Judges 9:1

1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them

Judges 9:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:1

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, unto
his mother's brethren
It seems that though the mother of Abimelech lived at Shechem, he was taken and brought up in his father's house at Ophrah, where he was when he died; and from hence he came to Shechem, to pay a visit to his uncles there; whether his mother was now living, is not certain:

and communed with them;
about the death of his father, the state of his family, and the government of Israel:

and with all the family of the house of his mother's father;
that descended from his grandfather, the several branches of them, and of the family, the heads of them at least:

saying,
as follows.

Judges 9:1 In-Context

1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them

2 to ask the men of Shechem, "Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood."

3 His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative.

4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him.

5 He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed.