Judges 9:52

52 Abimelech got as far as the tower and assaulted it. He came up to the tower door to set it on fire.

Judges 9:52 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:52

And Abimelech came unto the tower
With his army to besiege it:

and fought against it;
using all the methods he could to oblige those in it to surrender:

and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire;
in order to get entrance into it; and perhaps the tower was built of stone, so that no other part could be set fire to; and to do this he drew near to the door himself, for nothing more is meant by the phrase, "went hard", than drawing near in his own person to the door; hazarding his life in the enterprise, being so bent upon it, thinking to do by this tower what he had done to the hold of the temple of Baalberith.

Judges 9:52 In-Context

50 Abimelech went on to Thebez. He camped at Thebez and captured it.

51 The Tower-of-Strength stood in the middle of the city; all the men and women of the city along with the city's leaders had fled there and locked themselves in. They were up on the tower roof.

52 Abimelech got as far as the tower and assaulted it. He came up to the tower door to set it on fire.

53 Just then some woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and crushed his skull.

54 He called urgently to his young armor-bearer and said, "Draw your sword and kill me so they can't say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" His armor bearer drove in his sword, and Abimelech died.