Juízes 9
John Trapp · Citado em PreceptAustin
Juízes 9
Trapp - ‘Had he been as valiant as he was vigilant, it might have gone better with him and his partisans.’ Pulpit Commentary - It does not appear certain whether Gaal, who, as is clear from ver. 36, was accompanied by Zebul, went out of the city gate with his men in consequence of any intelligence of Abimelech's movements, or any alarm or suspicion of danger, or merely upon some other enterprise. But whatever the cause was, as soon as he was there, Abimelech, according to Zebul's advice in ver. 33, had begun to descend from the mountains into the valley to "set upon the city." Gaal's quick eye detected them in the morning light. And Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush - the people that were with him, from lying in wait with the intention of stealthily advancing into the city when Gaal should have left it, but this intention failed in part, owing to Gaal seeing Abimelech’s men. (Fausset) Judges 9:36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." But Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men." You are seeing the shadow: Doubdan states, that in some parts of the Holy Land there are many detached rocks scattered up and down, some growing out of the ground, and others fragments broken off from rocky precipices, the shadow of which, it appears, Josephus thought might be most naturally imagined to look like troops of men at a distance, rather than that of the mountains; for he represents Zebul as saying to Gaal, that he mistook the shadow of the rocks for men. Eze 7:7 Mk 8:24 Judges 9 Resources And when Gaal saw the people (Abimelech's followers), he said to Zebul (who at this point he assumed was a friend and confederate), "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." But Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men." - NLT = "When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, "Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!" Zebul replied, "It's just the shadows of the hills that look like men." NET NOTE on the people - Heb “the people” (also in Jdg 9:38, 43, 48). These were (ABIMELECH'S) warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males. Pulpit Commentary on Zebul's reply to Gaal - Partly to give Abimelech time, and partly to conceal his own complicity in Abimelech's movements, Zebul affected not to see the men, and explained the appearance as being merely the shadows of the mountains cast before the rising sun. Bush notes that "The familiarity existing between these two individuals, under their present circumstances, shows very clearly that Zebul had hitherto dissembled his real sentiments and purposes. It is not possible otherwise to account for such an interview at this time between parties so related." (Commentary) A R Fausset - And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul [who through fear had not heretofore dared to oppose Gaal, but temporised], Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul [coming out to the gate with Gaal] said unto him [to deceive him, and gain time for Abimelech’s four companies to effect a junction], Thou seest the shadow of the mountains (as if they were) men. Judges 9:37 And Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company comes by the way of the diviners' oak." NET Gaal again said, "Look, men are coming down from the very center of the land. A unit is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners." NLT But again Gaal said, "No, people are coming down from the hills. And another group is coming down the road past the Diviners' Oak." NIV But Gaal spoke up again: "Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and a company is coming from the direction of the soothsayers' tree." by the way of the diviners' oak Dt 18:14 Judges 9 Resources And Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold (hinneh = LOOK!), people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company comes by the way of the diviners' oak." Highest point (literally “the navel of the land”) which is apparently a reference to Gerizim located centrally in the central highlands.
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Trapp - Hired vain and light persons. - Beggarly rascals, fit for his purpose, debauched desperadoes. Abigail Adams to John Adams on November 27, 1775 that “Power, whether vested in many or few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries ‘Give, give.” T. S. Eliot somewhat scornfully concluded that “most of the troubles in the world are caused by people wanting to be important.” Plato said, “Might is right” Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, “Might makes right.” French novelist Joseph Joubert said “Might and right govern everything in the world; might till right is ready.” But when might is in the hands of selfish dictators, right rarely has a chance to get ready or to take over. Might seizes control and will hold it unless a stronger power overcomes and brings freedom. The Prophet Habakkuk described these people as “guilty men, whose own strength is their god” (Hab. 1:11). (See The Bible Exposition Commentary) Worthless (07386)(req) is an adjective that means empty or vain (frivolous, trivial, trifling). Req is used to describe an empty pit (Ge 37:24), empty pitchers (Jdg 7:16), vain (worthless) men (Jdg 9:4, 11:3, 2Chr 13:7 = speaking of their character), empty vessels (2Ki 4:3), worthless things (Pr 12:11, Pr 28:19), empty vessel (as a term of comparison - Jer 51:34) Gilbrant on req - Related to rîq , "emptiness," the adjective rêq means "empty," "vain." Physical objects, such as a pit (Gen. 37:24) and a pot (Ezek. 24:11), can be described as being empty. The word has the connotation of "worthless" (Gen. 41:27). Persons can be described as worthless (e.g., Pr 12:11), a commentary on their character. Moses warned that the word of instruction from the Lord was not "empty" (Deut. 32:47). (Complete Biblical Library) Req - 14v - Usage: emptied(1), empty(6), foolish ones(1), idle(1), satisfied(1), worthless(4). Gen. 37:24; Deut. 32:47; Jdg. 7:16; Jdg. 9:4; Jdg. 11:3; 2 Sam. 6:20; 2 Ki. 4:3; 2 Chr. 13:7; Neh. 5:13; Prov. 12:11; Prov. 28:19; Isa. 29:8; Jer. 51:34; Ezek. 24:11 Reckless (06348)(pahaz) means to be undisciplined, wild, insolent. It has the idea of bubbling over, being undisciplined or boisterous. The idea is more hotheadedness than evil. Gilbrant - Related to an Arabic cognate meaning "reckless," "boastful," the verb pāchaz means "to be wanton," "to be reckless," "to be undisciplined." Appearing twice in the Hebrew Bible, the verb pāchaz has cognates in Akkadian, Arabic, Syriac, Mandaean, Jewish Aramaic and Middle Hebrew. In Judg. 9:4, Abimelech hires "vain and light ["reckless," NIV] persons, which followed him"; that is, they became followers in his attempt to gain power in Israel. The second occurrence describes the low character of men who were called prophets in Jerusalem during the days of Zephaniah: "Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men" (Zeph. 3:4, NIV). (Complete Biblical Library) George Bush - Out of the house of Baal-berith. From this it is evident that idolatry had gained ground again in some places during the life-time of Gideon. The treasure deposited in this temple, which had perhaps been raised from oblations to the idol, and thus consecrated to idolatrous uses, is made through the divine counsels the instrument of bringing upon the idolators deserved punishment, by embroiling them in a civil war that caused their ruin. Nothing is more common, in the providence of God, than for the revenues of sin to be made a plague and a curse to those that amass them. Vain and light persons. Worthless and abandoned men; idlers and vagabonds, the very scum of society, persons who were living on the public, and had nothing to lose; ever the most fitting instruments of tyranny and cruelty. (Judges 9 Commentary) Corrupt Politics - John Butler - Sermon Starters Judges 9:4 "And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain light persons, which followed him" (Judges 9:4). Politics has not changed much over the years. Politics was filled with corruption back in Bible times as well as today. Our text records some political corruption which occurred some three thousand years ago that is still seen today. The Bible is always up to date in application. From our text we note the seed of the corruption, the silver of corruption and the servants of corruption. First—The Seed of Corruption The corruption began with a man by the name of Abimelech. HE was a son of Gideon, no less, via a concubine in Shechem (Judges 8:31). Gideon had seventy other sons. The concubine arrangement smells to high heaven. It was common in those days but that did not make it right—It was plain immorality, So the seed of corruption in our text is immoral conduct. Immorality is forever corrupting politics. For proof, check today's news media. Second—The Silver of Corruption "They gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith." Money is involved in corrupt politics. Abimelech wanted to be a ruler in Israel so his friends raised some money to help him. Note where the money came from. It came from the heathen temple of Baal. Corrupt politics and apostate religion go hand in hand. It was so then, and it is so today. Apostate churches are no help in cleaning up politics! Let Fundamentalist push a conservative candidate or legislature, And the powers that be will check so see if they are violating any campaign laws. But Apostate churches are involved illegally in politics all the time, yet, hardly a protest is ever heard or an investigation ever made. Corrupt religion is in cahoots with corrupt politics. Sound doctrine and sound government go hand in hand. Third—The Servants of Corruption "Abemelech hired vain and light person, which followed him." Abemelech's crowd is like those deadbeats which follow many of our politicians to given them a crowds. I remember when John McCain hired a bunch of deadbeats with beer to meet