Judges 9

Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to his mother's brothers. He talked with them and with the whole family of his mother's father, and said:

1And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

NoteShechem was a walled city in the hill country of central Israel, set in the pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Its population was largely Canaanite. Abimelech's mother was a woman of Shechem (Judges 8:31), so her brothers were Shechemites; in this culture a man's mother's clan were the natural people to appeal to when his father's household lived elsewhere. Jerubbaal is Gideon. The name is given to him in chapter 6, after he pulls down his father's altar to Baal: it means something like "let Baal contend against him".

2"Please say this to all the leaders of Shechem: 'Which is better for you, that all seventy sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember also that I am your own flesh and blood."

2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

Note"Leaders" translates a Hebrew word meaning literally "the lords" or "masters" of Shechem, the property-holding citizens who ran the city's affairs and could decide such a question. "Flesh and blood" renders the old idiom "your bone and your flesh," the standard way of claiming blood kinship. The seventy sons reflect Gideon's many wives (Judges 8:30); seventy is also a round number for a full complement.

3His mother's brothers repeated all of this about him to all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts turned toward following Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother."

3And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

4They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, and with it Abimelech hired worthless, reckless men, who followed him.

4And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

NoteSilver was weighed, not coined: these were seventy shekels, roughly two pounds of silver in all, a modest sum, enough to hire a small band. Temples held deposits of precious metal and served in part as treasuries. Baal-berith means "lord of the covenant" or "Baal of the treaty"; Baal was the chief Canaanite storm-god, and the word also meant simply "lord" or "owner."

5He went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left alive, because he hid himself.

5And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

NoteWiping out rival claimants was a normal precaution for a man seizing power in the ancient Near East. "On one stone" pictures a single block used as the place of execution; some read it as a sacrificial slab. Ophrah was Gideon's home town, several miles from Shechem.

6Then all the leaders of Shechem and all the people of the house of Millo gathered together. They went and made Abimelech king, by the great tree at the pillar in Shechem.

6And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

NoteThe house of Millo (Beth-millo) was probably Shechem's fortified citadel; "Millo" comes from a word meaning "filling," an earth-and-stone platform raised to carry a fortress. The great tree beside the standing stone was the city's traditional landmark for oaths and public assembly (compare Genesis 35:4; Joshua 24:26). Gideon had earlier refused an offer of hereditary rule (Judges 8:22–23); this is the first attempt at kingship in the book.

7When Jotham was told about it, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim. He raised his voice and shouted to them, "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

7And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

NoteMount Gerizim rises steeply just south of Shechem, so a man standing on its slope could be heard by people in the city below. It was also the traditional hill from which blessings were pronounced over Israel, with the curses called out from Mount Ebal opposite (Deuteronomy 27).

8One day the trees went out to anoint a king over themselves, that is, to pour oil on one of them and make him king. They said to the olive tree, 'Rule over us.'

8The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

NoteA fable in which plants or animals talk was a familiar way of making a sharp political point without stating it flatly. Anointing, pouring olive oil over the head, was the ceremony that installed a king or a priest.

9But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I give up my rich oil, which is used to honor both God and people, and go to wave over the trees?'

9But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

NoteOlive oil was the region's most valuable product: burned in the sanctuary lamps, mixed into grain offerings, and used to anoint kings and priests ("honor God"), and rubbed on the skin every day and at feasts ("and people"). "Wave over the trees" translates a Hebrew verb meaning to sway or toss about; the joke is that the king simply waves in the wind above the rest.

10Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and rule over us.'

10And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

11But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'

11But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

12Then the trees said to the grapevine, 'Come and rule over us.'

12Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

13But the grapevine said to them, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both God and people, and go to wave over the trees?'

13And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

NoteWine was poured out at the altar as a drink offering ("cheers God") as well as drunk at feasts ("and people").

14Then all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and rule over us.'

14Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

NoteThe thornbush or bramble is a low, spiny scrub of the dry hills: no fruit, no timber, no real shade, and notorious as tinder that carries fire fast through dry country.

