2 Samuel 11:21

21 Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth [a]? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”

2 Samuel 11:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:21

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth?
&c.] The same with Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, ( Judges 6:32 ) ; Baal, one part of his name, was the name of an idol, and sometimes called Bosheth or Besheth, which signifies shame, being a shameful idol; Gideon had a son called Abimelech, who was smitten, and it is here asked, by whom?

did not a woman cast a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died
in Thebez?
which should have been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the history is recorded in ( Judges 9:52 Judges 9:53 ) ;

why went ye nigh the wall?
exposing your lives to so much danger, and by which so many lives were lost:

then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also;
the whole has not been told, the worst of all is, as the messenger was to represent it, that brave gallant soldier Uriah is dead; this Joab ordered to be told last, as knowing very well it would pacify the king's wrath, and was the agreeable news he wanted to hear.

2 Samuel 11:21 In-Context

19 and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king a full account of the battle,
20 if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?
21 Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth ? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
22 So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say.
23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Jerubbesheth is also known as Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon.
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