Judges 9:7

“And when they told it to Jotham, etc.] Or when it was told him that Abimelech was made king in Shechem by some of his friends: he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim; a mount near Shechem; it hung over the city, as Josephus says f199, and so a very proper place to stand on and deliver a speech from it to the inhabitants of it; who, as the same writer says, were now keeping a festival, on what account he says not, perhaps to Baalberith their idol: over against this mountain was another, called Ebal, and between them a valley; and very likely they were assembled in this valley, where the children of Israel stood when the blessings were delivered from Gerizim, and the curses from Ebal;…”

“JOTHAM BY A PARABLE REPROACHES THEM. (Jdg 9:7-21) he . . . stood in the top of mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice--The spot he chose was, like the housetops, the public place of Shechem; and the parable [Jdg 9:8-15] drawn from the rivalry of the various trees was appropriate to the diversified foliage of the valley below. Eastern people are exceedingly fond of parables and use them for conveying reproofs, which they could not give in any other way. The top of Gerizim is not so high in the rear of the town, as it is nearer to the plain. With a little exertion of voice, he could easily have been heard by the people of the city; for the hill so overhangs the valley, that a person from the…”

“The top of Mount Gerizim - The ancient Shechem was perhaps situated there. The population of Shechem is supposed to have been keeping some public festival outside the city when Jotham addressed them. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Mount Gerizim - Which lay near Shechem. The valley between Gerizim and Ebal, was a famous place, employed for the solemn reading of the law, and its blessings and curses: and it is probable it was still used, even by the superstitious and idolatrous Israelites for such occasions, who delighted to use the same places which their ancestors had used. Cried - So that they who stood in the valley might hear him, though not suddenly come at him to take him. Men of Shechem - Who were here met together upon a solemn occasion, as Josephus notes, Abimelech being absent. That God may hearken - When you cry unto him for mercy; so he conjures and persuades them to give him patient audience. Judges 9:8”

“mount Gerizim: Deu 11:29, Deu 27:12; Jos 8:33; Joh 4:20 Hearken: Psa 18:40, Psa 18:41, Psa 50:15-21; Pro 1:28, Pro 1:29, Pro 21:13, Pro 28:9; Isa 1:15, Isa 58:6-10; Mat 18:26-34; Jam 2:13 Judges 9:8”

“When Jotham, who had escaped after the murder, was told of the election which had taken place, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim, which rises as a steep wall of rock to the height of about 800 feet above the valley of Shechem on the south side of the city (Rob. iii. p. 96), and cried with a loud voice, "Hearken to me, ye lords of Shechem, and God will also hearken to you." After this appeal, which calls to mind the language of the prophets, he uttered aloud a fable of the trees which wanted to anoint a king over them-a fable of true prophetic significance, and the earliest with which we are acquainted ( Jdg 9:8-15). To the appeal which is made to them in succession to become king over the…”