New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Judges 9
1
Abimelech was the son of Jerub-Baal. He went to his mother's brothers in Shechem. He spoke to them and to all of the members of his mother's family group. He said,
Reference
Parallel theme
Judges 8:31
2
"Speak to all of the citizens of Shechem. Tell them, 'You can have all 70 of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you. Or you can have just one man rule over you. Which would you rather have?' Remember, I'm your own flesh and blood."
Reference
3
The brothers told all of that to the citizens of Shechem. Then the people decided to follow Abimelech. They said, "He's related to us."
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 29:15
4
They gave him 28 ounces of silver. They had taken it from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used it to hire some men. They were wild. They weren't good for anything. They became his followers.
Reference
5
Abimelech went to his father's home in Ophrah. There on a big rock he murdered his 70 brothers. All of them were the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham escaped by hiding. He was Jerub-Baal's youngest son.
Reference
6
All of the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo came together. They gathered at the stone pillar that was beside the large tree in Shechem. They wanted to crown Abimelech as their king.
Reference
📍 Beth-millo
Parallel theme
2 Samuel 5:9
7
Jotham was told about it. So he climbed up on top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted down to them, "Citizens of Shechem! Listen to me! Then God will listen to you.
Reference
Parallel theme
John 4:20
Deuteronomy 27:12
Isaiah 1:15
Proverbs 28:9
Proverbs 21:13
Joshua 8:33
References God
Deuteronomy 11:29
8
One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to an olive tree, 'Be our king.'
Reference
Kingdom
2 Kings 14:9
9
"But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my olive oil? It's used to honor gods and people alike. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?'
10
"Next, the trees spoke to a fig tree. They said, 'Come and be our king.'
11
"But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit? It's so good and sweet. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?'
12
"Then the trees spoke to a vine. They said, 'Come and be our king.'
13
"But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine? It cheers up gods and people alike. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?'
Reference
14
"Finally, all of the trees spoke to a bush that had thorns. They said, 'Come and be our king.'
15
"The bush spoke to the trees. It said, 'Do you really want to anoint me as king over you? If you do, come and rest in my shade. But if you don't, I will destroy you! Fire will come out of me and burn up the cedar trees of Lebanon!'
Reference
Faith
Isaiah 30:2
Kingdom
2 Kings 14:9
Parallel theme
Isaiah 2:13
Hosea 14:7
Judges 9:20
Isaiah 37:24
Psalm 104:16
Ezekiel 19:14
Numbers 21:28
Daniel 4:12
16
"Did you act in an honest way when you made Abimelech your king? Did you really do the right thing? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you given him the honor he's worthy of?
Reference
Parallel theme
Judges 8:35
17
"Remember that my father fought for you. He put his life in danger for you. He saved you from the power of Midian.
18
But today you have turned against my father's family. You have murdered his 70 sons on a big rock. Abimelech is only the son of my father's female slave. But you have made him king over the citizens of Shechem. You have done that because he's related to you.
19
"Have you citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo acted in an honest way toward Jerub-Baal? Have you done the right thing to his family today? If you have, may you be happy with Abimelech! And may he be happy with you!
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 8:6
20
But if you haven't, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn you up! And let fire come out from you and burn Abimelech up!"
Reference
📍 Beth-millo
Parallel theme
Judges 9:15
21
Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
Reference
📍 Beer 2
Parallel theme
Numbers 21:16
22
Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years.
23
Then God sent an evil spirit to cause trouble between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They turned against Abimelech. They decided not to follow him anymore.
Reference
24
God made that happen because of what Abimelech had done to Jerub-Baal's 70 sons. He had spilled their blood. God wanted to pay back their brother Abimelech for doing that. He also wanted to pay back the citizens of Shechem. They had helped Abimelech murder his brothers.
Reference
25
The citizens of Shechem opposed Abimelech. So they hid some men on top of the hills. They wanted them to attack and rob everyone who passed by. Abimelech was told about it.
26
Gaal and his relatives moved into Shechem. He was the son of Ebed. The citizens of Shechem put their trust in Gaal.
People
27
The people of Shechem went out into the fields. They gathered the grapes. They pressed the juice out of them by stomping on them. Then they held a feast in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they called down curses on Abimelech.
Reference
Parallel theme
Judges 9:4
28
Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, spoke up. "Who is Abimelech?" he said. "And who is Shechem? Why should we be under Abimelech's rule? Isn't he Jerub-Baal's son? Isn't Zebul his helper? It would be better to serve the men of Hamor. He was the father of Shechem. So why should we serve Abimelech?
