JUDGES 9. THE KINGSHIP AND FALL OF ABIMELECH. The story of Gideon's
half-Canaanite son does not equal the finest parts of the book in
dramatic interest, but the glimpse which it affords of the relations
subsisting between the mixed races of Palestine in the time of the
Judges is of great value to th... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGES 9. THE KINGSHIP AND FALL OF ABIMELECH. The story of Gideon's
half-Canaanite son does not equal the finest parts of the book in
dramatic interest, but the glimpse which it affords of the relations
subsisting between the mixed races of Palestine in the time of the
Judges is of great value to th... [ Continue Reading ]
JOTHAM'S FABLE. Only in an apologue could Jotham, the sole survivor of
Abimelech's massacre, express what was in his bitter, broken heart.
The point of his fable is easily caught. His father and his brothers
were the fruitful trees olive, fig-tree and vine who declined to rule
over the other trees;... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEDITION OF THE SHECHEMITES. The statement that Abimelech was
prince over Israel is an exaggeration, and the chronological note is
probably by R.
Judges 9:23. The Shechemites soon tired of the government of their
brother (Judges 9:3). God sent an evil spirit between the king and his
subjects; _... [ Continue Reading ]
ABIMELECH DESTROYS SHECHEM. These verses seem to contain a second,
independent account of the attack on Shechem, the sequel to Judges
9:22.
Judges 9:43. Abimelech adopts the same tactics whereby his father
routed the Midianites (Judges 7:16).
Judges 9:44. Read, with the LXX, the company that was w... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DEATH OF ABIMELECH. He went on burning and destroying till from
the tower of Thebez (p. 30) a woman threw a mill-stone which crashed
through his skull. That he might not be said to have died by a woman's
hand he begged his armour-bearer to give him the _coup de grace._ His
death scene is strikin... [ Continue Reading ]