Judges Chapter 9 verse 7 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 7. - On the top of Mount Gerizim. Mount Gerizim rises on the south-west side of Samaria or Shechem as a sheer rock about 800 feet in height, facing Mount Ebal, which is separated from it by the narrow valley, "some 500 yards wide," in which Samaria, now Nablus, is built. It was from Mount Gerizim that Joshua, in accordance with the directions given by Moses in Deuteronomy 11:29, caused the blessings of the law to be proclaimed, after the capture of At, while the curses were proclaimed from Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:33, 35). Some explain the name to mean "the mount of the Gerizzites," or Gerzites (1 Samuel 27:8); but the absence of the article makes this doubtful. Lifted up his voice. Implying that a considerable effort was necessary to be heard by the people below. The narrowness of the valley, however, and the rocky nature of the cliffs there largely increase the sound. I have myself heard the human voice utter an articulate word at a measured distance of one mile one furlong and seventeen yards; but it was in a peculiar state of the atmosphere The experiment has been made in recent years, and it has been proved that a man's voice can be distinctly heard in Nablus, and also upon Ebal, from Gerizimo It is thought that Jotham, having emerged from one of the vast caverns, overhung with luxuriant creepers, which are in the mountain's side, "stood upon a huge projecting crag of Gerizim" just above the ancient site of Sheehem, and thence addressed the people who were assembled beneath him. The rich vegetation of that well-watered spot, "unparalleled in Palestine," supplied the materials of his fable; for the olive, the fig, the vine all grow in that rich valley; while the bramble, which creeps up the barren side of the mountain, and which is still used to kindle the fire to roast the lamb at the Samaritan Passover, was to be seen there in abundance.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(7) In the top of mount Gerizim.--Unless Shechem is not to be identified with Neapolis (Nablous), and was rather, as De Saulcy decides, on Mount Gerizim itself, at a spot still marked by extensive ruins, it would have been entirely impossible for Jotham to be heard at Shechem from the actual summit of Gerizim. But over the town of Nablous is a precipitous rock, to the summit of which the name Gerizim might be loosely given. Here Jotham might well have stood; and it seems certain that in the still clear air of Palestine the rhythmical chant adopted by Orientals might be heard at a great distance. A traveller mentions that standing on Gerizim he heard the voice of a muleteer who was driving his mules down Mount Ebal; and on the very summit of Mount Gerizim I heard a shepherd holding a musical colloquy with another, who was out of sight on a distant hill. "The people in these mountainous countries are able from long practice to pitch their voices so as to be heard at distances almost incredible" (Thomson, Land and Book, p. 473).And cried.--It may be asked how Jotham ventured to risk his life by thus upbraiding the Shechemites. No certain answer, but many probable ones, may be offered. At the summit of a precipitous crag far above the city, and on a hillside abounding with caverns and hiding-places, he would have sufficient start to have at least a chance of safety from any pursuit; or he may not have been without some followers and kindly partisans, who, now that the massacre of his brethren was over, would not be too willing to allow him to be hunted down. Indeed, the pathos of his opening appeal may have secured for him a favourable hearing. Josephus says that he seized an opportunity when there was a public feast at Shechem, and the whole multitude were gathered there. "He spoke like the bard of the English ode, and before the startled assembly below could reach the rocky pinnacle where he stood, he was gone" (Stanley, p. 352).