JDG 9:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἐλάλησαν περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶ πάντων τῶν ἀνδρῶν Συχὲμ πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους· καὶ ἔκλινεν ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ὀπίσω Ἀβιμέλεχ, ὅτι εἶπαν, ἀδελφός ἡμῶν ἐστι.
(Kai elalaʸsan peri autou hoi adelfoi taʸs maʸtros autou en tois ōsi pantōn tōn andrōn Suⱪem pantas tous logous toutous; kai eklinen haʸ kardia autōn opisō Abimeleⱪ, hoti eipan, adelfos haʸmōn esti.)

BrTr And his mother's brethren spoke concerning him in the ears of all the men of Sychem all these words; and their heart turned after Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

ULT And the brothers of his mother spoke all of these things for him in the ears of all of the lords of Shechem, and their heart turned after Abimelech, for they said, “He, is our brother.”

UST So Abimelech’s mother’s brothers gathered all the leaders of Shechem. They told them everything that Abimelech wanted them to say. The leaders decided to allow Abimelech to rule over them, considering that he was their relative.

BSB & MSB And when his mother ’s brothers spoke all these words about him in the presence of all the leaders of Shechem, their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”

OEB No OEB JDG 9:3 book available

WEBBE & WMBB His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.”

NET His mother’s relatives spoke on his behalf to all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal. The leaders were drawn to Abimelech; they said, “He is our close relative.”

LSV And his mother’s brothers speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclines after Abimelech, for they said, “He [is] our brother”;

FBV His mother's brothers shared his proposal with all the leaders of Shechem, and they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, “He is our relative.”

T4T So Abimelech’s mother’s brothers spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about what Abimelech had said. They said to each other, “We should allow Abimelech to rule over us, because he is our relative.”

LEB And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words concerning him _⌊to_⌋[fn] all the lords of Shechem; and _⌊they supported Abimelech_⌋,[fn] for they said, “He is our relative.”[fn]

9:3 Literally “in the ears of”

9:3 Literally “it reached their heart after Abimelech”

9:3 Or “brother”

BBE So his mother's family said all this about him in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem: and their hearts were turned to Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

Moff No Moff JDG 9:3 book available

JPS And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words; and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said: 'He is our brother.'

ASV And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

DRA And his mother’s brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem, all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying: He is our brother:

YLT And his mother's brethren speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclineth after Abimelech, for they said, 'He [is] our brother;'

Drby And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem all these words. And their heart inclined after Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

RV And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
(And his mother’s brethren/brothers spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.)

SLT And his mother’s brethren will speak concerning him in the ears of all the lords of Shechem all these words: and their heart will incline after Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

Wbstr And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

KJB-1769 And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.[fn]
(And his mother’s brethren/brothers spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.)

9.3 to follow: Heb. after

KJB-1611 And his mothers brethren spake of him in the eares of all the men of Shechem, all these wordes, and their hearts inclined to [fn]follow Abimelech: for they said, He is our brother.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

9:3 Heb. after.

Bshps And his mothers brethren spake of him in the audience of all the men of Sichem all these wordes, & their heartes were moued to folow Abimelech: For they sayde, He is our brother.
(And his mothers brethren/brothers spake of him in the audience of all the men of Sichem all these words, and their hearts were moved to follow Abimelech: For they said, He is our brother.)

Gnva Then his mothers brethren spake of him in the audience of all the men of Shechem, all these wordes: and their hearts were moued to follow Abimelech: for sayd they, He is our brother.
(Then his mothers brethren/brothers spake of him in the audience of all the men of Shechem, all these words: and their hearts were moved to follow Abimelech: for said they, He is our brother.)

Cvdl Then spake his mothers brethre all these wordes for him, in ye eares of all ye men at Sichem. And their hert enclyned to Abimelech, for they thoughte: He is oure brother:
(Then spake his mothers brethren/brothers all these words for him, in ye/you_all ears of all ye/you_all men at Sichem. And their heart inclined to Abimelech, for they thought: He is our brother:)

Wycl And the britheren of his modir spaken of hym alle these wordis to alle the men of Sichem; and bowiden her hertis aftir Abymelech, and seiden, He is oure brother.
(And the brethren/brothers of his mother spoke of him all these words to all the men of Sichem; and bowed her hearts after Abimelech, and said, He is our brother.)

Luth Da redeten die Brüder seiner Mutter von ihm alle diese Worte vor den Ohren aller Männer zu Sichem; und ihr Herz neigte sich Abimelech nach, denn sie gedachten: Er ist unser Bruder.
(So talked the brothers his mother from him all this/these words before/in_front_of the ears all men to/for Sichem; and you(pl)/their/her heart tended itself/yourself/themselves Abimelech after, because/than they/she/them thought(v): He is our brother.)

