Judges — Chapter 9

Jotham's parable of the trees seeking a king: the olive, fig, and vine all refuse — they prefer their proper fruitfulness to the vanity of rule. Only the bramble (rhamnus) accepts, threatening fire. Lapide: the worthiest men shun power; those who crave it are like brambles, burning those who shelter under them. The parable is a warning to all who seek dominion for its own sake.

God sends an evil spirit between Abimelech and the Shechemites. Lapide, following S. Augustine: God uses even the devil as a scourge of the impious, sending him against those whose sins cry out for punishment. God's justice employs the malice of wicked spirits to execute retributive chastisement — not injustice but providential discipline.

A woman drops a millstone on Abimelech's head. He asks his armour-bearer to run him through \"lest it be said a woman slew me.\" Lapide: just punishment — Abimelech who slew 70 brothers on a stone is himself struck by a stone, and by a woman's hand. God's retribution employs the instrument of the crime. Also: Pyrrhus of Epirus and Attila were similarly slain.