Judges 9 Study Notes

9:1-6 The account of Abimelech is a deviation from the main storyline of the book of Judges, showing the complete Canaanization of the land during this period. Gideon may have formally declined kingship, but Abimelech (whose name means “my father is king”) had no such scruples. He went to his mother’s family in Shechem, in the center of Israel, and sought the support of the citizens of Shechem in a coup that would place him on the throne. The principle of dynastic succession that Gideon denied in 8:23 is taken for granted in Abimelech’s speech. Either he would rule or the other seventy sons of Gideon would rule. The value of having a relative in power was readily perceived by the citizens of Shechem. They gave seventy pieces of silver, one for each of Gideon’s other sons, with which Abimelech hired mercenaries to eliminate his rivals. Israel was so thoroughly corrupt that the money was from a pagan temple and the mercenaries were worthless and reckless men . . . Beth-millo may be another way of referring to Shechem’s leaders. The location of the coronation may have been the same prominent oak where Joshua years before had set up a pillar as a witness of the people’s covenant renewal with God (Jos 24:25-27).

9:7-15 Jotham, the sole son of Gideon to escape the massacre, went to the top of Mount Gerizim, which overlooked Shechem. In addition to being a safe place, it was a place with a history. Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal were the locations where the people of Israel recited the blessings and curses of the covenant when they had first entered the land (Dt 27:12-13). On this occasion, Mount Gerizim would host a curse (Jdg 9:57) rather than a blessing. From the mountain, Jotham proclaimed a fable, a story involving plants or animals that teaches a moral lesson. In Jotham’s fable, the various trees sought to find a king. Each of the first three trees was reluctant to give up its noble, profitable activity in favor of such an unprofitable office. The fourth and final candidate, the bramble, had no useful function but was a perpetual nuisance for farmers. But this plant accepted their offer of kingship. He invited the other trees to come and find refuge in my shade, though the low spreading bramble provides no real shade. If they would not submit to him, he issued a threat that fiery judgment would come from him and consume the cedars of Lebanon, the most exalted of trees.

9:16-21 Jotham himself provided the interpretation of the fable. First, he facetiously wondered whether they had acted faithfully and honestly (vv. 16-19). Then he invoked a curse that the people would get what they deserve; he also went beyond the fable to make the curse reciprocal: May fire . . . consume Abimelech. Jotham then fled, hiding out at a place named Beer (“Well”).

9:22-25 Abimelech’s reign lasted only three years. The translation evil spirit does not necessarily imply demonic activity, since the Hebrew word ra‘ah can simply mean “bad.” The focus is on the fact that God replaced the harmony between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem with a spirit of distrust and disagreement. As a result, the citizens of Shechem broke faith with Abimelech by ambushing those who passed by on the roads.

9:26-29 Gaal may have been a Shechemite who had gone into exile to escape Abimelech. His return was welcomed by the citizens of Shechem who harvested grapes in order to throw a party for him. The grape harvest was often a time of riotous celebration and drunkenness. On this occasion, after eating and drinking a little too much, the participants cursed Abimelech—an action that could incur the death penalty (Ex 22:28; 1Kg 21:13). In a speech whose forthrightness seems emboldened by alcohol, Gaal claimed that if he were king he could do a better job of running Shechem than Abimelech.

9:30-41 Zebul, Abimelech’s governor in Shechem, called Gaal’s bluff, informing Abimelech of Gaal’s insubordination, and forcing Gaal to lead the citizens of Shechem against Abimelech’s army.

9:42-49 Abimelech took excessive revenge against Shechem. He massacred the inhabitants of the city and tore down its buildings. He also scattered salt over it. Since salt is a preservative, this act symbolized the eternal and unchanging nature of this destruction. Those who escaped fled to the temple of El-berith (Baal-berith, Shechem’s god). Rather than waste lives in assaulting this stronghold, Abimelech piled wood around it and burned the occupants alive. Fittingly, along with those who financed his original coup, he destroyed the source of the finance, the temple of Baal-berith. The fiery destruction of the citizens of Shechem perfectly matched the imagery of Jotham’s fable.

9:50-57 Encouraged by his success at Shechem, Abimelech sought to repeat it at Thebez, a town not far from Shechem. Instead, he was killed when a woman dropped a millstone on his head. Like Sisera, he met his end at the hand of a woman, even though his armor bearer struck the final blow. Abimelech’s fire thus consumed himself, as Jotham’s curse was fulfilled by the Lord.