Judges 9: Edit history

Judges 9 follows the Gideon narrative (chapters 6–8). After the death of Gideon (Jerubbaal) at the end of Judges 8, the chapter recounts the rise and fall of his son Abimelech as king, an episode from the period of the judges.

Outline

• Verses 1–6: Abimelech persuades the men of Shechem, his mother's kinsmen, and receives seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith. At Ophrah he kills his seventy brothers on one stone and is made king at Shechem. Only the youngest, Jotham, survives by hiding.
• Verses 7–21: From the top of Mount Gerizim, Jotham calls out a fable about the trees anointing a king. He then pronounces a curse on the men of Shechem and on Abimelech and flees to Beer.
• Verses 22–41: Three years later God sends an evil spirit, and the men of Shechem turn against Abimelech. Gaal the son of Ebed plots a revolt, but through a stratagem of Zebul, the ruler of the city, he is defeated by Abimelech and driven out.
• Verses 42–49: Abimelech attacks Shechem, razes it, and sows it with salt. He burns about a thousand people of the tower of Shechem who had taken refuge in the stronghold of the temple of El-berith.
• Verses 50–57: While attacking Thebez, Abimelech has his skull broken by an upper millstone thrown by a woman. He orders his young armor-bearer to run him through, and he dies. The text concludes that this was God's retribution and the fulfillment of Jotham's curse.

Key Verses

• Judges 9:15, "come and put your trust in my shadow": The climax of the fable, in which the worthless bramble offers itself as king; a satire on Abimelech.
• Judges 9:56–57, "Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech": The conclusion, which interprets the entire chapter as God's retribution.

People and Places

• Abimelech: The son of Gideon by his concubine in Shechem (Judges 8:31).
• Jotham: Gideon's youngest son, who survives the massacre and delivers a fable and a curse.
• Gaal: The son of Ebed, who plotted a revolt against Abimelech in Shechem.
• Zebul: The ruler of the city of Shechem, who sided with Abimelech.
• Shechem: A city at the foot of Mount Gerizim.
• Baal-berith / El-berith: Meaning "Baal (god) of the covenant," the deity worshiped at Shechem.
• Ophrah: The site of Gideon's household.
• Beer: The place where Jotham took refuge.
• Thebez: The city where Abimelech died.

Points for Reflection

• The chapter stands in contrast to Judges 8:23, where Gideon declines kingship. Some interpreters read it as a critique of monarchy itself, while others read it as a critique of a wrongly established king. The latter reading is sometimes considered alongside the discussion of kingship in 1 Samuel 8.
• Interpretations of the "evil spirit" in verse 23 differ. Some emphasize God's sovereign judgment, while others explain it as something God permitted. A similar expression appears in 1 Samuel 16:13–14.
• Abimelech is never called a judge in the text, so he is generally not included in lists of the judges.
• In 2 Samuel 11:21, Joab refers to Abimelech's death by a woman's millstone. The New Testament does not directly quote this chapter.