four day
parts (called “hours”)—the first, third, sixth and ninth hour.
The first hour began at sunrise and ended around nine o’clock; the third ran to
twelve noon; the sixth to three in the afternoon; and the ninth from three to sun-
set. This meant that the first and ninth hours varied in length, decreasing in au-
tumn and winter and increasing in spring and summer and the reverse happe-
ning with the first and fourth watches.
Sometimes intermediate hours were counted—as for example in verse 6 which
refers to the eleventh hour, the short period just before sunset, the end of the
working day.
16. The Vulgate, other translations and a good many Greek codices add: “For
many are called, but few are chosen” (cf. Matthew 22:14).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.