Judges 9:1-57
1 And 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,
2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is bettera 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.
3 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to followb Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plainc of the pillar that was in Shechem.
7 And 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.
8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and god to be promoted over the trees?
10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble,e Come thou, and reign over us.
15 And 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.
16 Now 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;
17 (For my father fought for you, and adventuredf his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:
18 And 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;)
19 If 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:
20 But 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.
21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
24 That 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 aidedg him in the killing of his brethren.
25 And 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.
26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry,h and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
28 And 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?
29 And 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.
30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.i
31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily,j saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.
32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field:
33 And 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.
34 And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
35 And 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.
36 And 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.
37 And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middlek of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.
38 Then 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.
39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.
43 And 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.
44 And 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.
45 And 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.
46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 And 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,l make haste, and do as I have done.
49 And 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.
50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
51 But 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.
52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.
54 Then 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.
55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
57 And 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.
Judges 9:4. Baal-berith. Berith signifies a covenant, which those bad people had made with Baal. The Greeks had their ζευς ορκιος, their Jupiter, or their Baal, to which they made vows.
Judges 9:5. Slew threescore and ten upon one stone, as an offering to his God. It is a credit to the Hebrew religion, that Abimelech was an apostate.
Judges 9:8. The trees went forth to anoint a king. This parable seems to have been divinely inspired. The figures and all the drapery of diction, open in a succession of beauties, alike wise, moral, and rural.
Judges 9:13. Wine which cheereth God and man. Both the nouns being plural, it should read gods and men. The LXX by translating Elohim, God, have led many into the same error. In Genesis 6:2, and Psalms 82:6, the word is understood of princes and prophets, as our Saviour affirms. John 10:34. Hence wine is here understood to cheer the hearts of the princes, and the poor. Yet some will vainly contend that the gods adored by the heathen being once men, were lovers of wine. Others contend also, that wine being used at the sacrifices of oblations, caused God to rejoice in the oblations of his people.
Judges 9:45. Sowed it with salt, to detest its memory, like that of Sodom.
Judges 9:53. Piece of a millstone, or the upper stone of a handmill. God directed the hand of this woman to complete his judgments on an apostate people. Yet the Hebrew apostates always secreted their idols under the best of their kings.
REFLECTIONS.
We have just seen Gideon, immortal in the memory of his country, refuse the crown of Israel. Now we see his illegitimate son, who neither knew himself nor the duties of a king, aspiring through vain glory at the regal dignity. To accomplish this design, how shamefully mean and dreadfully wicked were the steps he pursued. He flattered the elders of Shechem with the advantages of having a relative on the throne; of its becoming a royal city; and urged the insupportable burden of maintaining seventy princes of Gideon's house in seventy of the principal towns. Nor was he wanting to urge the civil wars which would immediately follow, on the accession of seventy kings. How dreadful then is ambition, when long fostered in the heart of man. It accounts the meanest intrigues acts of prudence; and canonizes the foulest crimes with the epithet of virtuous deeds. Few men dream of thrones, it is true; but ambition in the acquisition of wealth, and in the aggrandizement of their families, often leads to actions in trade, or in domestic affairs, which cause them to be execrated wherever they are known. Hence one wicked and ruling passion may render the whole of life, as is exemplified in Abimelech, a continued scene of tragedy and crimes.
Though providence suffered Gideon's incontinence to be punished with the death of his sons, yet we admire its care in preserving Jotham, to perpetuate the name of his father, and to see his curse of burning devolve on the murderers of his brethren. God showed the same kindness to the house of David, when Athaliah slew all the royal family; Joash, an infant, was preserved in the temple. Hence the greatest overflowings of wickedness are checked and restrained by the hand of heaven.
We learn that the wicked, unhappy by their own propensities, are incapable of enjoying repose. Ambition, which made Abimelech uneasy in private life, made him equally so on the throne, and caused him to be hated of his people. The bonds of wickedness are rusty chains, which presently gall and poison the flesh. Scarcely had he reigned three years before he was driven into exile, where he formed those plots which terminated in the destruction of himself, and all the murderers of his father's sons. Hence God carefully preserved the life of this wicked man, till the Shechemites were either slain with the sword, or burnt in the tower; then he threw the last bolt of vengeance on Abimelech's head. And mark, reader, mark here the retributive characters of divine justice. The Shechemites had taken money out of the house or tower of Baal to supply Abimelech; and in that house many of them were burnt. They had surprised and slain the sons of Gideon with the sword; and they themselves were surprised and slain in the field when going forth to labour. Abimelech, with their aid, had slain his brethren on a certain stone; and now he is slain by a stone from the tower, and by a woman too! Let us learn to rest our cause with God, to suffer with patience, praying for the conversion of our enemies; otherwise God will surely requite them according to their works. Let the heads of houses learn also, that their efforts in buying land, and forming family establishments, may all be frustrated like those of Gideon. But Christ says, the Father will give us a kingdom.