his plane as he landed on his campaign trail. He wanted it to appear that he was very popular when what he portrayed was corrupt politics. Those who can be hired by such means to boast a campaign will prove useless in government. They are vain and light people. They lack character and will only further corrupt politics. Of course corrupt people make a corrupt politicians. Corrupt people do not vote for men of character but for those who will give them beer or other corrupting handouts. Good people are not bribed by money but are persuaded by principle. Abimelech had no good principles. We have many of his kind running for office today. BAAL-BERITH, בעל ברית, אל ברית (See online page 141 in Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible DDD) I. Baal-berith (‘Baal of the Covenant’; Judg 8:33 and 9:4) and El-berith (‘El of the Covenant; Judg 9:46) occur only in the Book of Judges as specifications of the Canaanite fertility gods →Baal and →El of Shechem, an ancient Canaanite city in the hill country between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Also in Ugaritic texts brt (‘covenant’) is found in connection with Baal. II. In the OT Shechem is often mentioned. Already in Gen 12:6–7 we are told that Abram went as far in Canaan as the sanctuary at Shechem, and the terebinth tree of Moreh, and that he built there an altar “to the LORD who had appeared to him”. This suggests that already in ‘patriarchal’ times the Shechem area was a religious centre (see e.g. Gen 33:18–20; 35:4; Josh 24:32). In Josh 24 it is told that Joshua concluded a covenant at Shechem, resulting in a confederacy of twelve Israelite tribes. Josh 24:25–26 informs us that “Joshua drew up a statute and an ordinance” (cf. Deut 11:26–32) for this confederacy in Shechem, and that he took “a great stone and set it up under the terebinth in the sanctuary of the LORD”. Many older scholars even suggested that Shechem was the original home of the Hebrew covenant as against Sinai-Horeb or Kadesh and that the city was the amphictyonic sanctuary of the tribal confederacy of Israel (ROWLEY 1950:125). In this city the dramatic story of Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) by his Shechemite concubine (Judg 8:31) took place, as told in Judg 9. We are informed that in this time the gods of the city were the Canaanite gods Baal-berith and El-berith. So Shechem was a Canaanite enclave at the time of Abimelech, and the “citizens of Shechem” might not have been Israelites, but Canaanite inhabitants (FOWLER 1983: 52). A shrine of Baal-berith should have been in the city (9:4). But his cult must also have been popular among those Israelites who lived in the neighbourhood of Shechem (8:33). In 9:46, on the other hand, a crypt—be it a subterreanean cave or a hidden dark room or vault—of a temple of El-berith in Migdal-Shechem (‘Tower of Shechem’) is mentioned. Is this a reference to the temple of Baal-berith as that of El-berith, ‘the covenant god’, and is the substitution of ‘El’ for ‘Baal’ due to “scribal orthodoxy” (GRAY 1962)? Or have we to do with two different temples? In the opinion of SIMONS (1943; 1959) and other scholars Migdal-Shechem (Judg 9:46–49) is to be distinguished from the city of Shechem. It must have been situated in the neighbourhood of that city as its advanced defensive bulwark (Mount Zalmon, Judg 9:48, identical with ‘Beth-Millo’ in Judg 9:6, 20). But in Abimelech’s time this stronghold must have developed into a small settlement, depending on the mother-city of Shechem, symbolized by the surviving original name as well as by the cult of a common deity Baal-berith/El-berith. NIELSEN (1955) identified Migdal-Shechem and Beth-Millo (Judg 9:6, 20) with the main building on the acropolis of Tell Balatah. The questions to be dealt with here are primarily archaeological. The mound (Tell Balatah) of—presumably—biblical Shechem has been excavated by various expeditions since 1913 (Sellin and Welter between 1913 and 1934; G. E. Wright led eight campaigns between 1956 and 1969). According to Wright, a massive structure, with walls seventeen feet thick, had replaced the courtyard temples of Shechem at about 1650 BCE. According to CAMPBELL (1962), it is quite likely that all the structures mentioned in Judg 9:4, 6 and 9:46 are part of the complex in Shechem’s sacred precinct. Other buildings which could be interpreted as sanctuaries, have been found within and nearby the city too (WRIGHT 1968). The existence of these sanctuaries outside the sacred precinct, and even outside Shechem, can throw indirect light on the traditions of sacred places in the Shechem pass. But at the same time it complicates the issue of whether there was only one temple for one deity called now Baal-berith now El-berith, or there were actually two shrines one for Baal-berith and one for El-berith. The latter possibility is accepted on good grounds by many modern scholars (SOGGIN 1967; 1988; DE MOOR 1990). There is also an identification of an excavated building on Mount Ebal with the El-berith temple of Judg 9. It was Zertal who surveyed Mount Ebal during five campaigns (starting in 1982), and found there a “temenos wall” enclosing a large central courtyard. An artifact was discovered, which has been subjected to different interpretations: a great altar (ZERTAL 1985; 1986), a watchtower (SOGGIN 1988), or even an old farmhouse (KEMPINSKI 1986). Zertal saw it at first as a cultic site for the tribal Israelite confederacy which he associated with the biblical tradition (Deut 27:4; Josh 8:30–35). But Soggin is of the opinion that it could be the Migdal-Shechem, a small fortified settlement, with a holy place and an altar for El-berith. It ought to be said that the identification of the building within Shechem, excavated by Wright, as the temple of El-berith is also seriously disputed (FOWLER 1983). As is known, El and Baal were important deities in the Ugaritic and Canaanite pantheon, and it is not unlikely that they could both have had a shrine in Shechem (MULDER 1962; SOGGIN 1967). In Ugarit too, El and Baal both had a temple (J. C. DE MOOR, The Seasonal Pattern in the Ugaritic Myth of Baʿlu [Kevelaer 1971] 111). Besides, in KTU 1.3 i:28, brt ‘covenant’ may have been used in connection with Baal. According to CROSS (1973) the name il brt is also used in a Hurrian hymn for El. SCHMITT (1964) argued that this god was originally identical with the Indian-Iranian god Mitra (‘agreement’ in Semitic form), for in the second millennium BCE the Indo-Iranians were widely scattered throughout the Near East; il brt, however, should be interpreted as the Old Semitic deity Ilabrat (M. DIETRICH & W. MAYER, UF 26 [1994] 92 with lit.). III. It is not easy to determine which was the special character of Baal-berith and of El-berith in Judg 9. There is in the first place the question of the age and the composition of the traditions in Judg 9. JAROŠ (1976:76–77) takes Judg 9:8–15, 26–40, 46–54 as an old tradition; Judg 9:1–7, 16a, 19b–21, 23–24, 41–45, 56–57 as a later one; Judg 16b–19a, 22, 55 were added by a later hand. The fact that both deities are mentioned in one and the same area only in this composite story (Shechem) could be an indication that there was a close connection between the two deities in the Shechemite pantheon, analogous to the connection between Baal and El in the Ugaritic pantheon. It may even be that the passage in which El Berith is mentioned is the older tradition. Baal Berith, however, is pictured as a Canaanite god who was worshipped by many Israelites too (Judg 9:33). Of the old versions LXX offers two different translations of the book of Judges, one represented by codex B (Vaticanus), the other by codex A (Alexandrinus). LXXA tries to translate terms like Baal-berith (Βααλ διαθήκης), whereas LXXB often simply transcribes the Hebrew expression with Greek letters (v 4: Βααλβεριθ; v 46: Βαιθηλβεριθ; NIELSEN 1955:142). The Peshitta and the Targum translate the Hebrew text as bĕʿal qĕyām[āʾ] (Baal of the covenant). In v 46 the Targum paraphrases the difficulties in this way: “… to the gathering place of the house of God to cut a covenant”. In the same way the Vulgate paraphrases the second part of v 46: “… they went into the shrine of their god Berith, where they had concluded a covenant with him, and therefore that very fortified place had got its name” (… ingressi sunt fanum dei sui Berith ubi foedus cum eo pepigerant et ex eo locus nomen acceperat qui erat valde munitus). In Judg 8:33 Vulg. translates as Baal foedus, but in 9:4 the Hebrew expression is oddly transcribed: Baalberith. There are scholars who believe that Israel drew its belief in a divine covenant with Yahweh from an analogous cult of Baal-berith in Shechem, or even that baʿal was only an epithet for Yahweh in the stories of Judges (KAUFMANN 1961:138–139). The view that Baal-berith officiated as supervisor and guardian of a political treaty between Shechem and some other city-states or the local Israelite population is accepted by many scholars. Hence the explanation of his name as Baal-berith. But that there had been a profound influence from this Baal upon Israel is unprovable. Israel’s tradition of the Sinai covenant was not moulded upon the pattern of the Shechem covenant of Baal-berith (CLEMENTS 1968). On the other hand the story in Judg 9 presupposes some normal relations between Shechemites and Israelites (NIELSEN 1955:171). But this does not mean that Yahweh was worshipped in Shechem with the name Baal-berith, as GRESSMANN (1929:163–164) suggested. Another view regarding the nature of Baal-berith is that he was one of the parties of a covenant to which his worshippers formed the corresponding party, so that a religious, or cultic, covenant was involved. Clements points out that a part of the population of Shechem is described as “men of Hamor” (in Gen 34 the name Hamor means ‘ass’), and that the ritual for the affirmation of a covenant by the slaughtering of an ass is testified in the ancient Near East. Those who were bound under