Judges 9:47

47 And Abimelech heard that (all) [the] men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together (there),

Judges 9:47 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:47

And it was told Abimelech
Who had his spies about, and particularly to observe the motions of the men in this tower:

that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together;
in the hold of the temple of Baalberith.

Judges 9:47 In-Context

45 And Abimelech fought against that city all that day, the which he took, when the dwellers thereof were slain, and that city was destroyed, so that he sprinkled abroad salt therein (and then he sprinkled salt on it).
46 And when they, that dwelled in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made [a] bond of peace with him; and of that idol the place took the name, the which place was full strong. (And when they, who lived in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a covenant with him; and that place took the name of that idol, and it was well-fortified.)
47 And Abimelech heard that (all) [the] men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together (there),
48 and he went up into the hill of Zalmon with all his people (and so he went up to Mount Zalmon with all his people); and with an ax taken, he cut down a bough of a tree, and he bare it, put upon his shoulder, and he said to his fellows, Do ye at once this thing, that ye see me do.
49 Therefore with strife they cutted down boughs of the trees, and followed the duke; the which compassed the tower and burnt it up; and so it was done, that with smoke and fire a thousand men were slain, men and women together, of the dwellers of the tower of Shechem. (And so they cut off the boughs of the trees, and then followed their leader; and they surrounded the temple, and then burned it down; and so it was, that with smoke and fire, a thousand people were killed, men and women together, all those of the tower of Shechem.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.