Reference
29
I wish these people were under my command. Then I would get rid of him. I would say to him, 'Call out your whole army!' "
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Samuel 15:4
30
Zebul was the governor of Shechem. He heard about what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said. So he burned with anger.
People
31
Zebul sent messengers to Abimelech secretly. They said, "Gaal, the son of Ebed, has come to Shechem. His relatives have come with him. They are stirring up the city against you.
32
So come with your men during the night. Hide in the fields and wait.
33
In the morning at sunrise, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out against you. Then do what you can."
Reference
34
So Abimelech and all of his troops started out at night. They went into their hiding places near Shechem. Abimelech had separated them into four companies.
35
Gaal, the son of Ebed, had already gone out. He was standing at the entrance of the city gate. He had arrived there just as Abimelech and his troops came out of their hiding places.
36
Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, "Look! People are coming down from the tops of the mountains!" Zebul replied, "You are wrong. Those aren't people. They are just the shadows of the mountains."
37
But Gaal spoke up again. He said, "Look! People are coming down from the center of the land. Another company is coming from the direction of the fortune tellers' tree."
📍 Diviners Oak
38
Then Zebul said to Gaal, "Where is your big talk now? You said, 'Who is Abimelech? Why should we be under his rule?' Aren't these the people you looked down on? Go out and fight against them!"
39
So Gaal led the citizens out of Shechem. They fought against Abimelech.
40
He chased Gaal from the field of battle. Many men were wounded as they ran away. Abimelech chased them all the way to the entrance of the city gate.
41
He stayed in Arumah. Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem.
📍 Arumah
42
The next day the people of Shechem went out to work in the fields. Abimelech was told about it.
43
So he gathered his men together. He separated them into three companies. Then he hid them in the fields and told them to wait. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he got up to attack them.
44
Abimelech and the men who were with him ran forward. They placed themselves at the entrance of the city gate. Then the other two companies rushed over to the people who were in the fields. There they struck them down.
45
Abimelech kept up his attack against the city all day long. He didn't stop until he had captured it. Then he killed its people. He destroyed the city. He scattered salt on it to make sure that nothing would be able to grow there.
Reference
46
The citizens who were in the tower of Shechem heard about what was happening. So they went to the safest place in the temple of the god El-Berith.
Reference
📍 Tower of Shechem
47
Abimelech heard that they had gathered together there.
📍 Tower of Shechem
48
He and all of his men went up Mount Zalmon. He got an ax and cut off some branches. He carried them on his shoulders. He ordered the men who were with him to do the same thing. "Quick!" he said. "Do what you have seen me do!"
Reference
📍 Mount Zalmon
Parallel theme
Psalm 68:14
49
So all of the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled them against the place where the people had gone for safety. Then they set the place on fire with the people inside. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. All of them died.
📍 Tower of Shechem
50
Next, Abimelech went to Thebez. He surrounded it. Then he attacked it and captured it.
📍 Thebez
51
But inside the city there was a strong tower. All of the people in the city ran to it for safety. All of the men and women went into it. They locked themselves in. They climbed up on the roof of the tower.
52
Abimelech went to the tower and attacked it. He approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire.
54
He quickly called out to the man who was carrying his armor. He said, "Pull out your sword and kill me. Then people can't say, 'A woman killed him.' " So his servant stuck his sword through him. And Abimelech died.
55
When the people of Israel saw he was dead, they went home.
56
That's how God paid Abimelech back for the evil thing he had done to his father. He had murdered his 70 brothers.
Reference
57
God also made the men of Shechem pay for all of the evil things they had done. The curse of Jotham came down on them. He was the son of Jerub-Baal.
Reference
Parallel theme
Judges 9:20
Summary of Judges 9
Judges chapter 9 contains a tragic story of the son of Gideon and the woman of Shechem, who kills his brothers and takes over as king of the region, although his father refused to rule over Israel. Unlike Gideon, Abimelech wanted to gain power for himself and convince the people of Shechem to support him. He goes on to murder his brothers and become king of Shechem.
After Gideon dies, Abimelech goes to Shechem, the home of his mother’s relatives, and addresses the people. He asks them if they would prefer all seventy of his brothers to rule over them or if they want him to be their leader. He persuades the Israelites to go with the latter option and offers them seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith in exchange for their support.
