Judges 9:6

6 And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which [is] in Shechem;

Judges 9:6 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:6

And all the men of Shechem gathered together
Upon the return of Abimelech, after he with his banditti had committed the execrable murder of his brethren:

and all the house of Millo;
which was either the men of a place near to Shechem, or of his brother's family, or of some grand leading family in Shechem; or it may mean the town hall, where the principal inhabitants met in full house, as Millo signifies, on this occasion:

and went and made Abimelech king;
which was a most bold and daring action; being done without asking counsel of God, without which no king was to be set over Israel, and by a single city, without the knowledge, advice, and consent of the body of the people of Israel: by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem; the place where they met together, and did this business in voting Abimelech to be king, was near a place where a pillar was set in Shechem; or by the oak of the pillar in Shechem, and so may mean the stone under an oak, which Joshua placed there as a testimony between God and the people, ( Joshua 24:25-27 ) and here, in the same place where Joshua convened the people of Israel, and made his last speech to them, was this business done.

Judges 9:6 In-Context

4 and they give to him seventy silverings out of the house of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hireth with them men, vain and unstable, and they go after him;

5 and he goeth into the house of his father at Ophrah, and slayeth his brethren, sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone; and Jotham, youngest son of Jerubbaal, is left, for he was hidden.

6 And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which [is] in Shechem;

7 and they declare [it] to Jotham, and he goeth and standeth on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifteth up his voice, and calleth, and saith to them, `Hearken unto me, O masters of Shechem, and God doth hearken unto you:

8 `The trees have diligently gone to anoint over them a king, and they say to the olive, Reign thou over us.