This chapter contains an account of the craft and cruelty of Abimelech, by which he got himself made king of the Shechemites, Jude 1–6 of the parable of Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, concerning the trees, in which he exposes their folly in making Abimelech king, and foretells the ruin of them…

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, unto his mother’s brethren It seems that though the mother of Abimelech lived at Shechem, he was taken and brought up in his father’s house at Ophrah, where he was when he died; and from hence he came to Shechem, to pay a visit to his uncles…

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem Which, though the Targum calls the inhabitants of the place, Ben Melech better interprets it the lords of Shechem, as the phrase will bear to be rendered; for it is more likely he would have this first whispered and suggested to the principal…

And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of the men of Shechem all these words Got them together in some certain place, and laid before them all that Abimelech had suggested to them, and spake in his favour to them: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, he is our…

And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baalbirith The temple of their idol; of this name (See Gill on Judg. 8:33), out of the money which had been dedicated to his service by freewill offering, or out of a bank which they deposited there for greater safety, and perhaps out…

And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah Which, according to Bunting [[0]], was ten miles from Shechem: and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, upon one stone: in which he was assisted by the ruffians he had hired with seventy pieces of silver; these were laid one…

And all the men of Shechem gathered together Upon the return of Abimelech, after he with his banditti had committed the execrable murder of his brethren: and all the house of Millo; which was either the men of a place near to Shechem, or of his brother’s family, or of some grand leading family in…

And when they told it to Jotham Or when it was told him that Abimelech was made king in Shechem by some of his friends: he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim; a mount near Shechem; it hung over the city, as Josephus says [[2]], and so a very proper place to stand on and deliver a speech…

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them This is an apologue or fable, and a very fine and beautiful one; it is fitly expressed to answer the design, and the most ancient of the kind, being made seven hundred years before the times of Aesop, so famous for his fables, and exceeds…

But the olive tree said unto them In reply to the request of the trees: should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man; by “fatness” oil is meant, pressed out of the fruit of the olive tree, and which was much made use of both in the burning of the lamps in the tabernacle, and…

And the trees said to the fig tree Another useful and fruit bearing tree, and to which also good men are sometimes compared, see , come thou, and reign over us: which Jarchi applies to Deborah, but may be better applied to one of Gideon’s sons, who, though they had not a personal offer of kingly…

And the fig tree said unto them Rejecting the offer made: should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit; for such the fruit of the fig tree is, sweet and good: so Julian [[3]] the emperor shows from various authors, Aristophanes, Herodotus, and Homer, that nothing is sweeter than figs, excepting…

Then said the trees unto the vine Another emblem of good and useful men; and it may be observed, that Jotham takes no notice of any trees but fruitful ones till he comes to the bramble, and them only such as were well known, and of the greatest use, in the land of Judea, as olives, figs, and vines,…

And the vine said unto them By way of denial and refusal, as the other two: shall I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man; which being used in the drink offerings was acceptable to God, and of a sweet savour to him, and being drank by than, revives, refreshes, and makes glad, when before…

Then said all the trees unto the bramble Perceiving they could not prevail upon any of the useful and fruitful trees to take the government of them, they unite in a request to a bramble, scarce to be called a tree, and however a very barren and fruitless one, yea, hurtful and distressing: come…

And the bramble said unto the trees Accepting of their offer at once: if ye in trust anoint me king over you; suspecting they were not hearty and cordial in their choice and call to the kingly authority over them: then come and put your trust in my shadow; promising protection to them as his…

Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king If they had done this conscientiously, and in the uprightness of their hearts, to take such a base man, and a murderer, and make him their king, which Jotham doubted, and put it in this manner to them, that they…

For my father fought for you In the valley of Jezreel, and at Karkor, where with three hundred men he routed and destroyed an army of 135,000: and adventured his life far: which, according to our version, may seem to have respect to his going over Jordan, and following the Midianites, fleeing into…

And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day Which was an instance of great ingratitude in them, after such services done for them, and favours received by them: and have slain his sons, seventy persons on one stone; excepting one, himself, and he was intentionally slain, their design was…

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…

But if not If it appeared that they had not acted uprightly and sincerely in this matter: let fire come out of Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; let wrath, rage, and fury, break out from Abimelech like fire, and issue in the destruction of those that made him king,…

And Jotham ran away, and fled Having delivered his fable, and the application of it, he made his escape, having the advantage of being on the top of a mountain, at some distance from the people, and perhaps they might not be inclined to do him any harm: and went to Beer; which some take to be the…

When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel. ] The people in general consenting to what the men of Shechem had done, at least not opposing it, all being desirous of a king, and therefore put up with a mean person, rather than have none; though it is amazing they should, and that they had not…

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem Permitted, yea, gave a commission to Satan, the evil spirit, to go among them, who stirred up suspicions, jealousies, hatred, and ill will to one another, and sowed the seeds of discord and contention among them; or God gave them…

That the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come That vengeance might come on the authors of it; so things were ordered in Providence that this might come to pass: and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; be charged to his account, and he suffer for…

And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains Of Ebal and Gerizim, which were near Shechem, by the way of which he passed when he came to that city, and these they set there, either to slay him, or to seize his person, and bring him to them: and they robbed all that…

And Gaal the son or Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem Who this Gaal was, and who his brethren, and from whence he came, and the place he went over, are all uncertain.

