for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian,
We have here the only testimony that appears to have been borne against the wicked confederacy of Abimelech and the men of Shechem. It was a sign they had provoked God to depart from them that neither any prophet was sent nor any remarkable judgment, to awaken this stupid people, and to stop the progress of this threatening mischief.
Commenting on Judges 9:7-21
For my father fought for you,.... In the valley of Jezreel, and at Karkor, where with three hundred men he routed and destroyed an army of 135,000: and adventured his life far: which, according to our version, may seem to have respect to his going over Jordan, and following the Midianites, fleeing into their country, and fighting them at Karkor, at a great distance from...
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.
Commenting on Judges 9:7-21