Abimelech’s Shadows (Judges 9)
In Jotham’s fable in Judges 9, he presents Abimelech as a bramble, who, when asked to be king, tells the other trees to “take refuge in my shadow” (tsl). Elsewhere in the Bible, kings provide shade for their people, the shade being a symbol of protection, but of course brambles don’t have a lot of shade to offer to, say, oak trees.
In fact, being the fire hazard that he is, Abimelech the Bramble King’s shadow isn’t a great refuge at all. The next time we hear about shadows is in verse 36. Gaal sees Abimelech and his army coming down the mountain to attack him. But when he cries out to Zebul, who is secretly still loyal to Abimelech, and says, “People coming down from the heads of the mountains!” Zebul responds by saying, “The shadow (tsl) of the mountains you are seeing like men.”
Then, when Abimelech is preparing to destroy the men of Shechem utterly, even though they’ve holed up in Baal’s stronghold, he goes to Shadow Mountain, Mount Tsalmon (English translations have Zalmon). There’s no other record of a mountain with that name, and commentators suggest that this might be another name for Mount Gerizim or Mount Ebal, the mountains near Shechem. If so, then the link with Abimelech’s bramble-shadow is even stronger. This is the mountain from which Abimelech gets the brush with which to burn the men of Shechem and destroy Baal’s temple.
That’s what comes of being under the bramble’s shadow. Having the bramble’s shadow come down upon you isn’t a good thing.