covenant having participated in this ritual became “sons of Hamor” (“sons of the ass”). The covenant of Hamor “was almost certainly related to Baal-Berith, who was the chief god of the city” (CLEMENTS 1968:29; see also ALBRIGHT 1953:113, who was of the opinion that Baal-berith was an appellation of the god →Horon). This suggests a divine covenant between the local Baal and certain citizens of Shechem rather than a covenant in which Baal acted as the guardian of a local political treaty (CLEMENTS 1968:31). In Judg 9 it is shown, however, that this god was also a god of fertility and vegetation (v 27)—so was Baal in the Canaanite pantheon: the men of Shechem went out into the field, gathered the grapes from the vineyards, trod them and held festival, coming “into the house of their god”. The identity of this god goes unsaid, but it must be either El or Baal—and most likely the latter one. Much of the later Israelite ethos was opposed to the tradition of the Canaanite Baal. So it is very unlikely that the covenant tradition is derived from the covenant tradition of Baal-berith of Shechem. The name ‘Berith’, however, may refer to his function among the Shechemites “as the witness or guarantor of the covenant between two peoples” (LEWIS 1992). Judges 9:5 Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah: Jdg 6:24 killed: 2Ki 10:17 11:1,2 2Ch 21:4 Mt 2:16,20 Judges 9 Resources ABIMELECH'S AMBITION LEADS TO MASSACRE Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone.: This description implies either that the execution was public or it may refer to a stone for sacrifices as with ritualistic execution. What a tragic end for the family of Gideon who had been used so mightily used of God. Killing all the legitimate heirs to the throne was a common atrocity in those days. Notice here Abimelech breaks the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Ex 20:13+). John Trapp - And slew his brethren.] So did afterwards Joram, the degenerate son of good Jehoshaphat; Romulus, first king of Rome; Jugurtha, king of the Numidians; and so doth the great Turk to this day, so soon as he cometh to the kingdom, that he may have no competitors. Lawson Stone has an interesting comment on this slaughter of 70 at the house of Gideon - Like other usurpers, Abimelech clearly intended not just to kill his rivals, but to send a message. To slay Jerub-baal's sons in Jerub-baal's home, in the very shrine where Jerub-baal got his name, clearly announced not merely a seizure of power, but the repudiation of Jerub-baal (Gideon), his family, and all that he stood for. When Abimelech terminated the rest of Gideon's lineage and abrogated his legacy, he threw down a gauntlet before the God who had called and empowered Gideon. In essence, he shook his fist at Gideon's God and said, "Let Yahweh contend for himself, if he is a God!" God took that challenge up with a vengeance, as the story shows. Abimelech actually only got 69, or one less than all, since the number itself might be idiomatic, not literal (Fensham 1977:113-115). The 70 murdered by Abimelech calls to mind the many uses of the number in the OT. The mutilated Adoni-bezek, before his death, spoke of 70 kings, maimed in like manner, who had been subservient to him (1:5-7). Ahab's 70 sons fell to Jehu's sword in a coup (2 Kgs 10:1-11). (See Joshua, Judges, Ruth) Preacher's Commentary draws some poignant applications writing that "We do not have to look far for contemporary illustrative material of the same sad mechanism. The stories coming out of Romania, for example, following the fall of Ceausescu, demonstrate the paranoia of the dictator who can never be 100 percent sure that he is in total control, or that he has quashed every opponent. The lust for power can and does lead to the most outrageous actions in the business world, in family struggles, and even in the church of Jesus Christ. People will do terrible things when they are consumed by the desire to come out on the top. Such arrogance destroys relationship, because it kills trust and silences dialogue. Church history has provided us with examples of what can happen when anyone—even well-motivated and apparently godly men—moves beyond personal accountability to anyone else. None of us is immune from the corrupting influence of power and position. We can all too easily lose our perspective on ourselves, and with it our moral and spiritual balance. As pastors, we need faithful friends who will pastor us and bring us down to earth from some of our wilder flights of fancy. It is not for nothing that the pulpit is sometimes caricatured as “six feet above contradiction,” or “cowards’ castle.” In a chapter full of irony, we must be careful to see that we do not succumb to the supreme idolatry of worshiping at the shrine of our own infallibility, or power, or pride. The more “successful” a ministry is perceived to be, the greater will be the danger that we start to believe our own press releases! Many a pastor has allowed himself to be “made king” in his little corner of God’s world-wide field, by an enthusiastic band of supporters, and those people have lived to rue the day. (See The Preacher's Commentary )
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Trapp - And all the men of Shechem.] They might have foreseen by his bloody fratricide what kind of king they should have of him; but they were set upon it, and they soon had enough of it; for as these Shechemites were first in raising Abimelech unjustly to the throne, so they were the first that felt the weight of his sceptre. The foolish bird fouls and smears herself with that which grew from her own excretion. Who wondereth to see the kind peasant stung with his own snake? Henry Morris on men of Shechem. The town of Shechem had had a remarkable history. Its original Hivite male inhabitants had been slain by Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34:25). Later, Joseph was buried there (Joshua 24:32). In the division of the lands by Joshua, Shechem was in Ephraim's allocation, but near the edge of Manasseh. It was rather centrally located in Israel and Abimelech evidently thought it would also make a good capital. However, it had been given to the Levites and designated by Joshua as one of the six cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7; 21:21). Joshua's farewell address (Joshua 24) had been delivered there. Just who these "men of Shechem" were who conspired with Abimelech is uncertain, though presumably they were Ephraimites rather than Levites. Abimelech became the first person ever to be crowned as king in Israel. His abortive 3 year rule, ran roughshod over the divine requirements for that office (cf. Dt 17:14-20) and the people get the ruler they deserve. His coronation ironically took place near the tree in Shechem where Joshua had solemnly placed the "Book of the Law" (Jos 24:26). Earlier we saw the heart of these people was not to have God rule over them but to have Gideon (Judges 8:22). Finally God gives them what they desire and they got the caliber of man they deserved. When we look around our world today, we find this principle is still true. Notice that they selected a king of their choosing not God's as Deuteronomy had specified… "When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, 'you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman." (Dt 17:14-20+) Abimelech decided who to set over "Israel" which is counter to God's instructions for establishing an earthly monarch (one rule). by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem: Jacob had buried the idols of his family under an oak at Shechem (Ge 35:4). Here Joshua (Jos 24:24-27) called to Israel to commit wholeheartedly to Yahweh. Here Joseph's bones were eventually buried (Josh. 24:32). The oak of the pillar may have later become associated with pagan worship of the Shechemites. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, went to Shechem, following the death of Solomon, to secure the acclamation of the Israelites, though the city itself was in ruins at that time (see 1Ki 12:1) Charles Pfeiffer: It was appropriate that Abimelech be proclaimed king at a spot with religious associations. The coronation took place by the terebinth (oak) of the pillar. Jacob had buried the idols which his family had gathered under a tree at Shechem (Gen 35:4), and there Joshua had set up a monument as a witness to the covenant between God and Israel (Josh 24:26). (Borrow Wycliffe Bible Commentary) Judges 9:22 in the KJV ("When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel") implies that Abimelech actually reigned over all of Israel and that all Israel submitted to him for three years. The Hebrew “reigned” better translated “governed” or "act as a ruler". However it is more likely that Abimelech did not necessarily reign over the entire nation of Israel for there was not that kind of national solidarity during the days of the Judges. Abimelech was in control of Shechem and Beth-Millo, Arumah (Jdg 9:41), and Thebez (Jdg 9:50), which suggests that he had direct rule over the western part of Manasseh. (See related remarks by Cundall and Wolf below) Gary Inrig - We need to remind ourselves at this point of the basic lesson of Judges 9. If God is not King, a usurper will arise in His place. If God had been kept in His place as King, Abimelech would never have been successful. But when there is a spiritual vacuum, Satan will rush in to fill it. There is a major lesson both personally and corporately here. We need to develop an instinctive suspicion of anyone or anything that usurps the place that belongs only to Christ in His church. There is a subtle temptation to give undue prominence to gifted people who foster our self-image and feed our baser instincts. We need to beware of any tendency to minimize the character qualifications for leadership and the servant mindset that is so clearly mandated in the New Testament. And we need to watch the workings of our own hearts. If God had been truly king, Abimelech could not have been king. So it is in my life. The flesh cannot rule where the Spirit is king. That means that the Christian life is not lived by beating down the flesh and trying as hard as I can to keep my old nature in its place. The crucial issue is whether I am enthroning Jesus in His proper place. (Borrow Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay) George Bush - All the house of Milla. Heb. בית מלוא beth-millo; literally, the house of filling up, perhaps so called from a deep pit or valley in the neighborhood of Shechem being filled up, and a stronghold or castle built upon it. There is a strong presumption that the same place is intended as that which, in v. 46, is called ‘a hold of the house of the god Berith.’ By the plain of the pillar. Or, Heb, עם אלון מצב im ëlōn mutztzâb, by the oak of the pillar. The allusion is perhaps to the oak or oak-grove near which Joshua erected a pillar, as a witness of the covenant renewed between God and Israel, Josh. 24:26. Schmid however maintains that the original מצב never signifies a ‘pillar,’ or ‘statue,’ but properly a mound, or artificial heap, and supposes that the Shechemites raised up some lofty elevation, on the summit of which the ceremony of Abimelech’s coronation was performed, in order to render the whole visible to a greater multitude. This structure he supposes, moreover, was situated on a plain near a certain well-known oak, which in memory of the transaction was thenceforward called ‘the oak of the rising heap;’ just as Deborah’s ‘palm-tree,’ ch. 4:6, was so called from her having made it a seat of justice. This view of the subject we are inclined to adopt. (Judges 9 Commentary) A R Fausset - And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, (being) threescore and ten [note ver. 18] persons, upon one stone [Abimelech formally executed them, as though it were not an assassination, but a judicial execution at one particular spot marked by a great stone. It is not unlikely that, as the threescore and ten pieces of silver were supplied him out of the house of Baal-berith, the threescore and ten persons slain, one for each piece, were intended to be expiatory victims to Baal for the sacrilege done to him by Jerubbaal their father. As Jerubbaal had sacrificed to Jehovah upon the altar rock, using the sacred bullock and the Asherah grove associated with Baal worship, to consume his burnt-offering; so the Baal worshippers, who had been offended at his act, but who durst not show their displeasure heretofore, now that he is dead, wreak their vengeance on his sons at Abimelech’s instigation, and offer them all together upon an altar-like stone (see ch. 6:25–30; 1 Sam. 6:14, 15]: notwithstanding, yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left; for he hid himself [polygamy begets treachery and fratricide, especially when ambition instigates men. A false religion removes all moral restraints. Abimelech’s bloody act at Shechem was the precursor of the extermination of dynasty after dynasty in the kingdom of the ten tribes which was founded by Jeroboam at the same Shechem, and upheld by idolatry (1 Kings 15:27–29, 16:10, 11, 18; 2 Kings 10:7, 15:13–16, 25, 30]. Judges 9:7 Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, "Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. mount Gerizim: Dt 11:29 27:12 Jos 8:33 Jn 4:20 upon them: Jdg 9:20,45 Jos 6:26 1Ki 16:34 Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you: Ps 18:40,41 50:15-21 Pr 1:28,29 21:13 28:9 Isa 1:15 58:6-10 Mt 18:26-34 Jas 2:13 Judges 9 Resources Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim with Shechem in middle PARABLE OF THE BRAMBLE KING Now when they told Jotham: Here is another illustration from Judges of a godly individual who acted alone but who acted courageously. He could have reasoned that because he was alone he would be totally ineffective or that any interference by a "lone ranger" would be foolish and put his life at risk. But instead he chose to take a stand for righteousness in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. And thus he acted alone to do what he could to rebuke evil and shine forth the light of God's truth that He is a just God Who will repay evil (Ro 12:17+, Ro 12:18-21+). John Trapp - And when they told it to Jotham.] He only escaped of all the seventy sons, to tell Abimelech and his Shechemites their own, and that on the coronation day too; thundering out God’s curses from the very mountain of blessings. This could not but be terrible, and much dissweeten that day’s solemnity. Sed surdis fabulam. (But the story is on deaf ears) Where ambition hath possessed itself thoroughly of the soul, it turneth the heart into steel, and maketh it incapable of a conscience. "All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -- Edmund Burke Gary Inrig - Jotham was the only member of Gideon’s family to escape the purge. His life obviously remained in great danger, but he was not willing to allow events to go unchallenged. Mount Gerizim overlooked the city of Shechem, and the arrangement of the valley below and the mountain meant that there was a natural acoustic effect that he now exploited. By staying on top of the mountain, he could both make himself heard and give himself the maximum opportunity to escape. He obviously couldn’t safely enter the city by himself! Suddenly, in the middle of Abimelech’s coronation ceremony, there was an interruption. The people turned their eyes to follow the sound, which rang through the natural amphitheater, and there, in the distance, they saw Abimelech’s only remaining half brother. Jotham alone had survived Abimelech’s butchery, and now he used a fable to capture their attention. A fable uses non-human elements (in this case, trees) that act in human fashion to make a moral or spiritual point. (Borrow Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay) He went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim.: Mount Gerizim is about a half-mile from Shechem and a 1000 feet higher and was the site on which half the tribes of Israel stood for the recital of the covenantal blessings following the invasion of the Promised Land (Josh. 8:33) Jotham speaks a parable that could be heard by all those in Shechem. Jotham may have stood on the triangular rock platform that projects from the side of Gerizim, which forms a natural pulpit overlooking Shechem from which one can be heard as far away as Mount Ebal across the valley!!! God wanted this message to be heard clearly! Note the irony that the mountain associated with divine blessing, would now be the site of a stinging condemnation and curse which would be followed by a bloody civil war. And lifted his voice ("spoke loudly" NET) and called out. Thus he said to them, "Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you: NET - "so that God may listen to you!" Lifted up his voice indicates he was bent on getting the attention of the entire city! His call that God may listen to you must have been a shock to the godless Baal loving Shechemites! Jotham's point is the foolishness of the trees in choosing for a king Abimelech the bramble or thistle, a worthless plant whose end was burning. It is tragic that not one time in Judges 9 do the men of Israel (except for Jotham) refer to the God of Israel! He is calling them to accountability for their actions much like so Moses records in Nu 32:23+ "be sure your sin will find you out." John Trapp - Hearken unto me, &c.] An august exordium, whereby, and by the whole speech, it appeareth that this young man was vir bonus dicendi peritus ( = A good man, skilled in speaking), as Quintilian saith an orator should be, one that could deliver his mind fitly, and that durst do it freely. Presented in allegorical form, this story of the trees effectively lays bare Abimelech's true character and the utter disregard of the people of Shechem for Gideon's memory. This is the first parable recorded in Scripture Henry Morris on mount Gerizim. This famous mountain (it later was the site of the Samaritan temple, when Shechem had become known as Sychar—John 4:5, 20) was adjacent to Shechem, so Jotham's parable could either have been heard by Abimelech and his followers or else quickly relayed to them by those who heard it. He obviously was placing himself in great jeopardy, but his indictment eventually bore fruit. ESV Study Bible - Indictment of Abimelech: Jotham’s Fable. (Jdg 9:7-21) Jotham, the only brother of Abimelech who escaped his murderous rampage, provided a strong indictment of Abimelech’s actions by means of a fable (vv. 7–20). The fable depicts the noble trees of the forest each in turn rejecting the call to kingship, which is finally accepted by the ignoble bramble bush (vv. 8–15). In this context, it is an indictment of the Shechemites (who have chosen the ignoble Abimelech as king), of Abimelech himself, and of the process by which this “king” was chosen (see esp. Jotham’s comments in vv. 16–20). It is not an indictment of the institution of kingship in general, however, since the overall thrust of the book is that a proper king would have been good for Israel. (See note in ESV Study Bible or borrow ESV study Bible) George Bush - Stood in the top of mount Gerizim. A mountain in the immediate vicinity of Shechem, of which, see Deut. 27:12. Josephus says, that he availed himself of the occasion of a public festival, when great multitudes of the people were assembled together at the place specified, but still implying that the incident occurred some time after the above-mentioned inauguration of Abimelech as king. But to us it appears more probable that Jotham’s address was delivered on the very same occasion with the former event, or at least before the people had dispersed from that convention. The place was the same, and from the language, v. 18, 19, ‘ye have risen up this day,’ we should naturally infer that the time was the same. Jotham’s abrupt departure also, after delivering the parable, leads us to the same conclusion. He would of course entertain fears of his