Jueces 9:18

18 y vosotros os levantasteis hoy contra la casa de mi padre, y matasteis a sus hijos, setenta varones, sobre una piedra; y habéis puesto por rey sobre los señores de Siquem a Abimelec, hijo de su criada, por cuanto es vuestro hermano)

Jueces 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:18

And ye are risen up against my father's house this day
Which was an instance of great ingratitude in them, after such services done for them, and favours received by them:

and have slain his sons, seventy persons on one stone;
excepting one, himself, and he was intentionally slain, their design was to cut off everyone; and all being slain but one, the round number is given, and this being so large, is the rather observed; and though Abimelech committed the fact, the men of Shechem were accessory to it, they gave him money, with which he hired men to assist him in it, see ( Judges 9:20 ) and it is very probable they were privy to his intention, and encouraged him to it; and certain it is they showed their approbation of it, by making Abimelech king after it, and therefore they are justly charged with it:

and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the men of
Shechem;
which was both to the disgrace of Gideon, and his family, and of themselves too, that a base son of his should be made their king; when it would have been more to the credit of Gideon, and his family, that he had lived in obscurity, and had not been known as a son of his; and this was to the reproach of the men of Shechem, and especially to the princes thereof; for, by the men of Shechem are meant the lords, and great men thereof, as Kimchi observes; and great contempt is cast on Abimelech himself, who is here represented as making a very poor figure, being by extraction the son of an handmaid, and king only over the men of Shechem; and who made him so for no other reason but this,

because he is your brother;
not because he had any right to the kingdom, or had any qualification for it, but because his mother lived among them, and her family belonged to them, and so he was related to many of them, and they hoped on that account to have preferment and favours from him.

Jueces 9:18 In-Context

16 Ahora pues, si con verdad y con integridad habéis procedido en hacer rey a Abimelec, y si lo habéis hecho bien con Jerobaal y con su casa, y si le habéis pagado conforme a la obra de sus manos

17 (Pues que mi padre peleó por vosotros, y echó lejos su vida por libraros de la mano de Madián

18 y vosotros os levantasteis hoy contra la casa de mi padre, y matasteis a sus hijos, setenta varones, sobre una piedra; y habéis puesto por rey sobre los señores de Siquem a Abimelec, hijo de su criada, por cuanto es vuestro hermano)

19 si con verdad y con integridad habéis obrado hoy con Jerobaal y con su casa, que gocéis de Abimelec, y él goce de vosotros

20 Y si no, fuego salga de Abimelec, que consuma a los señores de Siquem y a la casa de Milo; y fuego salga de los de Siquem y de la casa de Milo, que consuma a Abimelec