Judges 9:5

5 He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon's youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped.

Judges 9:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:5

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah
Which, according to Bunting ^F1, was ten miles from Shechem:

and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons,
upon one stone:
in which he was assisted by the ruffians he had hired with seventy pieces of silver; these were laid one after another upon one and the same stone, as being convenient for the execution of them; or as serving as an altar on which they were sacrificed to Baal, out of whose temple the money was taken to hire the executioners with. They are said to be seventy that were slain, though one escaped, the round number being given, as in many other instances, as in ( Genesis 46:27 ) ( John 20:24 ) ,

notwithstanding, yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left;
or remained alive, not out of compassion to his youth, but because he could not be found:

for he hid himself;
for no doubt Abimelech, and his crew, were most forward to lay hold of the eldest, and sacrifice them first, as being most in his way; this gave Jotham the youngest not only notice of their design, but an opportunity of providing for his safety, or however his friends; for it may be rendered, as in some versions, "he was hidden" {b}, that is, by others.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 111.
F2 (abxn) (ekrubh) Sept. "absconditus est", V. L. "qui absconditus fuit", Tigurine version; so the Targum.

Judges 9:5 In-Context

3 Abimelech's uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about this. And they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, "He is our relative."

4 So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-quarter pounds of silver from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men, who followed him wherever he went.

5 He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon's youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped.

6 Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree standing in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.

7 When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted to the people: "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God will listen to you!