personal safety in the midst of a body of excited adherents of his brother, at the very time when their enthusiasm was wrought up to the highest pitch, and after uttering his message would be likely to make good his retreat as speedily as possible. At another time, there would have been less occasion for so much haste. Hearken unto me—that God may hearken unto you. Employing, in this mode of summoning their attention, a kind of adjuration, which would be understood to signify that he spoke on this occasion by divine inspiration, and had a special message from God to deliver to them. (Judges 9 Commentary) A R Fausset - And when they told (it) to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim [2500 feet above the Mediterranean, commanding one of the finest views in Palestine], and lifted up his voice and cried [comp. Prov. 8:1, 3, 9:3], and said unto them [De Saulcy argues that, as the top of Gerizim is 500 yards above Nablous, on the south of which it rises, the voice could not be heard, and that not Nablous, but the ruins Louza (Luz), on Gerizim, answer to ancient Shechem; he has identified there the foundations of Sanballat’s temple. But the acoustic properties of the place are attested by Tristram. Jotham probably stood on the side of the summit towards the people, who, according to Josephus, were keeping a feast outside the city. Gerizim was the hill from which the blessings of the law were declared, as being the southern mount, and as the Hebrews associated life and light with the south. Ebal was the hill of the curses (Josh. 8:30–35) on the north. Jotham, on the hill of blessing, utters the cursing, their sin turning the blessing into the curse (yet there is nothing of violent invective: he contents himself with witnessing for God the certain consequences of cruelty and ingratitude: see 1 Pet. 3:9; 2 Tim. 2:24, 25)], Hearken unto me, ye men [‘lords,’ baale] of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you [see Prov. 28:9]. Judges 9.7 G Campbell Morgan Thus did Jotham introduce his parable. He saw that the action which the men of Shechem were contemplating was one which could only result in their cutting off from the right of approach to God. God can only hearken to men when they walk in the way of His commandments. If they rebel against His rule, and break His laws, He cannot receive them, or attend to their prayers. Gideon had refused to be made king; but when he passed on, Abimelech, his natural son—a man unprincipled and brutal, but of great personal force—secured to himself the allegiance of the men of Shechem, and practically usurped the position of king. In order to make his position secure, he encompassed the massacre of all the sons of Gideon, except Jotham. He, escaping, uttered a parabolic prophecy from the height of Mount Gerizim. It was full of a fine scorn for Abimelech, whom he compared to the bramble accepting a position declined by the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine. It is noticeable that these were the three symbols of the national life of Israel. In the course of his parable, he indicated the line along which judgment would fall upon them, if they committed this wrong. Abimelech would be the destruction of the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem would be the destruction of Abimelech. That prophecy was literally fulfilled. The nation was chosen to reign over nations, under the rule of God. It lost its power to reign, when it ceased to yield its allegiance to its one and only King. Had it then hearkened to Jotham, it would have been possible for God to hearken to it. (Morgan, G. C. Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible). Holman Bible Dictionary on Mt Gerizim - Closely related place names meaning, “cut off ones” and “stripped one” or “baldy.” Two mountains which form the sides of an important east-west pass in central Israel known as the valley of Shechem. Ancient Shechem lies at the east entrance of this valley, and modern Nablus stands in the narrow valley between the two mountains. Shechem is located some 40 miles north of Jerusalem and, because of the mountainous terrain, controls all roads through the central hill country of Israel. Gerizim (modern Jebel et-Tor) stands 2,849 feet above the Mediterranean and 700 feet above the valley. Ebal (modern Jebel Eslamiyeh) was located directly opposite Gerizim and Isaiah 2,950 feet above sea level. Both of the mountains are steep and rocky and perhaps gave reason to the probable meaning of Shechem: “shoulder(s).” The mountains, standing like two sentinels, could be fortified and assure control of this important valley. Excavations have shown architectural features which imply its commercial and military importance in the area. When the Israelites conquered central Israel, Joshua carried out the directive given by Moses, and placed half of the tribes on Mount Gerizim to pronounce the blessing (Deuteronomy 27:12 ) and the other half on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curses (Deuteronomy 11:29 ; Joshua 8:30-35 ). Joshua built an altar on Ebal (Joshua 8:30 ). Jotham proclaimed his famous kingship fable to the citizens of Shechem from Mount Gerizim (Judges 9:7 ), thus using its sacred tradition to reinforce the authority of his message. After the Assyrians captured the Northern Kingdom, the mixed race of people began mixing pagan worship and worship of Yahweh (2 Kings 17:33 ). Gerizim disappears from biblical history until after the Babylonian Exile and the Persian restoration. The Jewish historian Josephus reported that Alexander the Great gave permission to the Samaritans to build a temple on Mount Gerizim. Archaeologists think they have found remains of this temple, 66 x 66 feet and 30 feet high, built of uncut rocks without cement. Josephus also reported that John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple in 128 B.C. Archaeologists have also found remains of the temple to Zeus Hypsistos which Hadrian, the Roman emperor, built after A.D. 100. Over 1500 marble steps led to the pagan temple. The small Samaritan community continues to worship on Gerizim today, just as they did in Jesus' lifetime when He met the Samaritan woman drawing water from Jacob's well. She pointed to traditional worship on the mountain (John 4:20 ). Related Resources: Wikipedia - Mt Gerizim American Tract Society Gerizim Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Gerizim Easton's Bible Dictionary Gerizim Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Gerizim Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Gerizim 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Gerizim Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Ebal and gerizim Gerizim mount McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Gerizim The Jewish Encyclopedia Temple of Mount Gerizim Judges 9:8 "Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us!' NET Judges 9:8 "The trees were determined to go out and choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king!' KJV Judges 9:8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. ESV Judges 9:8 The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' NLT Judges 9:8 Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they said to the olive tree, 'Be our king!' CSB Judges 9:8 The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, "Reign over us." NIV Judges 9:8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' The trees: 2Ki 14:9 Eze 17:3-10 Da 4:10-18; olive tree: The {zayith,} or olive tree, in the Linnean system, is a genus of the {diandra monogynia} class of plants. It is of a moderate height, and grows best in sunny places. Its trunk is knotty; bark smooth, of an ash colour: wood solid and yellowish; leaves oblong, almost like those of the willow, of a dark green colour on the upper side, and whitish below. In June it puts forth white flowers, growing in bunches, each of one piece, widening towards the top, and dividing into four parts. After this succeeds the fruit, which is oblong and plump; first green, then pale, and when quite ripe, black. Within it is enclosed a hard stone, filled with oblong seeds. It was the most useful of all trees in the forest; as the bramble was the meanest and most worthless. Reign: Jdg 8:22,23 Judges 9 Resources THE TREES CHOSE A KING Lawson Stone introduces what one might call a "pulp parable" in Jdg 9:8-15 - Since the truly productive members of the forest society decline the role of king and only the worthless member, the briar, accepts it. (See Joshua, Judges, Ruth) Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, Jotham's words are like a parable from a Greek word (parabole) that signifies a placing of two or more objects together, usually for the purpose of a comparison by means of a short, simple story designed to communicate a spiritual truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. Paul Apple - Parable Illustrates the Incongruity of the Human Initiative in Anointing a King -- What Happens When the Inmates Try to Run the Asylum “Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them” Back to the problem of the creation trying to wrest control away from its Creator The trees had direct accountability to their Creator … but now they want a visible ruler. Henry Morris on trees went forth. This parable of the trees is not only the first parable in the Bible but probably also the first fable or parable recorded in all ancient literature. The olive tree was considered the most fruitful of all the trees of the land, the bramble the most painful, yet it has often been true—just as in the ancient reign of Abimelech—that national leadership is assumed by the most ruthless of men rather than the best of men. and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign (malak; Lxx - basileuo) over us!: Olive groves are plentiful around the area of Shechem. This parable of the trees is the first parable in the Bible. The olive tree was considered the most fruitful of all the trees of the land, the bramble the most