Judges 9:44-54

44 and (he) besieged them and fought against the (men of the) city. And two companies went about openly by the field (And the other two companies went about openly in the field), and pursued their adversaries.
45 And Abimelech fought against that city all that day, the which he took, when the dwellers thereof were slain, and that city was destroyed, so that he sprinkled abroad salt therein (and then he sprinkled salt on it).
46 And when they, that dwelled in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made [a] bond of peace with him; and of that idol the place took the name, the which place was full strong. (And when they, who lived in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a covenant with him; and that place took the name of that idol, and it was well-fortified.)
47 And Abimelech heard that (all) [the] men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together (there),
48 and he went up into the hill of Zalmon with all his people (and so he went up to Mount Zalmon with all his people); and with an ax taken, he cut down a bough of a tree, and he bare it, put upon his shoulder, and he said to his fellows, Do ye at once this thing, that ye see me do.
49 Therefore with strife they cutted down boughs of the trees, and followed the duke; the which compassed the tower and burnt it up; and so it was done, that with smoke and fire a thousand men were slain, men and women together, of the dwellers of the tower of Shechem. (And so they cut off the boughs of the trees, and then followed their leader; and they surrounded the temple, and then burned it down; and so it was, that with smoke and fire, a thousand people were killed, men and women together, all those of the tower of Shechem.)
50 And Abimelech went forth from thence, and came to the city of Thebez, which he compassed, and besieged with an host. (And then Abimelech went forth from there, and came to the city of Thebez, which he surrounded, and besieged with his army.)
51 And the tower was high in the midst of the city, to which men and women fled together, and all the princes of the city, while the gate was closed full strongly; and they stood on the roof of the tower by [the] turrets. (And the tower there was high in the middle of the city, to which all the men and women, and all the city leaders fled, and then the gate was securely closed; and they stood on the roof of the tower by the turrets.)
52 And Abimelech came beside the tower, and fought strongly against it, and he nighed to the door, and endeavoured him to put fire under it (and he came up to the door, and endeavoured to put fire under it);
53 and lo! a woman casted from above a gobbet of a millstone, and hurtled to the head of Abimelech, and it brake his noll. (and lo! a woman threw a piece of a millstone down from above, and hurtled it onto Abimelech's head, and it broke, or it cracked, his skull.)
54 And he called anon his squire, and said to him, Draw out thy sword, and slay me, lest peradventure it be said, that I am slain of a woman. Which performed the commandments, and killed Abimelech; (And he called out at once to his squire, and said to him, Draw out thy sword, and kill me, lest it be said that I was killed by a woman. And he followed the order, and killed Abimelech;)

Judges 9:44-54 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 9

This chapter contains an account of the craft and cruelty of Abimelech, by which he got himself made king of the Shechemites, Jud 9:1-6 of the parable of Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, concerning the trees, in which he exposes their folly in making Abimelech king, and foretells the ruin of them both, Jud 9:7-21 of the contentions which arose between Abimelech, and the men of Shechem, increased by Gaal the son of Ebed, Jud 9:22-29 who was drawn into a battle with Abimelech, and beaten and forced to fly, Jud 9:30-41 but the quarrel between Abimelech and the men of Shechem ceased not, but still continued, which issued in the entire ruin of the city and the inhabitants of it, Jud 9:42-49 and in the death of Abimelech himself, according to Jotham's curse, Jud 9:50-57.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.