Judges 9: Abimelech kills his seventy brothers and is made king at Shechem

In plain English: Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother's brothers. He spoke with them and with the whole clan (this Bible: family) of his mother's father's household, saying,

Good to know: Jerubbaal is Gideon, who was given this name in 6:32. 8:30 says Gideon had seventy sons, and 8:31 says his concubine in Shechem bore him Abimelech. In 8:23 Gideon had told Israel, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you."

In plain English: "Please say this in the hearing (literally: in the ears) of all the men of Shechem: 'Which is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."

The Hebrew word: "The men of Shechem" is literally "the ba'alim of Shechem". Ba'al is also the name of the god Baal, and as a common word the dictionary gives it as "a master; hence, a husband, or (figuratively) owner". Here it may mean the leading men, the landowners or simply the citizens. In Judges this Bible says "men" in 16 of the 17 verses that use it.

Good to know: "Rule over you" is the same word Gideon used in 8:23, "I will not rule over you". Laban says "you are my bone and my flesh" to Jacob in Genesis 29:14: it means a close relative.

In plain English: His mother's brothers spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem. Their hearts leaned toward following Abimelech, because they said, "He is our brother."

In plain English: They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal Berith. With it Abimelech hired worthless (literally: empty) and reckless men, and they followed him.

Good to know: Baal Berith was the god Israel turned to after Gideon died (8:33). Verse 46 names "the house of El Berith" at Shechem. Berith is the Hebrew word for covenant, which the dictionary gives as "a compact". The text does not say whether Baal Berith and El Berith are two names for one god.

The Hebrew words: "Vain" is reyq, which the dictionary gives as "empty; figuratively, worthless". "Reckless" is from pachaz, "to bubble up or froth (as boiling water)". The men who join Jephthah in 11:3 are called by the same first word.

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

In plain English: All the men of Shechem gathered together with all of Beth Millo (this Bible: the house of Millo), and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar (or: the oak that stood) at Shechem.

The Hebrew words: "Millo" is millo, which the dictionary gives as "a rampart (as filled in), i.e. the citadel", so "Beth Millo" may be the people of a fort at Shechem. "The oak of the pillar" is literally "the oak, set up": from natsab, which the dictionary gives as "to station".

What changes: Read as "the oak of the pillar", it is an oak beside a standing stone. Read as "the oak that stood", it is simply a great tree that was there. Joshua 24:26 says that at Shechem Joshua took "a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh". The text here does not say if this is the same place.

In plain English: When Jotham was told about it, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, called out, and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

Good to know: Mount Gerizim is the mountain where the blessing was to be spoken when Israel came into the land (Deuteronomy 11:29, Joshua 8:33).

In plain English: The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be king (this Bible: reign) over us.'

Good to know: Verses 8 to 15 are a story Jotham tells, in which trees talk. They are Jotham's words, not the narrator's and not God's. Jotham gives his own meaning in verses 16 to 20: the trees' choice is the men of Shechem making Abimelech king, and the fire is what he calls down on them and on Abimelech if they have not acted in good faith.

In plain English: "But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I give up my oil, by which God (or: gods) and men are honored, and go to sway (this Bible: wave back and forth) over the trees?'

The Hebrew word: "God" here is elohim. The dictionary gives it as "gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used ... of the supreme God". So the olive's words can be read "God and men are honored" or "gods and men are honored". Verse 13 has the same word.

In plain English: "Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and be king over us.'

In plain English: "But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?'

In plain English: "Then the trees said to the vine, 'You come and be king over us.'

In plain English: "But the vine said to them, 'Should I give up my new wine, which cheers God (or: gods) and men, and go to sway over the trees?'

In plain English: "Then all the trees said to the bramble (a thorn bush), 'You come and be king over us.'

The Hebrew word: "Bramble" is atad, which the dictionary gives as "a thorn-tree (especially the buckthorn)". In the story the olive, the fig and the vine each say they would have to give up what they give in order to be king. The bramble names no fruit, and offers its shade.

In plain English: "The bramble said to the trees, 'If you truly mean to anoint me king over you, then come and take shelter (this Bible: refuge) in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and burn up (this Bible: devour) the cedars of Lebanon.'

In plain English: "Now then, if you have acted in good faith and honestly (this Bible: truly and righteously) in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his household, and have done to him as his deeds deserved (literally: as the doing of his hands),

In plain English: (for my father fought for you, risked his life (literally: threw his life away in front of him), and rescued you from the hand of Midian,

In plain English: and today you have risen up against my father's household, killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman (this Bible: female servant), king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother),

In plain English: if, then, you have acted in good faith and honestly with Jerubbaal and his household today, be glad in Abimelech, and may he be glad in you too.

In plain English: But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech."

In plain English: Then Jotham ran away and escaped. He went to Beer and lived there, out of fear of Abimelech his brother.

In plain English: Abimelech ruled (this Bible: was prince) over Israel for three years.