Abimelech then uses the money to hire a group of worthless and reckless men who are willing to follow him to battle. He goes to his father’s house in Ophrah with his followers and kills his seventy brothers on a single rock, leaving only the youngest, Jotham, alive because he escaped. The people of Shechem then celebrate at the great oak beside the pillar in Shechem and declare Abimelech king.
Jotham subsequently delivers a curse against the people of Shechem from the top of Mount Gerizim, telling them the story of how the trees decided to choose a king to rule over them. The olive tree, fig tree, vine, and others decline to take on the responsibility and authority because it would harm their productivity, but the thorn bush agrees to become their king.
The thorn bush tells the trees to trust in its shade but warns them that if they do not keep their covenant with it, it will cause fire to come out of its smoke and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
Jotham later tells the people of Shechem that if they have dealt honestly with Gideon’s sons and made Abimelech their king, they should be satisfied with their choice. However, if they have acted treacherously and wickedly against Gideon’s sons by killing them, they will suffer the same fate that has come upon Abimelech and his brothers.
He warns them that if they continue to oppose Abimelech, they will destroy each other and the entire country. Jotham then flees to Beer because he is afraid of Abimelech, and his curse soon comes to pass.
Abimelech rules over Shechem for three years before an evil spirit from God comes between him and the people of Shechem. This leads to Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem becoming enemies, and Gaal son of Ebed arrives with his relatives in Shechem. The leaders of Shechem trust Gaal and hold a festival to mark the reaping of the harvest.
While at the festival, Gaal criticizes Abimelech and ridicules the idea that he should be their king, asking why they should serve a man whose father was Gideon and whose representative in Shechem was Zebul. Gaal says that if he were king, he would remove Abimelech, and he further challenges Abimelech’s supporters, asking if they have enough men to fight him.
Zebul hears Gaal’s criticisms and becomes angry and sends a secret message to Abimelech warning him of him of Gaal’s intentions. Abimelech subsequently gathers his followers during the night and attacks Shechem when Gaal sees the soldiers marching through the land around Shechem the next morning. Zebul tells Gaal that what he sees is only the shadow of the mountains, but Gaal subsequently realizes that an army is approaching.
Abimelech attacks Gaal and his men and defeats him, forcing Gaal and his relatives to flee from Shechem. Zebul then drives them out of the city, and Abimelech gains control over it.
The next morning, Abimelech attacks the people of Shechem again and captures the city, killing its inhabitants and destroying it and salting the ruins to show that no one should plant crops there. Some of the people of Shechem manage to escape into a strong tower that was connected to the house of the god Berith.
Abimelech and his men gather together many branches and surround the tower, setting them on fire and causing about a thousand men and women to die inside. Abimelech continues his campaign and attacks Thebez, capturing the city. The people of Thebez flee into a strong tower and shut themselves inside, but Abimelech attacks it with the intention of burning it down.
However, a woman drops a piece of a millstone from the tower, which hits Abimelech on the head and kills him. Realizing that this would cause people to say that he died by the hands of a woman, Abimelech tells his young armourbearer to kill him. The young man does as he is told and kills Abimelech, and the Israelites return to their homes when they see that he is dead.
The chapter concludes by saying that God repaid Abimelech and the men of Shechem for the evil that they had done to Gideon’s seventy sons, and the curse of Jotham comes true. The men who had conspired to kill Gideon’s sons had turned against each other and destroyed themselves.
Judges chapter 9 is different from the previous chapters of deliverance in Scripture because although Abimelech is presented as a villain, he is not an enemy of the kingdom of Israel. The conflict in this chapter is between Abimelech and the people of Shechem because he killed many of them.
This conflict reflects the underlying tension that can arise between members of a community, particularly when their interests conflict. The story warns people against seeking to gain power and wealth at the expense of others because it can lead to severe consequences for everyone, as demonstrated by the death of Abimelech and the destruction of Shechem. The parable of Jotham also serves as an illustration of the importance of selecting leaders who can act responsibly and fairly.
Abimelech is also a cautionary tale about the potential for corruption and the ability of power to lead to violence and destruction as demonstrated by his killing of his brothers, his murder of the people of Shechem, and his siege of Thebez, which resulted in the death of many people. The story shows that the pursuit of power can lead to disaster, particularly when violence is used to achieve it. It also demonstrates that evil deeds have lasting repercussions, and those who perform them will ultimately suffer.
After Gideon dies, Abimelech goes to Shechem, the home of his mother’s relatives, and addresses the people. He asks them if they would prefer all seventy of his brothers to rule over them or if they want him to be their leader. He persuades the Israelites to go with the latter option and offers them seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith in exchange for their support.