And they went into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, &c.] Before they kept within the city, and durst not stir out to gather in the vintage, the time being come, for fear of the troops of Abimelech; for their lying in wait for him, and the robberies committed being made known to him, he had…

And Gaal the son of Ebed said As they were then making merry, drinking and carousing: who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? who is this Abimelech the Shechemite? or who is he more than Shechem, the old prince of this place, long ago dispossessed of it? the one is no better…

And would to God this people were under my hand Or government, that I were but the ruler of their city, and general of their forces: then would I remove Abimelech; from his kingly office, and rid Shechem of him, and all the country round about, and indeed remove him out of the world: and he said to…

And when Zebul the ruler of the city Whom Abimelech had placed there under him: heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled; because he spoke slightly of him, and wished to have his place; perhaps before Zebul was inclined to be on the side of the Shechemites against Abimelech,…

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily In a secret manner, unknown to Gaal and the men of Shechem; or “craftily”, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, still dissembling, notwithstanding his anger, to be in the interest of Gaal, and the men of Shechem, as appears indeed afterwards by a show of…

Now therefore up by night The night following, that no time might be lost: and the people that is with thee; the troops he had with him; not only such he had for his own guards, but what he had been raising, having intelligence before this of the revolt of the Shechemites from him: and lie in wait…

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city For being with his forces advanced near to it by a march in the night, he would be able by sunrising to attack the city before the inhabitants were up to defend it, and so surprise them:…

And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night According to the advice of Zebul: and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies; he divided his army into four parts, which he placed on the four sides of the city, at some distance from it, to act as they should have…

And Gaul the son or Ebed went out He rose up early that morning, being a man of vigilance and activity, and perhaps had some intelligence of the preparations of Abimelech, his design against the city, though he did not expect he was so near at hand: and stood in the entering of the gate of the…

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul Who was up as early, and came to the gate of the city, to see how things went, and whether there was any appearance of Abimelech and his forces, and whether any opportunity offered to let him into the city; and it seems as if he came and stood by Gaul,…

And Gaal spake again, and said Looking towards the mountains, and taking another view of what he before saw, for further satisfaction: see, there come people down by the middle of the land; either in the valley between the two mountains; or rather those he first saw on the top of the mountains were…

Then said Zebul unto him Not being able to put him off any longer, and willing to take the opportunity to upbraid him with what he had said: where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? darest thou say the same thou hast done, and utter the contemptuous…

And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem At the head of them, to meet Abimelech, having gathered together as many, and put them in as good order, as he could, and the time would admit of: and fought with Abimelech; without the city.

And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him Abimelech got the better of him in the battle, and obliged him to give way, and he pursued him closely as he was fleeing: and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate; or, “they fell many wounded” [[9]], or slain, as the…

And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah Called also Aarima as Jerom [[10]] says, and in his time called Remphtis; it seems to be not far off from Shechem, he returned to the place where he was before, see contenting himself with the advantage he had got, and waiting when another opportunity would offer,…

And it came to pass on the morrow The day after the battle: that the people went out into the field; some think to fight, and try the event of another battle, in order to be freed from Abimelech, but that seems not so likely: rather to finish their vintage, as Josephus [[10]], or to till their…

And he took the people That is, the forces he had with him at Arumah: and divided them into three companies: each having a separate leader, and the command of one of them he had himself: and laid wait in the field; in the field of Shechem, one company in one part, and one in another part of the…

And Abimelech, and the company that was with him Which he had the particular command of; or “the heads” [[11]], for in the company with him, as Kimchi observes, were great men; and so the Septuagint renders it, the princes that were with him: rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of…

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day By throwing stones or arrows into it: and he took the city; it was surrendered to him, not being able to stand out against his forces: and slew the people that was therein; all but those that were of his own family and his friends; all that had…

And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that That the city of Shechem was taken, the inhabitants of it slain, the city beaten down, and sowed with salt; by which it appears that this tower was not within the city, for then the men of it would have seen what was done, and not be said only…

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.

And Abimelech got him up to Mount Zalmon A mountain near Shechem, and thought to be the same with Salmon in which seems to have had its name from the shade of the trees which grew upon it: he and all the people that were with him; his whole army: and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down…

And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech With their boughs on their shoulders, so that they were men that seemed to be as trees walking: and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; upon the men in it, or with them, the boughs of trees; it is…

Then went Abimelech to Thebez Which, according to Ben Gersom, had rebelled against him; it was near to Shechem. Adrichomius says [[14]], the ruins, where he thinks stood the city of Thebez, were but one furlong from Neapolis or Shechem, where, to the left of Jacob’s well, were to be seen ruins of a…

But there was a strong tower within the city The tower of Shechem was without the city, but this within, as towers generally are: and hither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city; men, women, and children, man and maid servants, all the inhabitants of the city; the tower being a…

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…

And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone Of the upper millstone, as the word signifies, which is observed by Jarchi and other Jewish commentators; this with other stones being carried up to the top of the tower, to do what execution they could with them: and a woman observing Abimelech…

Then he called hastily to the young man his armourbearer, &c.] Perceiving it was a mortal blow that was given him, and he should soon expire; and that the cast of the stone was by the hand of a woman, and therefore he was in haste to have the young man come to him: and said unto him, draw thy sword…

And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead That is, those that were with him, the men of his army, who were all Israelites: they departed every man to his place; disbanded themselves, and went everyone to their own home, and so the inhabitants of Thebez escaped the vengeance of…

Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his father To the disgrace of his father’s character, and to the hurt of his father’s family: in slaying his seventy brethren; excepting one, which was a piece of unheard of wickedness, attended with most sad aggravations; the shedding…

And all the evil of the men of Shechem In aiding Abimelech to slay his brethren, and in making him king after so foul a fact committed: did God render upon their heads; by suffering Abimelech to beat down their city, and destroy the inhabitants of it, and by burning the hold in which the men of the…