Judges 9:42-57
New English Translation
42 The next day the Shechemites[a] came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it,[b] 43 he took his men[c] and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city,[d] he attacked and struck them down.[e] 44 Abimelech and his units[f] attacked and blocked[g] the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down. 45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled[h] the city and spread salt over it.[i]
46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem[j] heard the news, they went to the stronghold[k] of the temple of El Berith.[l] 47 Abimelech heard[m] that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place.[n] 48 He and all his men[o] went up on Mount Zalmon. He[p] took an ax[q] in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it[r] on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!”[s] 49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches[t] against the stronghold and set fire to it.[u] All the people[v] of the Tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Abimelech moved on[w] to Thebez; he besieged and captured it.[x] 51 There was a fortified[y] tower[z] in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire, 53 a woman threw an upper millstone[aa] down on his[ab] head and shattered his skull. 54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons,[ac] “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say,[ad] ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.[ae]
56 God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half brothers.[af] 57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub Baal fell[ag] on them.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 9:42 tn Heb “the people”; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 9:42 tn Heb “And they told Abimelech.”
- Judges 9:43 tn Heb “his people.”
- Judges 9:43 tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”
- Judges 9:43 tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”
- Judges 9:44 tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”
- Judges 9:44 tn Heb “stood [at].”
- Judges 9:45 tn Or “destroyed.”
- Judges 9:45 tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.
- Judges 9:46 sn Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.
- Judges 9:46 tn Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.
- Judges 9:46 sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.
- Judges 9:47 tn Heb “and it was told to Abimelech.”
- Judges 9:47 tn Heb “were assembled.”
- Judges 9:48 tn Heb “his people.”
- Judges 9:48 tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.
- Judges 9:48 tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.
- Judges 9:48 tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”
- Judges 9:48 tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”
- Judges 9:49 tn The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 9:49 tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”
- Judges 9:49 tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.
- Judges 9:50 tn Or “went.”
- Judges 9:50 tn Heb “he camped near Thebez and captured it.”
- Judges 9:51 tn Or “strong.”
- Judges 9:51 tn Or “fortress.” The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52.
- Judges 9:53 sn A hand mill consisted of an upper stone and larger lower stone. One would turn the upper stone with a handle to grind the grain, which was placed between the stones. An upper millstone, which was typically about two inches thick and a foot or so in diameter, probably weighed 25-30 pounds (11.4-13.6 kg). See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 268; C. F. Burney, Judges, 288.
- Judges 9:53 tn Heb “Abimelech’s.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “his” in the translation in keeping with conventions of English narrative style.
- Judges 9:54 tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 9:54 tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 9:55 tn Heb “each to his own place.”
- Judges 9:56 tn Heb “seventy brothers.”
- Judges 9:57 tn Heb “came.”
Judges 9:42-57
World English Bible
42 On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43 He took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them and struck them. 44 Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them. 45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with salt.
46 When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. 47 Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!” 49 All the people likewise each cut down his bough, followed Abimelech, and put them at the base of the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, and broke his skull.
54 Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, that men not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ His young man thrust him through, and he died.”
55 When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. 56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father in killing his seventy brothers; 57 and God repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came on them.
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