Judges 9:19

19 "Have you citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo acted in an honest way toward Jerub-Baal? Have you done the right thing to his family today? If you have, may you be happy with Abimelech! And may he be happy with you!

Judges 9:19 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:19

If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and
his house this day
If they could in their consciences think and believe they had done well, and acted the faithful and upright part by him and his family, which he left with them to consider of:

then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you;
may you be happy in him as a king, and he be happy in you as his subjects, and live peaceably and comfortably together; and this he suggests as a test of their former conduct, that should this alliance between Abimelech and them be attended with happiness, which he could not believe would be the case, then it would seem that they had done a right part by Gideon and his family; but if they should be unhappy together, as he supposed they would, then it would be clear that they had acted a base and disingenuous part by his father's family.

Judges 9:19 In-Context

17 "Remember that my father fought for you. He put his life in danger for you. He saved you from the power of Midian.

18 But today you have turned against my father's family. You have murdered his 70 sons on a big rock. Abimelech is only the son of my father's female slave. But you have made him king over the citizens of Shechem. You have done that because he's related to you.

19 "Have you citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo acted in an honest way toward Jerub-Baal? Have you done the right thing to his family today? If you have, may you be happy with Abimelech! And may he be happy with you!

20 But if you haven't, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn you up! And let fire come out from you and burn Abimelech up!"

21 Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.