In plain English: Then God sent an evil spirit (or: a spirit of ill will) between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem broke faith with (this Bible: dealt treacherously with) Abimelech.

The Hebrew words: "An evil spirit" is ruach ra'ah. The dictionary gives ruach as "wind; by resemblance breath ... by resemblance spirit", and ra' as "bad" or "evil (natural or moral)".

What changes: Read as "an evil spirit", God sent a spirit that set them against each other. Read as "a spirit of ill will", God sent bad feeling and broken trust between them. Either way, the text says God sent it, and verse 24 gives the reason: the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal was to come back on those who did it.

Good to know: 1 Samuel 16:14 says something like it of Saul: "an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him". The text does not explain how God sends such a spirit, and Jewish and Christian readers explain it in different ways.

In plain English: This was so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come back, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

In plain English: The men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. Abimelech was told about it.

In plain English: Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and moved into (this Bible: went over to) Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

In plain English: They went out into the fields, picked the grapes of their vineyards, trod them, and held a harvest festival (this Bible: celebrated). They went into the house of their god, ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

In plain English: Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. Why should we serve him?

Good to know: Hamor was the father of the Shechem of Jacob's day (Genesis 34:2). Gaal calls the men of Shechem to serve the men of Hamor rather than Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal.

In plain English: If only this people were under my command (literally: in my hand)! Then I would get rid of Abimelech." He said to Abimelech (or: I would say to Abimelech), "Make your army bigger and come out!"

Good to know: The Hebrew has "he said to Abimelech". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "I would say to him", which keeps the words inside Gaal's wish. Read the first way, Gaal sends Abimelech a challenge. Read the second way, Gaal only says what he would say if he had the people.

In plain English: When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, he burned with anger.

In plain English: He sent messengers to Abimelech by deceit (this Bible: craftily), saying, "Look, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.

In plain English: So now, get up by night, you and the people with you, and lie in wait in the field.

In plain English: In the morning, as soon as the sun comes up, get up early and rush against the city. When he and the people with him come out against you, do to them whatever you are able to (literally: as your hand finds)."

In plain English: So Abimelech and all the people with him got up by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.

In plain English: Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people with him got up from the ambush.

In plain English: When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the mountain tops." Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadows of the mountains as if they were men."

In plain English: Gaal spoke again and said, "Look, people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one company is coming by the road of the oak of Meonenim (or: the oak of the fortune tellers)."

The Hebrew word: "Meonenim" is from anan, which the dictionary gives as "figuratively, to act covertly, i.e. practise magic". It is the word for "one who tells fortunes" in Deuteronomy 18:10. So "the oak of Meonenim" can be read as a place name, or as "the oak of the fortune tellers".

In plain English: Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your big talk now (literally: where is your mouth), you who said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Are these not the people you looked down on (this Bible: despised)? Please go out now and fight them."

In plain English: So Gaal went out at the head of (this Bible: before) the men of Shechem and fought Abimelech.

In plain English: Abimelech chased him, and he ran from him. Many fell wounded (or: dead), all the way to the entrance of the gate.

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

In plain English: The next day the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told.

In plain English: He took the people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. He looked, and there were the people coming out of the city. So he rose up against them and struck them down.

In plain English: Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate, and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them down.

In plain English: Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and killed the people in it. He tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

Good to know: The text does not say why Abimelech sowed the city with salt. Deuteronomy 29:23 pictures a ruined land as "sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown".

In plain English: When all the men of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they went into the stronghold (or: the inner chamber) of the house of El Berith.

The Hebrew word: "Stronghold" is tseriach, which the dictionary gives as "a citadel". It is in only 3 verses: here, verse 49 and 1 Samuel 13:6. Some readers take it as a strong inner room or a vault of the temple.

In plain English: Abimelech was told that all the men of the Tower of Shechem had gathered together.

In plain English: Abimelech went up Mount Zalmon, he and all the people with him. He took an ax in his hand, cut off a branch from the trees, lifted it up, and put it on his shoulder. He said to the people with him, "What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done."

In plain English: So all the people each cut off a branch too and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire over them, so all the people of the Tower of Shechem died too, about a thousand men and women.

In plain English: Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against Thebez, and took it.

In plain English: But there was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men and women, all the people of the city, ran there. They shut themselves in and went up onto the roof of the tower.

In plain English: Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it. He came near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

In plain English: A woman threw an upper millstone onto Abimelech's head and crushed his skull.

Good to know: Abimelech's death is remembered in 2 Samuel 11:21: "Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn't a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez?" There his father is called Jerubbesheth instead of Jerubbaal.

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

In plain English: When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home (literally: each to his place).

In plain English: So God paid back the evil that Abimelech had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.

Good to know: Verses 56 and 57 are the narrator's words. They tie the end of the story back to verse 24 and to Jotham's words in verse 20: the men of the Tower of Shechem died by fire (verse 49), and Abimelech died at Thebez.

In plain English: God also paid back all the evil of the men of Shechem on their own heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came on them.