9:42 The next day the Shechemites 1 came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it, 2 9:43 he took his men 3 and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, 4 he attacked and struck them down. 5 9:44 Abimelech and his units 6 attacked and blocked 7 the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down. 9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled 8 the city and spread salt over it. 9
9:46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem 10 heard the news, they went to the stronghold 11 of the temple of El-Berith. 12 9:47 Abimelech heard 13 that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place. 14 9:48 He and all his men 15 went up on Mount Zalmon. He 16 took an ax 17 in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it 18 on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” 19 9:49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches 20 against the stronghold and set fire to it. 21 All the people 22 of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.
1 tn Heb “the people”; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “And they told Abimelech.”
3 tn Heb “his people.”
4 tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”
5 tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”
5 tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”
6 tn Heb “stood [at].”
7 tn Or “destroyed.”
8 tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”
9 sn Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.
10 tn Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.
11 sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.
11 tn Heb “and it was told to Abimelech.”
12 tn Heb “were assembled.”
13 tn Heb “his people.”
14 tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.
15 tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.
16 tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”
17 tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”
15 tn The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
16 tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”
17 tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.