en-v0.1→en-v0.2-dev·#0dd5bc3b43faContribute to en-v0.2

Judges 9:1-57 — Abimelech

Judg.9.1-57

¹Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers , and spoke to them and to the whole clan of the household of his mother's father, saying, ²“Speak now in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ³So his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. ⁵He 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, for he hid himself. ⁶Then all the leaders of Shechem and all the house of Millo gathered together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that is in Shechem. ⁷When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and he lifted up his voice and cried out, and said to them, "Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸The trees once went out to anoint a king over themselves, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' ⁹But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I stop giving my oil, with which God and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?' ¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and reign over us.' ¹¹But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?' ¹²Then the trees said to the vine, 'You come and reign over us.' ¹³But the vine said to them, 'Should I stop giving my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to sway over the trees?' ¹⁴Then all the trees said to the thornbush, 'You come and reign over us.' ¹⁵And the thornbush said to the trees, 'If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.' ¹⁶Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands— ¹⁷(for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and delivered you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸but you have risen up against my father's house today, and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your brother)— ¹⁹if you have acted in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from the house of Millo and consume Abimelech." ²¹Then Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer, and lived there because of Abimelech his brother. ²²And Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. ²³Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ²⁴so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. ²⁵And the leaders of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along the road; and it was told to Abimelech. ²⁶Now Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed over into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸And Gaal 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 not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem! But why should we serve him? ²⁹If only this people were under my hand, then I would remove Abimelech.“ And he said to Abimelech, ”Multiply your army and come out!" ³⁰When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, his anger burned. ³¹He sent messengers to Abimelech covertly, saying, "Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and behold, they are stirring up the city against you. ³²Now therefore, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³And in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush upon the city. And behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever your hand finds to do." ³⁴So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night, and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. ³⁵Now Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose up from the ambush. ³⁶When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!” And Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷And Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming by the way of the Diviners' Oak.” ³⁸Then Zebul said to him, “Where now is your mouth, with which you said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Are these not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them!” ³⁹So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought against Abimelech. ⁴⁰And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹Then Abimelech stayed at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they could not dwell in Shechem. ⁴²On the next day, the people went out into the field, and it was told to Abimelech. ⁴³So he took the people and divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and behold, the people were coming out of the city; so he rose up against them and struck them. ⁴⁴Then Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two other companies rushed upon all who were in the field and struck them. ⁴⁵And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he captured the city and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt. ⁴⁶When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith. ⁴⁷And it was told to Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do likewise.” ⁴⁹So all the people also cut down each man his branch and followed Abimelech, and they put them against the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire over them. Thus all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women. ⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled there. They shut themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower. ⁵²And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and he drew near to the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, 'A woman killed him.'” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his home. ⁵⁶Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷And God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem upon their heads, and the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

💡 Read the current translation below. If you have suggestions, comment by verse.

📚 Reference Translations

🔬 Exegesis Resources