painful. Yet it has often been true--just as in the ancient reign of Abimelech--that national leadership is assumed by the most ruthless of men rather than the best of men. Paul Apple - (Jdg 9:8-13) Parable Interrogates Various Candidates for One Man Rule -- Three Examples of Leaders Who Reject the Opportunity to Lord it Over Others not willing to forsake productivity for the allure of preeminence but the reality of futility George Bush - The trees went forth, &c. Heb. הולך להכו holëk hâleku, going went forth; an emphatic phrase, intimating the entire unanimity and heartiness with which they entered upon the measure. We have in this address of Jotham, the oldest, and one of the most beautiful parables on record. It is the nature of a parable or fable to give ‘tongues to trees,’ and intelligence, life, and activity to all parts of the animate and inanimate creation. The truth of such a parable lies in the instruction conveyed in it, and the feigned circumstances being known to be such, are no ways inconsistent with veracity, but greatly subserve the cause of truth. The peculiar excellence of this mode of instruction is, that it arrests the attention more forcibly, and conveys knowledge more easily, than a train of reasoning could do; and convinces the judgment before prejudice has had time to bar the entrance of truth into the mind. Accordingly it has happened that in the East especially, where the imagination and the whole mental temperament is more fervid and glowing than elsewhere, this veiled form of instruction has always been in high repute, whether in conveying wholesome truths to the ear of power, or inculcating lessons of wisdom and justice and duty upon the obtuse and unreasoning multitude. Mr. Roberts remarks that, ‘The people of the East are exceedingly addicted to apologues, and use them to convey instruction or reproof, which with them could scarcely be done so well in any other way. Has a man been told a secret, he says, in repeating it, for instance, “A tree told me this morning, that Kandan offered a large bribe to the Modeliar, to get Muttoo turned out of his situation.” Does a man of low caste wish to unite his son in marriage to the daughter of one who is high, the latter will say, “Have you heard that the pumpkin wants to be married to the plantain-tree?” Is a wife sterile, “The cocoa-nut tree in Viraver’s garden does not bear any fruit.” Has a woman had children by improper intercourse, it is said of her husband’s garden, “Ah, the palmirah-trees are now giving cocoa-nuts.” Has a man given his daughter in marriage to another who uses her unkindly, he says, “I have planted the sugar-cane by the side of the margossa (bitter) tree.” ’ A short fable, together with its ‘moral,’ is more easily remembered than a labored argument or the same truth expressed in abstract terms, and hence it is that we find this vehicle of instruction so frequently employed in the Scriptures. Fables are there exemplified in all their various uses, whether to reprove kings, to admonish multitudes, or to instruct disciples. Our Lord himself did not disdain to employ them. They are all perfect of their kind; nearly all of them are very short; and in most instances, as in that now before us, the application is made by the speaker. The general moral of Jotham’s parable is, (1) That weak and worthless men are ever forward to thrust themselves into power, while the wise and good are more prone to decline it. (2) That they who unduly affect honor, and they who unjustly confer it, will prove sources of misery to each other. Both these points are most strikingly illustrated in the present fable, as compared with the actual results. To anoint a king. From which it appears that the ceremony of anointing was in use among the neighboring nations, long before there was any king in Israel; for the scope of the parable makes it necessary to suppose that this was done in imitation of foreign tribes. As the Lord was their king, there was no more occasion for the Israelites setting a king over them, than there was for the trees to appoint a protecting head over them. (Judges 9 Commentary) A R Fausset - The trees went forth [it might seem he ought rather to have said that ‘the bramble’ (Abimelech) went to the trees, than the trees to the bramble. But the Holy Spirit rightly directs the words to express that the Israelites were already burning with desire for a king: already they had applied to Gideon, begging him, his son, and his son’s son (answering to the three trees, the olive, fig, and vine specified) to rule (8:22). Heb., “The trees going went” implying eagerness in going. This suicidal wish at last was conceded by God to their hurt, under Saul (1 Sam. 8:4–20)] (on a time) to anoint a king [see 1 Sam. 10:1, oil representing the Holy Spirit’s unction (Ps. 2:6; Isa. 11:1–3)] over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. - Judges 9:8 In medieval thought, each order of living creatures had an imagined king. Every “king” possessed an innate majesty, authority, and power qualifying him to rule. The king of the four-footed creatures, for example, was the lion; the king of the birds, the eagle; the king of the planets, Jupiter. These majestic creatures were often used to represent human royalty, as with the English king, Richard, the Lion Heart. Scripture uses trees to symbolize kings. In today’s reading, for example, Jotham uses symbolism in his parable, but his tree imagery is designed to undercut Abimelech’s rule, not to support it. After Abimelech conspires with the citizens of Shechem (his mother’s relatives) he murders his seventy brothers, who were all sons of Gideon; only Jotham, the youngest, escapes. It happened during the time of the judges. Abimelech crowned himself king. His ambition defied God; he not only murdered his brothers, but he instituted a form of government not yet ordained by God, Israel’s true king (Jdg 8:23). Even worse, he relied on Baal and his worshipers (Jdg 9:4), the very forces his father Gideon had rightly sought to destroy. Abimelech was the very opposite of what God’s judge had to be. Jotham’s prophetic parable of the four trees highlights this fact. The olive, fig, and vine, all producing important fruit, refuse to be king, though they are kingly trees. They recognize that their function is to grow fruit, not to rule. Only the scraggly, unfruitful thornbush, an irritant to farmers and a cause of brush-fires, agrees to be king. Given Abimelech’s destructive reign, the thornbush appropriately symbolizes his kingship. TODAY ALONG THE WAY This tree was a benchmark for gauging Israel’s relationship with God. Is there a similar benchmark in your spiritual pilgrimage? Perhaps a place, symbol, or verse that you have returned to, imaginatively or literally, in your journey with the Lord? Return there today and ask God to show you if you have been faithful like Joshua or if you have lapsed like Abimelech. Renew your commitment with Joshua’s words: “Throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Josh. 24:23). Do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. - Proverbs 1:15-16 Gideon is known mostly for his service as a judge over Israel. He tore down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah, a wooden idol representing a female deity the Midianites worshiped (Judges 6:26-27) which earned him the name Jerub-Baal, meaning “Let Baal contend against him” (Judges 6:32). He defeated the Midianites with his army of 300 men (Judges 7-8). Gideon's legacy to Israel was his belief that God, not man, should reign as King over Israel (Judges 8:23). But Gideon's legacy was short-lived. He had over 70 sons, only two of which survived. Abimelech, the son of Gideon by a concubine, rallied his mother's relatives in the city of Shechem to make him their king and then slaughtered the sons of Gideon by execution (v. 5) Only Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, escaped the scourge. This wasn't a crime of passion or an angry outburst. Abimelech used selfishness, hatred, fear, and division to manipulate people and to seize power for himself. And God used those same qualities to exact His wrath upon Abimelech and the entire city of Shechem. The sword by which he lived would become the sword by which he died. It's disconcerting to read about God sending an evil spirit or demon to invoke His will (v. 23). But it reminds us that even evil spirits cannot elude God's sovereignty. Everything is under His control, and He can direct as He pleases. Secondly, God wasn't turning anyone against the desires of their heart or the nature of their wills. He was provoking their wickedness to avenge sins they had already committed. The rest of the chapter chronicles the rebellion of Shechem, Abimelech's destruction of the city, and the woman who crushed Abimelech's head with a millstone. But the lesson of the passage goes beyond the details of the battles. God administered His justice by allowing Abimelech's thirst for violence and power to destroy him and his collaborators. Abimelech's crimes brought natural consequences in the hands of a supernatural Lord. TODAY ALONG THE WAY For the rest of this day (or in any day) reconsider the word natural. Remember that God created this world, and nothing in it is independent of His control. The systems, rules, and results that are so familiar within the natural world are still the handiwork of our Lord. The food we eat, the warmth of the sun, and the practical consequences of our actions don't come from “Mother Nature.” They come from God. Praise Him for the wonders big and small that He provides in every moment. Judges 9:9 "But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?' with which : Ex 29:2,7 35:14 Lev 2:1 1Ki 19:15,16 Ps 89:20 104:15 Ac 4:27 Ac 10:38 1Jn 2:20 God: {Elohim,} rather gods; the parable being adapted to the idolatrous Shechemites. go to wave over the trees: Job 1:7 2:2 Judges 9 Resources THE OLIVE TREE REFUSES TO REIGN But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness with which God (Elohim) and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees - NET = "But the olive tree said to them, 'I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!'" Jotham begins with the good trees - olive, fig and vine (grapevine) which are listed in the 7 crops cited as evidence of Yahweh's blessing on the land Moses recording "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey." (Dt 8:7-8+) Wycliffe Bible Commentary - Olive oil was used as an unguent on the skin and for ceremonial purposes when priests or kings were anointed. It was burned to provide illumination, and used as an article of food corresponding to our butter. The olive tree could not be persuaded to leave its important work in order to be a king. Lawson Stone writes "All (olive, fig, vine) represent domesticated agricultural species, requiring long-term cultivation. They reflect a vision of life that embraces continuity and stability to flourish. These crops were also the prime export products for which the land was famous. The chief of each area controlled trade with outsiders, negotiating trade on behalf of his community. These three agricultural products appear quite appropriately on the lips of an heir of the great chief, Jerub-baal. Each plant spurns the offer of kingship, claiming they are already too important to bother with being king. (See Joshua, Judges, Ruth) Daniel Block: Olive oil was the most valuable agricultural product in the ancient world, being used every day as cooking oil, medicine, laxative, lubricant, leather softener, fuel in lamps, an ingredient in perfumes, and as in sacred rituals as a sacrificial offering and in anointing ceremonies. In a context involving an invitation to kingship, the olive appropriately cites its ceremonial value. The olive would rather honor others than be narcissistically anointed with its own oil. (Borrow Judges, Ruth. Vol. 6: New American Commentary ) Adam
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Trapp on El-Berith - This was as if a man should run into a stack of straw or barrel of gunpowder, to secure himself from a raging fire. Their covenant with Baal, that image of jealousy, [Ezekiel 8:3] was the cause of their ruin. They looked upon this hold as both a fort and a sanctuary; but it saved them not. Matthew
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Trapp - Abimelech, lifted up with (PRIDE OVER) his former successes, thought, belike, he might do anything. A R Fausset - And Abimelech came unto [even up to] the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto [approached even up to: Heb., ’ad] the door of the tower [reckless of the certain danger of missiles hurled down from the crowded roof, so desirous was he, through thirst for revenge] to burn it with fire. Judges 9:53 But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull. KJV And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. NET a woman threw an upper millstone down on his head and shattered his skull. BBE But a certain woman sent a great stone, such as is used for crushing grain, on to the head of Abimelech, cracking the bone. CSB But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech's head and fractured his skull. ESV And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. NLT a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. NRS But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, and crushed his skull. YLT and a certain woman doth cast a piece of a rider on the head of Abimelech, and breaketh his skull, But a certain woman: Jdg 9:15,20 2Sa 11:21 20:21 Job 31:3 Jer 49:20 50:45 crushing his skull: The original is {wattaritz eth gulgalto,} which is simply as the LXX. render [kai eklase to kranion autou,] "and she brake his skull." Plutarch relates, that Pyrrhus was paralyzed by a piece of a tile, which a woman threw upon his head after which he was beheaded. Judges 9 Resources A HEAVY MILLSTONE (much bigger than that in a handmill) GOD'S SOVEREIGN RETRIBUTION Watch video of grinding with an upper millstone. But a certain woman threw an upper millstone (rekeb) on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull. The KJV says "a piece of a millstone" and the Septuagint agrees rendering it as "a fragment (piece) of upper millstone". A hand mill was made from two circular stones between one and two feet in diameter and two to four inches thick, that were particularly hard and heavy. An unidentified woman dropped (literally, "threw") a (piece of a) millstone down from the tower and cracked open Abimelech's skull. The text emphasizes her singularity (literally, "one woman") and by using the verb "threw" suggests a heroic act of strength like that of a warrior. And it was not the woman had such a good aim, as it was that God had such good aim! His aim is always perfect and He hits the target in the bullseye! William MacDonald makes an excellent point - Justice has its own way of suiting the punishment to the crime. Abimelech had slain his brothers on a stone (Jdg 9:5), and a stone crushed his own proud head. Those who live by violence will die by the same. (See context in Believer's Bible Commentary or borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) (See Poetic Justice) NET NOTE on upper millstone - 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. Look at how the hand of providence used this unnamed woman to toss millstone from the top of the tower and just "by chance" (100% in God's hands) was able to hit the target at just the right moment! Galatians 6:7-8+ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Davis comments that "The writer describes even the last blow in almost laconic terms: “and a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abimelech’s head” (v. 53 RSV). So unconstrued. Simply a matter of course — apparently. God’s judgment works so gradually here; there is no smell of fire and brimstone; Sinai is not shaking with smoke and thunder. (Focus on the Bible: Judges) Stone - The phrase pelakh rekeb, "riding millstone," specifies this is the upper millstone. Women typically milled grain in a handmill featuring a pelakh takhtiyt (cf. Job 41:24), the lower grinder, which was larger, flat, and slightly concave, and the pelakh rekeb, or "riding grinder." The miller knelt, crushing the grain by rolling the oblong, almost football-shaped "rider" over the kernels. Made from black basalt, upper millstones possessed sufficient value to rate a taboo against use as collateral for debt (Deut 24:6). The cessation of the sound of grinding offered Jeremiah a symbol for the end of life as Judah knew it during the Exile (Jer 25:10). Such a stone, weighing 4-9 pounds, would constitute a formidable projectile shaped perfectly for throwing (King and Stager 2001:94). It is impressive that the Thebezite woman, in the pandemonium of flight, had the foresight to take her upper millstone. Some scholars claim this mention of "stone" is a kind of bookend to the "one stone" on which Abimelech executed his 70 half brothers. In English, this works—the word "stone" is repeated, but in Hebrew it does not. Nothing about "one stone" ('eben 'ekhath) resonates with "upper millstone" (pelakh rekeb). Upper millstone (07393)(rekeb from rakab = to mount and ride) charito or a group of chariots, that is, used collectively of an entire force of "military chariotry" (Ex 14:7) Vine says "This use of rekeb might well be rendered "chariot-units" (the chariot, a driver, an offensive and a defensive man)." Note the root word is rakab meaning to ride so the upper millstone rides as it were or moves over the fixed nether stone. Interesting derivation! Gilbrant - masculine noun, rekhev is derived from rākhav (HED #7680), "to ride." It generally means "riders," "cavalry," "chariots" and is used 120 times in the OT. It can refer to a collective sense, such as a collection or group of chariots (Gen. 50:9), especially war chariots such as Adonijah's (1 Ki. 1:5). Rekhev often denotes "riders," for example, "horses with horsemen" (Isa. 21:9). When the mother of Sisera yearned for news of her son, she asked, "Why is his chariot so long in coming?" (Judg. 5:28). This is the term especially used of military chariots (e.g., Exo. 14:9, 17; 15:19; 1 Ki. 10:26; 20:21). Joshua's reference to the "iron chariots" possessed by the Canaanites were actually chariots with scythes—indeed a terrifying picture (Josh. 17:18). The first chariots mentioned in Scripture are Egyptian ones. Pharaoh possessed royal chariots early in Egypt's history and used them for official and ceremonial purposes. These royal, or state, chariots were essentially war chariots decorated with greater pomp and splendor as befitting the head of the state (e.g., 1 Sam. 8:12). Chariots with fewer military accoutrements were also used as private carriages. There is an interesting picture in one Egyptian painting of a member of the aristocracy arriving to an evening's entertainment in his private chariot. Rekhev eventually came to also mean "a carriage of any kind," "large bodies or caravans of carriages," especially the war chariots in great numbers. The term indicated chariots of nations such as Canaan (Josh. 17:18; Judg. 1:19; 4:3), Israel (2 Ki. 9:21, 24; 10:16), Syria (2 Ki. 5:9) and Persia (Isa. 21:7, 9). This noun can also indicate the cities where chariots are stored or placed (2 Chr. 1:14; 8:6; 9:25). Often, rekhev refers to the horses that pull the chariots or to the soldiers who rode in the chariots, such as in 2 Sam. 8:4, "and David hamstrung all the chariot horses"; that is, he hamstrung the horses. David also "slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians," which indicates he slew the horses and men of 700 chariots. Figurative uses of rekhev are many. God is said to possess chariots to emphasize his speed and majesty, as well as his power and greatness to oppose and conquer foes (Ps. 68:17; Jer. 51:21). Chariots and horses of fire refer to some bright, fiery effulgence which, to the viewers of the sight, resembled the physical objects (2 Ki. 2:11). Finally, rekhev can