Judges 9:1

1 Avimelekh the son of Yeruba'al went to Sh'khem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with the whole clan of his maternal grandfather. He said,

Judges 9:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:1

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, unto
his mother's brethren
It seems that though the mother of Abimelech lived at Shechem, he was taken and brought up in his father's house at Ophrah, where he was when he died; and from hence he came to Shechem, to pay a visit to his uncles there; whether his mother was now living, is not certain:

and communed with them;
about the death of his father, the state of his family, and the government of Israel:

and with all the family of the house of his mother's father;
that descended from his grandfather, the several branches of them, and of the family, the heads of them at least:

saying,
as follows.

Judges 9:1 In-Context

1 Avimelekh the son of Yeruba'al went to Sh'khem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with the whole clan of his maternal grandfather. He said,

2 "Please ask all the men of Sh'khem, 'Which is better for you - that all seventy sons of Yeruba'al rule over you, or that one person rule over you? And remember that I am your blood relative.'"

3 His mother's brothers spoke to all the men of Sh'khem and said all this about him, so that they followed their feelings and supported Avimelekh, arguing, "After all, he's our brother."

4 They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Ba'al-B'rit; and he used these to pay good-for-nothing thugs to follow him.

5 He went back to his father's house in 'Ofrah and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba'al, all seventy of them, on a single rock, except for Yotam Yeruba'al's youngest son, who stayed alive because he hid himself.