Judges 9:52 — compare Bible translations

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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 ἦλθεν Ἀβιμέλεχ ἕως τοῦ πύργου, καὶ παρετάξαντο αὐτῷ· καὶ ἤγγισεν Ἀβιμέλεχ ἕως τῆς θύρας τοῦ πύργου τοῦ ἐμπρῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν πυρί.
(Kai aʸlthen Abimeleⱪ heōs tou purgou, kai paretaxanto autōi; kai aʸngisen Abimeleⱪ heōs taʸs thuras tou purgou tou empraʸsai auton en puri.)

BrTr And Abimelech drew near to the tower, and they besieged it; and Abimelech drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

ULT Then Abimelech came to the tower and fought with it. And he came near to the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.

UST Abimelech and his soldiers came to the tower to try to kill the people who were in it. Abimelech went right up to the tower to start a fire that would burn it down.

BSB When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.

OEB No OEB JDG 9:52 book available

WEBBE Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

NET Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire,

LSV And Abimelech comes to the tower, and fights against it, and draws near to the opening of the tower to burn it with fire,

FBV Abimelech went up to the tower to attack it. But as he approached the tower's entrance to set it on fire,

T4T Abimelech and his men came to the tower and tried to get in the door, but they could not. Then Abimelech prepared to light a fire to burn down the door.

LEB Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.

BBE And Abimelech came to the tower and made an attack on it, and got near to the door of the tower for the purpose of firing it.

Moff No Moff JDG 9:52 book available

JPS And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went close unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

ASV And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and drew near unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

DRA And Abimelech coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and approaching to the gate, endeavoured to set fire to it:

YLT And Abimelech cometh unto the tower, and fighteth against it, and draweth nigh unto the opening of the tower to burn it with fire,

Drby And Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and he drew near to the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire;

RV And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

SLT And Abimelech will come even to the tower, and will fight against it, and will urge on, even to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

Wbstr And Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

KJB-1769 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

KJB-1611 And Abimelech came vnto the towre, and fought against it, and went hard vnto the doore of the towre, to burne it with fire.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And Abimelech came vnto the towre, and fought agaynst it, and went harde vnto the doore of ye towre to set it on fire.
(And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of ye/you_all tower to set it on fire.)

Gnva And Abimelech came vnto the towre and fought against it, and went hard vnto the doore of the towre to set it on fire.
(And Abimelech came unto the tower and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to set it on fire.)

Cvdl Then came Abimelech vnto the tower, and soughte agaynst it, and came nye vnto the dore of the tower, that he might burne it with fyre.
(Then came Abimelech unto the tower, and sought against it, and came nigh/near unto the door of the tower, that he might burn it with fire.)

Wycl And Abymelech cam bisidis the tour, and fauyt strongli, and he neiyede to the dore, and enforside to putte fier vndur; and lo!
(And Abimelech came besides the tour, and fought strongly, and he came_near to the door, and strengthened to put fire under; and lo!)

Luth Da kam Abimelech zum Turm und stritt dawider; und nahete sich zur Tür des Turms, daß er ihn mit Feuer verbrennete.
(So came Abimelech for_the tower and argued/fought contrary; and approaching itself/yourself/themselves to/for door the towers, that he him/it with fire(n) burnt.)

ClVg Accedensque Abimelech juxta turrim, pugnabat fortiter: et appropinquans ostio, ignem supponere nitebatur:
(And_approaching Abimelech next_to tower, was_fighting bravely/strongly: and approaching door, fire to_suppose was_shone:)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וַ⁠יִּלָּ֖חֶם בּ֑⁠וֹ

(Some words not found in UHB: and,he_came ʼAⱱīmelek until the=tower and,he_fought in/on/over=him/it and,he_drew_near until entrance_of the=tower to,burn,it with,fire )

The author is using the tower, represented by the pronoun it, by association to mean the people who were in the tower. Alternate translation: [and fought with the people who were in the tower]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo

לְ⁠שָׂרְפ֥⁠וֹ בָ⁠אֵֽשׁ

(Some words not found in UHB: and,he_came ʼAⱱīmelek until the=tower and,he_fought in/on/over=him/it and,he_drew_near until entrance_of the=tower to,burn,it with,fire )

See how you translated the similar expression in 9:49. Alternate translation: [to set it on fire] or [to burn it down]

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 HERO 9:52

Abimelech Seizes Power