refer to "the upper millstone," which identifies the stone which was moved upon or around the lower, or fixed millstone, so that grain could be crushed and made into flour (Deut. 24:6). (Complete Biblical Library) chariot(19), chariot horses(2), charioteers(3), chariots(87), rider(1), riders(2), train(2), upper millstone(3). Gen. 50:9; Exod. 14:6; Exod. 14:7; Exod. 14:9; Exod. 14:17; Exod. 14:18; Exod. 14:23; Exod. 14:26; Exod. 14:28; Exod. 15:19; Deut. 11:4; Deut. 20:1; Deut. 24:6; Jos. 11:4; Jos. 17:16; Jos. 17:18; Jos. 24:6; Jdg. 1:19; Jdg. 4:3; Jdg. 4:7; Jdg. 4:13; Jdg. 4:15; Jdg. 4:16; Jdg. 5:28; Jdg. 9:53; 1 Sam. 8:12; 1 Sam. 13:5; 2 Sam. 1:6; 2 Sam. 8:4; 2 Sam. 10:18; 2 Sam. 11:21; 1 Ki. 1:5; 1 Ki. 9:19; 1 Ki. 9:22; 1 Ki. 10:26; 1 Ki. 16:9; 1 Ki. 20:1; 1 Ki. 20:21; 1 Ki. 20:25; 1 Ki. 22:31; 1 Ki. 22:32; 1 Ki. 22:33; 1 Ki. 22:35; 1 Ki. 22:38; 2 Ki. 2:11; 2 Ki. 2:12; 2 Ki. 5:9; 2 Ki. 6:14; 2 Ki. 6:15; 2 Ki. 6:17; 2 Ki. 7:6; 2 Ki. 7:14; 2 Ki. 8:21; 2 Ki. 9:21; 2 Ki. 9:24; 2 Ki. 10:2; 2 Ki. 10:16; 2 Ki. 13:7; 2 Ki. 13:14; 2 Ki. 18:24; 2 Ki. 19:23; 1 Chr. 18:4; 1 Chr. 19:6; 1 Chr. 19:7; 1 Chr. 19:18; 2 Chr. 1:14; 2 Chr. 8:6; 2 Chr. 8:9; 2 Chr. 9:25; 2 Chr. 12:3; 2 Chr. 16:8; 2 Chr. 18:30; 2 Chr. 18:31; 2 Chr. 18:32; 2 Chr. 21:9; 2 Chr. 35:24; Ps. 20:7; Ps. 68:17; Ps. 76:6; Cant. 1:9; Isa. 21:7; Isa. 21:9; Isa. 22:6; Isa. 22:7; Isa. 31:1; Isa. 36:9; Isa. 37:24; Isa. 43:17; Isa. 66:20; Jer. 17:25; Jer. 22:4; Jer. 46:9; Jer. 47:3; Jer. 50:37; Jer. 51:21; Ezek. 23:24; Ezek. 26:7; Ezek. 26:10; Ezek. 39:20; Dan. 11:40; Nah. 2:3; Nah. 2:4; Nah. 2:13; Zech. 9:10 Doctrine of Retribution – Wikipedia: Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action. . . Divine retribution is aligned with divine vengeance. Almighty God alone is a just judge. Delayed judgment will eventually become eternally displayed. The wrath of God is aligned with God's nature where He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. The wrath of God is closely associated with Divine administration of justice. The wrath of God is commonly contrasted with the love of God. Michael Lefebvre – Poetic Justice -Gideon’s new name = “the Baal fighter,” one who contends with Baal; his son is setting up worship with Baal; God will not allow that to continue; examples of ones who did not initially believe promises of God (Zachariah, Pharaoh); Jesus is the ultimate Baal contender and king over God’s people; passage framed by verses at beginning and end: this is what God is doing and this is why He did it; Abimelech being described as an oppressor, not a deliverer; but his reign is short-lived; Gil Rugh: God’s Sovereignty Over Evil Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6; OT examples for our instruction; learn about the seriousness of sin and its disastrous consequences; Judges is book of transition – from Israel functioning as a family before going down to Egypt to a nation; brings us up to the time of the monarchy in Israel; the ephod -- constant attraction of something visible and physical to be the focal point of our worship; Gideon was a great judge but had weaknesses and compromised in times of prosperity; Lord appeared to Abram at Shechem Gen. 12:6; Gen. 33-34 – Jacob and his sons interact with Shechem; covenant confirmed there before Joshua’s death - Josh. 24; despite confusion and disorder in world affairs, God is sovereignly in control; bringing about the destruction of godless people and preparing the way for the righteous Lessons and Applications: Disobedience leads to increasing wickedness and corruption Failure to discipline sin among God’s people is a sign of spiritual decay and corruption Failure to discipline sin leads to increased wickedness and corruption All creation is under God’s sovereign authority, even the demons Demons are used by God to bring about judgment and discipline God has made provision for us in our spiritual conflict God will judge the wicked Daniel Block: we observe God operating on the basis of fairness and honesty, doing what is right and giving people what they have earned. This time God does not act in mercy. He gives people the king they deserve, and he gives the king subjects he deserves. As dramatically as anywhere in Scripture, we observe a rigorous divine application of the principle of retribution. Fratricide has been answered with fratricide. He who had slaughtered his brothers “upon one stone” has his skull crushed beneath one stone. (Borrow Judges, Ruth. Vol. 6: New American Commentary ) John Trapp - So that ambitious King Pyrrhus was at last slain with a tile stone thrown upon his head by a woman. (e) And the like deadly blow light by a like hand, upon the head of Hermanius Earl of Lucelburg, whom Pope Hildebrand had set up in opposition to Henry the Emperor, whom he had excommunicated. (f) Simeon De Monteforti also, another of the Pope’s champions, fighting against those ancient Protestants the Waldenses, was brained with a stone at the siege of Tholouse. (g) That scholar that took his death by the falling of a letter of stone from the Earl of Northampton’s house at the funeral of Queen Anne, was to be pitied. But commentators observe it for a just hand of God upon Abimelech, that upon one stone he had slain his seventy brethren, and now a stone slayeth him: his head had stolen the crown of Israel, and now his head is smitten. George Bush - A piece of a millstone. Literally, ‘a piece of a chariot-wheel,’ but elsewhere applied to upper-millstones. And all to break his skull. In nearly all the copies of the English Bible printed in England, the verb appears in the past tense, brake,’ whereas in all or nearly all the American editions the word is ‘break,’ as in the text above. The former reading is certainly the correct one. The error in our editions has arisen from a misapprehension of the true meaning of the phrase ‘all to.’ According to the present use of language, this would seem rather to express intention than the result of action, but it really expresses the latter. ‘All to,’ in many of the old English writers, means ‘altogether,’ ‘entirely,’ or as
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Trapp - Exemplum pertinacis ambitionis et impaenitentiae.(a) A fearful example of a man who died in his sins, which is far worse than to die in a ditch, niggardly of his reputation, prodigal of his soul. Do we not sometimes see vain fools running wilfully into the field, into the grave, into hell? and all lest it should be said they have as much fear as wit. So there lay the greatness of Abimelech, "killed with death," as the phrase is in Revelation 2:23. Of him it might be truly said, as it was afterwards of Pope Boniface VIII, that he entered like a fox, reigned as a lion, and died as a dog. George Bush - And he died. Abimelech’s device to avoid the disgrace of perishing by the hands of a woman, availed him little, for nearly three centuries afterwards we find his death ascribed to the woman who threw the piece of millstone from the wall, 2 Sam. 11:21. ‘There now lies the greatness of Abimelech; on one stone he had slain his seventy brethren and now a stone slays him; his head had stolen the crown of Israel, and now his head is smitten. O the just succession of the revenges of God! Gideon’s ephod is punished with the blood of his sons; the blood of his sons is shed by the procurement of the Shechemites; the blood of the Shechemites is shed by Abimelech; the blood of Abimelech is spilt by a woman. The retaliations of God are sure and just, and make a more due pedigree than descent of nature.’ Bp. Hall. (Judges 9 Commentary) A R Fausset - Then he called hastily unto the young man his armour-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me [compare Saul’s death (1Sa 31:4)], that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. Judges 9:55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home. 2Sa 18:16 2Sa 20:21,22 1Ki 22:35,36 Pr 22:10 Judges 9 Resources DING DONG THE WICKED KING IS DEAD! This subtitle is a play on the climax of the Wizard of Oz and the great song, "Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead!" And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home - The men of Israel were Abimelech's followers, and for them is was as if they were waking from a bad dream. And so they laid down their weapons and went home without completing their assault on Thebez. Trapp - They stayed not to take the tower, and to revenge their lord’s death, but happily were glad they were rid of such a tyrant. A R Fausset - And when the men of Israel [his army, as distinguished from the rebels] saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Judges 9:56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father, in killing his seventy brothers. God repaid: Jdg 9:24 Job 31:3 Ps 9:12 11:6 58:10,11 94:23 Pr 5:22 Mt 7:2 Ac 28:4 Ga 6:7 Rev 19:20,21 Judges 9 Resources Related Passages: Exodus 21:17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Matthew 15:4 “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ Genesis 9:24-26 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. RECOMPENSE FOR THE WAGES OF SIN Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech: "He came in like a fox, reigned like a lion & died as a dog." The shedding of innocent blood is something that God takes very seriously and eventually avenges (Dt 19:10, 13; 21:9; 1Ki2:31; Pr 6:17; Isa 59:7; Je7:6; 22:3, 17; Joel 3:19). The year 1990 was a record year for murders in the United States, with 23,438 persons being killed, an average of nearly three an hour all year long. When you add to this the thousands of innocent babies killed in their mother’s wombs, it’s easy to see that “the land of the free” is stained with innocent blood; and one day we will pay for it. Pulpit Commentary - Each such evidence of the righteous judgment of God is a presage of the judgment to come, and encourages the reflection of the Psalmist: "Verily there is a reward for the righteous; doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth" (Psalm 58:10, Pr. B. vers.).