Judges 9:46

The men of the tower of Shechem. — Evidently the garrison of the house of Millo (Judges 9:6).

Entered into an hold. — The word for “hold” occurs in 1 Samuel 13:6 (“high place”). The LXX. render it “a fortress” (ochuroma); Luther, “Festung.” In the Æthiopic Version of Mark 16:15 a similar word is used for “upper room.” The Vulg. has, “They entered the fane of their god Berith, where they had made their league with him, and from this the place had received its name, and it was strongly fortified.”

Of the house of the god Berith. — Similarly. Arcesilas burnt the Cyrenæns in a tower (Herod. iv. 164), and in 1Ma. 5:43 the defeated enemy fly for refuge to the temple of Ashtaroth in Karnaim, which Judas takes and burns.