Open English Translation JDG Chapter 9

9 Now Gideon’s son Abimelek went to Shekem to his mother’s brothers and spoke to those uncles and to all the extended family of his mother’s father, saying, 2 “Please ask around all the citizens of Shekem: ‘What is better for you: Gideon’s seventy sons ruling over you, or having a single man in charge?’ Remember that I’m your flesh and bone.” 3 So his uncles working on his behalf, passed that onto all the citizens of Shekem, and they became convinced in Abimelek, because they said, “He’s our brother.” 4 Then they gave him seventy silver coins from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used them to entice some rough lay-abouts to work for him. 5 Then they went to his father’s house at Ofrah, and he killed his seventy half-brothers (Gideon’s sons) there on one stone. But Gideon’s youngest son Yotam survived because he had hidden from them. 6 Then all of the prominent citizens of Shekem and all of Beyt-Millo assembled themselves, and they went and installed Abimelek as king beside an oak tree near the standing pillar[fn] that was in Shekem.

7 When they told Yotam, he went and stood on the top of Mt. Gerizim and shouted out to them all in a loud voice, “Listen to me, citizens of Shekem, so God will listen to all of you. 8 Once the trees went about in order to appoint a king for themselves, So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9 But the olive tree replied to them, ‘Have I stopped producing my valuable oil used to honour gods and men, that I should go to sway above the other trees?’ 10 So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 11 But the fig tree answered them, ‘Have I stopped producing my sweetness and my good fruit, that I should go to sway above the other trees?’ 12 Then the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 13 But the vine replied, ‘Have I stopped producing my new wine, which cheers gods and man, that I should go to sway over the other trees?’ 14 Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and reign over us!’ 15 The thornbush told the trees, ‘If you all are really wanted to anoint me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if you all don’t, may the thornbush send out fire to burn up Lebanon’s cedar forests.’

16 “Therefore did you all act with honesty and integrity when you installed Abimelek as king? Did you all treat Gideon’s family well, and did you all repay him appropriately for what he did for you all? 17 My father fought on your behalf, and even risked his life out front when he rescued you all from the Midianites, 18 but today you’ve all risen up against my father’s family and killed his sons—seventy men on one stone. Then you’ve installed Abimelek, the son of his female servant, as king over the citizens of Shekem because he’s your brother. 19 Now if you’ve all acted with honesty and integrity with towards Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelek, and he’ll also be happy with all of you, 20 but if not, then fire will come out of Abimelek and destroy the citizens of Shekem and Beyt-Millo. Fire will also come out from the Shekem’s citizens and from Beyt-Millo, and it’ll destroy Abimelech.” 21 Then Yotam fled away and escaped and went to Be’er and settled there away from the presence of his half-brother Abimelek.

22 Abimelek ruled over Yisrael for three years, 23 then God sent an evil spirit between him and the citizens of Shekem, so the citizens there dealt treacherously with Abimelek. 24 The violent treatment of Gideon’s seventy sons kept getting brought up, and by it was all blamed on their brother Abimelech who had killed them, and on those of Shekem’s citizens who assisted him in the killing of his brothers. 25 So the Shekem citizens placed men in ambush along the tops of the hills to get him, but they robbed everyone who went passed them along the road, and so it was reported to Abimelech.

26 Then Gaal (Ebed’s son) came along with his brothers and moved into Shekem, and the citizens there began to trust them. 27 They went out into the field, and they picked grapes from their vineyards and pressed them. They celebrated harvest festivals and they went into the house of their gods, then they ate and drank, and they cursed Abimelek. 28 Then Gaal (Ebed’s son) said, “Who’s Abimelek, and who’s Shekem, that we should serve him? Isn’t Abimelek Gideon’s son, and Zebul is his deputy? Serve the descendants of Shekem’s father Hamor, but why should we serve Abimelek? 29 Who will fight with me to defeat those people and depose Abimelek? Then he said to Abimelek, ‘Gather your army and come and fight.’ ”

30 When Zebul, the prince of the city, heard what Ga’al (Ebed’s son) had said, he got very angry 31 and he sent messengers to Abimelek in secret, saying, “Listen, Ebed’s son Gaal and his brothers are coming to Shekem, and wow, they’re inciting the city against you. 32 You and the people who are with you should go out at night and lie in ambush in the countryside. 33 Then when the sun rises in the morning, you all should set out early and spread out in an attack against the city. Keep watch, then when Ga’al and the people with him are coming out toward you to fight, then you can overpower them and treat him however you think fit.”

34 So Abimelek and all the people with him went out in the night and they set up four units in an ambush against Shekem. 35 In the morning, Ga’al (Ebed’s son) went out and he stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelek and his men stood up from their hiding places. 36 When Ga’al saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, a group of people is coming down from the tops of the hills!”

“You are seeing the shadow of the hills as men,” Zebul responded.

37 But Ga’al said again, “Look, groups of people are coming down from beside the top of the hill, and another group is coming from the way of the ‘oak of the diviners’.”

38 Then Zebul said to him, “Well, you were the one who said, ‘Who is Abimelek that we should serve him?’ Aren’t these the people who you were scorning? Indeed now, go out and fight against them.” 39 So Ga’al went out in front of Shekem’s citizens and fought against Abimelek. 40 Abimelek pursued him, and he had to flee away from him. Many of their men fell fatally wounded as far as the entrance of the city gate. 41 Then Abimelek settled in Arumah, but Zebul drove Ga’al and his brothers away from living in Shekem.

42 Now it so happened that the next day, the people of Shekem went out into the countryside, and it was reported to Abimelek. 43 So he took his men and split them into three units. Then he waited in ambush in the countryside. When he saw and wow, the people were going out of the city, then he attacked and killed them. 44 Abimelek and the units that were with him had spread out and they stood at the entrance of the city gate, and two units spread out against everyone who was in the field and killed them. 45 Abimelek spent that whole day attacking Shekem. He captured the city and they killed the people who were in it. Then he tore it down, and scattered salt on the land.

46 When all the lords of the tower of Shekem heard, they went into the citadel of the temple for El-Berit, 47 but it was reported to Abimelek that all the lords of the Shekem tower had gathered there. 48 So Abimelek and all the people with him, went up to Mt. Tsalmon. He took axes and cut a branch down from the trees, then lifted it onto his shoulder and said to the people who were with him, “What I just did, you all quickly do the same.” 49 So all the people also each cut off a branch and then followed Abimelek. They piled them on top of the underground chamber, and that’s how they burnt out the underground chamber. As a result, all the distinguished people in the tower of Shekem also died—about a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelek went to Tebets and set up camp around the city and captured it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, so all of the men and the women and all the prominent citizens fled to it. Once they were all in, they barricaded it up and they went up onto the tower roof. 52 Then Abimelek and his men approached the tower and fought against it, and he came in as close as the tower entrance in order to set fire to it, 53 but a woman threw an upper millstone down onto Abimelek’s head and it crushed his skull.[ref] 54 Then he cried out hurriedly to the young man bearing his armour, “Draw out your sword and put me to death, because I don’t want it to be said afterwards that I was killed by a woman.” So his young man stabbed him so that he died. 55 When the Israeli warriors saw that Abimelek was dead, they all returned to their own homes.

56 Thus God avenged the evil of Abimelek that he had done to his father Gideon by killing his seventy brothers, 57 and God caused all the evil done by Shekem’s men to return back upon their own heads, and the curse of Gideon’s youngest son Yotam, came true on them.