Abimelech then uses the money to hire a group of worthless and reckless men who are willing to follow him to battle. He goes to his father’s house in Ophrah with his followers and kills his seventy brothers on a single rock, leaving only the youngest, Jotham, alive because he escaped. The people of Shechem then celebrate at the great oak beside the pillar in Shechem and declare Abimelech king.
Jotham subsequently delivers a curse against the people of Shechem from the top of Mount Gerizim, telling them the story of how the trees decided to choose a king to rule over them. The olive tree, fig tree, vine, and others decline to take on the responsibility and authority because it would harm their productivity, but the thorn bush agrees to become their king.
The thorn bush tells the trees to trust in its shade but warns them that if they do not keep their covenant with it, it will cause fire to come out of its smoke and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
Jotham later tells the people of Shechem that if they have dealt honestly with Gideon’s sons and made Abimelech their king, they should be satisfied with their choice. However, if they have acted treacherously and wickedly against Gideon’s sons by killing them, they will suffer the same fate that has come upon Abimelech and his brothers.
He warns them that if they continue to oppose Abimelech, they will destroy each other and the entire country. Jotham then flees to Beer because he is afraid of Abimelech, and his curse soon comes to pass.
Abimelech rules over Shechem for three years before an evil spirit from God comes between him and the people of Shechem. This leads to Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem becoming enemies, and Gaal son of Ebed arrives with his relatives in Shechem. The leaders of Shechem trust Gaal and hold a festival to mark the reaping of the harvest.
While at the festival, Gaal criticizes Abimelech and ridicules the idea that he should be their king, asking why they should serve a man whose father was Gideon and whose representative in Shechem was Zebul. Gaal says that if he were king, he would remove Abimelech, and he further challenges Abimelech’s supporters, asking if they have enough men to fight him.
Zebul hears Gaal’s criticisms and becomes angry and sends a secret message to Abimelech warning him of him of Gaal’s intentions. Abimelech subsequently gathers his followers during the night and attacks Shechem when Gaal sees the soldiers marching through the land around Shechem the next morning. Zebul tells Gaal that what he sees is only the shadow of the mountains, but Gaal subsequently realizes that an army is approaching.
Abimelech attacks Gaal and his men and defeats him, forcing Gaal and his relatives to flee from Shechem. Zebul then drives them out of the city, and Abimelech gains control over it.
The next morning, Abimelech attacks the people of Shechem again and captures the city, killing its inhabitants and destroying it and salting the ruins to show that no one should plant crops there. Some of the people of Shechem manage to escape into a strong tower that was connected to the house of the god Berith.
Abimelech and his men gather together many branches and surround the tower, setting them on fire and causing about a thousand men and women to die inside. Abimelech continues his campaign and attacks Thebez, capturing the city. The people of Thebez flee into a strong tower and shut themselves inside, but Abimelech attacks it with the intention of burning it down.
However, a woman drops a piece of a millstone from the tower, which hits Abimelech on the head and kills him. Realizing that this would cause people to say that he died by the hands of a woman, Abimelech tells his young armourbearer to kill him. The young man does as he is told and kills Abimelech, and the Israelites return to their homes when they see that he is dead.
The chapter concludes by saying that God repaid Abimelech and the men of Shechem for the evil that they had done to Gideon’s seventy sons, and the curse of Jotham comes true. The men who had conspired to kill Gideon’s sons had turned against each other and destroyed themselves.
Judges chapter 9 is different from the previous chapters of deliverance in Scripture because although Abimelech is presented as a villain, he is not an enemy of the kingdom of Israel. The conflict in this chapter is between Abimelech and the people of Shechem because he killed many of them.
This conflict reflects the underlying tension that can arise between members of a community, particularly when their interests conflict. The story warns people against seeking to gain power and wealth at the expense of others because it can lead to severe consequences for everyone, as demonstrated by the death of Abimelech and the destruction of Shechem. The parable of Jotham also serves as an illustration of the importance of selecting leaders who can act responsibly and fairly.
Abimelech is also a cautionary tale about the potential for corruption and the ability of power to lead to violence and destruction as demonstrated by his killing of his brothers, his murder of the people of Shechem, and his siege of Thebez, which resulted in the death of many people. The story shows that the pursuit of power can lead to disaster, particularly when violence is used to achieve it. It also demonstrates that evil deeds have lasting repercussions, and those who perform them will ultimately suffer.