15The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really are anointing me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'

15And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Note"Take shelter in my shade" is the point of the joke, a knee-high thornbush casts almost no shade, and anyone who crawled into it would be torn. Cedars of Lebanon were the tallest and most prized timber known in the region, the furthest possible thing from a bramble.

16"Now then, if you acted honestly and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have treated Jerubbaal and his family well, and have given him what his own deeds deserved…

16Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;

17for my father fought for you, risked his life, and rescued you from the power of Midian;

17(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

NoteMidian: a confederation of camel-riding desert peoples whose yearly plundering of Israel's harvests Gideon broke (Judges 6–8).

18but today you have turned against my father's family. You killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative

18And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)

NoteThe son of a slave woman or secondary wife ranked well below the sons of a full wife and would not normally have inherited or led the family. "He is your relative" is Abimelech's whole claim: his mother was a Shechemite.

19if you have acted honestly and in good faith toward Jerubbaal and his family today, then be glad in Abimelech, and let him be glad in you.

19If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo, and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo and burn up Abimelech."

20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Note"Let fire come out and burn up" is a standard form of curse. Jotham is now applying his fable point by point, with Abimelech in the place of the bramble.

21Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to Beer and lived there, because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.

21And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

NoteBeer means "well"; the place cannot now be identified, but the point is that Jotham put distance between himself and his brother.

22Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years.

22When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

NoteThe Hebrew says Abimelech "acted as ruler," a different word from the "judging" used of the other leaders in this book. In practice his authority covered Shechem and the country near it, not the whole of Israel.

23Then God sent a spirit of hostility between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem turned against Abimelech and betrayed him.

23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

Note"A spirit of hostility" is what the King James calls "an evil spirit"; the Hebrew adjective means harmful or ill-disposed. The phrase describes the collapse of good faith between the two sides.

24This happened so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal would come back, and their blood be charged to their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and to the leaders of Shechem, who helped him kill his brothers.

24That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

NoteBlood "charged to" someone is the language of blood-guilt: a killing left unavenged was treated as an outstanding debt attached to the killer until it was settled.

25The leaders of Shechem set men to hide and wait for him on the hilltops, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. Abimelech was told about it.

25And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

NoteRobbing the traffic on the hill passes struck at Abimelech directly. A ruler's income and standing depended on his ability to keep the roads safe and take the dues of trade passing through his territory.

26Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and moved into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem put their confidence in him.

26And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

NoteGaal appears with no introduction; nothing else is known of him or of his father Ebed, whose name means "servant." "His brothers" probably means his armed kinsmen and followers.

27They went out into the fields, picked the grapes from their vineyards, and trampled them. They held a celebration, went into the temple of their god, ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

27And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

NoteThis is the grape harvest festival at the end of summer. Grapes were crushed by treading them barefoot in a rock-cut vat. The feasting took place in the city's temple, and a curse spoken there, in the god's house, carried the weight of a formal renunciation rather than mere drunken abuse.

28Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Jerubbaal, with Zebul as his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem! Why should we serve Abimelech?

28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

NoteHamor was the Canaanite chieftain of Shechem generations earlier (Genesis 34). Gaal's argument is about ancestry: the old native ruling house of the city has a better claim than Abimelech, who is half an outsider through his father Gideon. "Who is Shechem" probably refers to that ruling clan, named after Hamor's son.

29If only these people were under my command! Then I would get rid of Abimelech." And he said to Abimelech, "Build up your army and come out and fight!"

29And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.

NoteAbimelech is not present; Gaal is shouting a challenge at an absent enemy in front of a crowd. The Hebrew can also be read "and I would say to Abimelech...", which is how many translations take it.

30When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he burned with anger.

30And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

NoteZebul governed Shechem on Abimelech's behalf while Abimelech himself lived elsewhere (verse 41).

31He secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are setting the city against you.

31And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.

Note"Secretly" translates a Hebrew word that some read instead as a place name, Tormah, possibly the same town as Arumah in verse 41. The verb behind "setting the city against you" is also uncertain: it may mean stirring up the city, closing it, or besieging it.

