Judges 9:1

Abimelech Murders His Brothers

9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. ¹  He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, ² 

Judges 9:4

9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ³  men as his followers. ⁴ 

Judges 9:6

9:6 All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar ⁵  in Shechem.

Judges 9:19

9:19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub-Baal and his family ⁶  today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness! ⁷ 

Judges 9:25

9:25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting ⁸  bandits in ⁹  the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. ¹⁰ 

Judges 9:27

9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, ¹¹  squeezed out the juice, ¹²  and celebrated. They came to the temple ¹³  of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ¹⁴  reporting, “Beware! ¹⁵  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ¹⁶  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹⁷ 

Judges 9:35

9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.

Judges 9:44

9:44 Abimelech and his units ¹⁸  attacked and blocked ¹⁹  the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down.

Judges 10:1

Stability Restored

10:1 After Abimelech’s death, ²⁰  Tola son of Puah, grandson ²¹  of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, ²²  rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country.

[9:1]  ¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:1]  ² tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”

[9:4]  ³ tn Heb “empty and reckless.”

[9:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they followed him.”

[9:6]  ⁵ tc The translation assumes that the form in the Hebrew text (מֻצָּב, mutsav) is a corruption of an original מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”). The reference is probably to a pagan object of worship (cf. LXX).

[9:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[9:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”

[9:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “set against him bandits.”

[9:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “on the tops of.”

[9:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “It was told to Abimelech.”

[9:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “vineyards.”

[9:27]  ¹² tn Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.

[9:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “house.”

[9:31]  ¹³ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ¹⁵ tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ¹⁶ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[9:44]  ¹⁵ tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”

[9:44]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “stood [at].”

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[10:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”