ClVg Locutique sunt fratres matris ejus de eo ad omnes viros Sichem universos sermones istos, et inclinaverunt cor eorum post Abimelech, dicentes: Frater noster est.
(And_spoke are brothers mother his/her from/about by_him to everyone men Sichem in_the_universes conversations these, and they_bowed heart their after Abimelech, saying: Brother our it_is.)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

בְּ⁠אָזְנֵי֙

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_spoke relatives_of his/its=mother on/upon/above=him/it in,the_ears_of all/each/any/every masters_of Shekem DOM all/each/any/every the,words the=these and,it_turned_aside heart_of,their after ʼAⱱīmelek that/for/because/then/when said brother_of,[is]_our he/it )

See how you translated the same expression in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [in the hearing of] or [out loud to]

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

וַ⁠יֵּ֤ט לִבָּ⁠ם֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ כִּ֥י אָמְר֖וּ אָחִ֥י⁠נוּ הֽוּא

If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [and when they considered, “He is our brother,” their heart turned after Abimelech]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וַ⁠יֵּ֤ט לִבָּ⁠ם֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ

Here the heart represents the will and inclinations. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [and they decided to make Abimelech their king]

Note 4 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

לִבָּ⁠ם֙

Since the author is referring to a group of people, it might be more natural in your language to use the plural form of heart. Alternate translation: [their hearts]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אָחִ֥י⁠נוּ הֽוּא

brother_of,[is]_our he/it

The lords of Shechem are using the term brother to mean someone descended from the same ancestor. They do not mean that Abimelech is their literal brother, a child of the same parents. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [He is our kinsman]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

אָחִ֥י⁠נוּ הֽוּא

brother_of,[is]_our he/it

The lords of Shechem mean implicitly that they expect Abimelech to treat them better than the other sons of Gideon would because he is their relative, while the other sons are not. You could indicate this explicitly in your translation if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [He is our kinsman, so he will treat us well]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

אָחִ֥י⁠נוּ הֽוּא

brother_of,[is]_our he/it

It may be more natural in your language to have an indirect quotation here. The UST models one way to do that.

BMM BibleMapper.com Maps:

Abimelech Seizes Power

Judges 9

Virtually every account in the book of Judges paints this formative period in Israel’s history as a very dark, brutal time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The story of Abimelech’s rise to power is no exception. Judges 6-8 recounts the heroic deeds of Gideon, a Manassite from the clan of Abiezer who rescued the Israelites from the Midianites. After Gideon’s victory, he returned to his hometown of Ophrah, and Israel enjoyed peace for the rest of his lifetime. But Gideon also left a legacy of idolatry by him, by his family, and by many Israelites. Gideon had many wives and seventy sons, as well as a concubine in Shechem who gave birth to another son named Abimelech (Judges 8:29-32). It appears that when Abimelech grew up, he settled in Arumah, (Judges 9:31), just outside Manassite territory in the tribal allotment of Ephraim (Joshua 16-17; see “Poster Map of the Tribe of Manasseh (West) and Its Surroundings, circa 1200 B.C.” map). Perhaps this move to non-Manassite territory reflected Abimelech’s lack of a legitimate heritage from his Manassite father. Later, Abimelech visited his relatives in Shechem and convinced them to persuade the leaders of Shechem to make him ruler over the city. To ensure that none of his seventy brothers, who were legitimate heirs to Gideon, challenged his authority, Abimelech went to Ophrah and killed all but one of them. The only brother to escape was Jotham, the youngest, and he went to the top of Mount Gerizim and warned them against betraying Gideon by making Abimelech king. Then he fled to the town of Beer, perhaps the same as Beeroth near the town of Gibeon. After three years, however, the leaders of Shechem began to grow dissatisfied with Abimelech as their king, and a man named Gaal offered to rule in place of him. Abimelech’s ally Zebul, who was one of the leaders of Shechem, went to Arumah and told Abimelech what Gaal was planning to do. So Gideon and his men split up into four groups and secretly surrounded the city at night. Then they attacked Gaal’s men, and Gaal’s men retreated into Shechem. Zebul drove them back out into the fields, and Abimelech’s men defeated them and captured the city. Some of the leaders of Shechem fled into the temple of El-berith (or Baal-berith), but Abimelech and his men cut down branches from Mount Zalmon (likely Mount Ebal just north of Shechem) and set fire to the temple, killing about 1000 people inside. Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebez and attacked the city. Many of the citizens took refuge inside a strong tower in the town, and Abimelech prepared to set fire to the entrance. But a woman on the roof dropped a millstone on his head, crushing his skull, so Abimelech commanded his armor bearer to kill him.

Parallel JDG 9:3

Abimelech Seizes Power