9:7 When Jotham heard the news, 1 he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, 2 “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
9:8 “The trees were determined to go out 3 and choose a king for themselves. 4 They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ 5
1 tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
2 tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”
3 tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”
4 tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”
5 tn Or “Rule over us!”