Who was Abimelech and why did he want to rule in this passage?

Abimelech was a son of Jerubbaal, also called Gideon, through a woman from Shechem. After Gideon died, Abimelech went to his mother’s family in Shechem and used their kinship to push himself forward as ruler. He argued that it was better to have one man rule than all seventy of Gideon’s sons, meaning himself. His desire came from selfish ambition, not from God’s call. He took money from the temple of an idol, hired reckless men, and killed his brothers to clear the way to be made king.

What is the meaning of Jotham’s parable of the trees and the bramble?

Jotham’s parable pictures useful trees, like the olive, fig, and vine, refusing to leave their good work to rule over the other trees. Then the trees turn to a bramble, a useless, thorny bush. The bramble offers “shadow” but also threatens fire. Jotham is saying that good, fruitful people do not chase power for its own sake, but the worthless, like a bramble, gladly take it and harm others. He applies this to Abimelech, warning that if their choice of him is wrong, fire will come from him and from Shechem and destroy each other.

Why did the men of Shechem support Abimelech as king?

The men of Shechem supported Abimelech mainly because he was their relative. He reminded them, “I am your bone and your flesh,” and they said, “He is our brother.” They were drawn by family ties and by the idea of having their own king. They even took seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith to help him. In doing this, they chose someone who fit their plans and their idol worship, instead of asking what God wanted or looking for a leader marked by faithfulness and justice.

What does this passage show about God’s judgment on Abimelech and Shechem?

After Abimelech had ruled three years, the passage says God sent an evil spirit between him and the men of Shechem. Their friendship broke, and they turned against each other. This split was not random; it was God bringing back on them the blood of Gideon’s seventy sons. The story that follows, with plots, battles, the burning of the tower, and Abimelech’s own death by a millstone and a sword, shows that God does not ignore such wickedness. In the end, God returns their evil on their own heads, just as Jotham warned.

Why did a woman dropping a millstone on Abimelech’s head matter so much to him?

When Abimelech came near a tower to burn it, a woman dropped a piece of a millstone on his head and cracked his skull. In that culture, to die at a woman’s hand was seen as shameful for a warrior. Abimelech, still proud even in judgment, quickly asked his young armourbearer to kill him with the sword so people would not say, “A woman slew him.” The story shows that even in his last moments he cared more about his honor than about his guilt. Yet the text still records that a woman’s act brought him down.

What does this story teach about choosing leaders and following them?

This story shows the danger of picking leaders for the wrong reasons, like family ties, local pride, or empty promises. The people of Shechem chose Abimelech without asking God, funded him through idol worship, and ignored his violence. Jotham’s parable hints that godly people do not crave power, while selfish, harmful people may gladly take it. In the end, both Abimelech and those who backed him suffered. For us, it warns to value character, faithfulness, and humility in leaders, and to remember that God holds both leaders and followers accountable.

How does God use the conflict between Abimelech and Shechem in this passage?

God uses the conflict between Abimelech and the men of Shechem as a way to bring justice. At first they work together in murder and idolatry, but later God breaks their alliance. An evil spirit stirs distrust, Shechem rebels, and Abimelech attacks the very city that crowned him. The back-and-forth battles, the burning of the tower, and the final fall at Thebez all show their violence turning back on their own heads. The passage ends by saying clearly that God repaid Abimelech’s wickedness and the evil of the men of Shechem.

Why is this passage so violent, and how should readers think about that today?

The passage is very violent because it records what happens when people reject God’s ways and let ambition, idolatry, and revenge rule them. It does not praise the killing; it shows the dark results of sin and selfish rule. Abimelech’s cruelty and Shechem’s betrayal are written so we see how far a people can fall when they stop seeking God’s guidance. Today, readers can take it as a warning about the path of unchecked power and the cost of injustice, and as a reminder that God sees wrong and will, in his time, bring it to account.

Judg.9.1

Judges 9:1

KJV

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

3 And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

4 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

5 And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

Jotham’s Parable

7 ¶ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;

17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

18 And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)

19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Gaal Conspires with the Shechemites

22 ¶ When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

24 That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

29 And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.

The Fall of Shechem

30 ¶ And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.

32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field:

33 And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

34 ¶ And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait.

36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

37 And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.

38 Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.

40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.

43 And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.

44 And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them.

45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

46 ¶ And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

Abimelech’s Punishment

50 ¶ Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

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.

53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.

54 Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

56 ¶ Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Cross References

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