Judges 9:52

52 Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire,

Judges 9:52 in Other Translations

52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

52 And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

52 Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance,

52 Abimelech got as far as the tower and assaulted it. He came up to the tower door to set it on fire.

52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.

Judges 9:52 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:52

And Abimelech came unto the tower
With his army to besiege it:

and fought against it;
using all the methods he could to oblige those in it to surrender:

and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire;
in order to get entrance into it; and perhaps the tower was built of stone, so that no other part could be set fire to; and to do this he drew near to the door himself, for nothing more is meant by the phrase, "went hard", than drawing near in his own person to the door; hazarding his life in the enterprise, being so bent upon it, thinking to do by this tower what he had done to the hold of the temple of Baalberith.

Judges 9:52 In-Context

50 Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it.

51 Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof.

52 Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire,

53 a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.

54 Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his servant ran him through, and he died.