32So get up during the night, you and the men with you, and hide in the fields, waiting.

32Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field:

33In the morning, as soon as the sun is up, get up early and attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do to them whatever you find you are able to do."

33And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

34So Abimelech and all the men with him got up during the night, and they hid near Shechem in four groups.

34And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

35Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Just then Abimelech and the men with him came out from their hiding places.

35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait.

36When Gaal saw the men, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!" Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadows of the mountains and thinking they are men."

36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

37Gaal spoke again and said, "Look, people are coming down from the middle of the land, and another group is coming by way of the great tree of Meonenim, the Diviners' Oak."

37And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.

Note"The middle of the land" is literally "the navel of the land," a term for a central height. Meonenim means "soothsayers" or "diviners": a landmark tree where omens were read, of the kind found at many old sanctuaries.

38Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your big talk now? You said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Aren't these the very people you made fun of? Go out now and fight them."

38Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

39So Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought against Abimelech.

39And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.

40Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ran from him. Many men were struck down and wounded, all the way to the entrance of the gate.

40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

41Abimelech stayed at Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out, so that they could not live in Shechem.

41And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

NoteArumah was a town a few miles from Shechem. Abimelech had been ruling at a distance, with Zebul running the city for him.

42The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields, and Abimelech was told about it.

42And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.

43So he took his men and divided them into three groups, and they hid in the fields, watching. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose against them and struck them down.

43And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.

44Abimelech and the group with him rushed forward and took their place at the entrance of the city gate. The other two groups rushed at everyone in the fields and killed them.

44And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them.

45Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city, killed the people in it, tore the city down, and scattered salt over it.

45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

NoteScattering salt over a destroyed city was a symbolic act marking the site as cursed and not to be rebuilt or resettled. It was not a quantity that could have poisoned the surrounding farmland.

46When all the men in the tower of Shechem heard about it, they went into the inner stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.

46And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

NoteThe "tower of Shechem" may be the city's fortified citadel or a separate settlement of that name nearby. The "stronghold" was the inner chamber or vault of the temple, a thick-walled room serving both as a holy place and as a refuge. "Berith" means "covenant," so El-berith, "god of the covenant," is evidently the same deity called Baal-berith in verse 4.

47Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together there.

47And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

48So Abimelech went up Mount Zalmon with all the men who were with him. He took an axe in his hand, cut a branch from the trees, lifted it onto his shoulder, and said to his men, "Hurry and do what you have seen me do."

48And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

NoteMount Zalmon was a wooded hill near Shechem; the name suggests "dark" or "shady."

49So every man cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. They piled the branches against the stronghold and set it on fire over the people inside. So all the men of the tower of Shechem died too, about a thousand men and women.

49And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

50Then Abimelech went to Thebez. He camped against Thebez and captured it.

50Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

51But there was a strong tower inside the city. All the men and women, and everyone else in the city, ran into it, locked themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower.

51But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

NoteFortified towns commonly had a keep with its own barred door as a last refuge once the walls were lost. Its flat roof gave the defenders a place to stand and throw things down on attackers at the base.

52Abimelech came to the tower and attacked it. He pushed right up to the door of the tower to set it on fire.

52And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

53But a woman dropped a piece of a millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull.

53And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.

NoteThe upper stone of a household hand-mill: a shaped disc of hard stone, a few inches thick and light enough for one person to lift, turned against a lower stone to grind grain. Grinding was women's work, so this was an ordinary domestic object rather than a weapon.

54He quickly called the young man who carried his weapons and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that people will not say about me, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man ran him through, and he died.

54Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

NoteAn armor-bearer was a young attendant who carried a warrior's shield and weapons and stayed at his side in battle. For a fighting man to be killed by a woman was held to be the deepest possible disgrace (compare Sisera in Judges 4), and the story was in fact remembered exactly as Abimelech feared (2 Samuel 11:21).

55When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

56In this way God paid Abimelech back for the evil he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.

56Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

57God also brought all the evil of the men of Shechem back on their own heads. The curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

57And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

NoteThe curse is the one Jotham called down in verse 20.