Judges 9:22-23

God Fulfills Jotham’s Curse

9:22 Abimelech commanded ¹  Israel for three years. 9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ²  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ³  to Abimelech.

Judges 9:29

9:29 If only these men ⁴  were under my command, ⁵  I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech, ⁶  “Muster ⁷  your army and come out for battle!” ⁸ 

[9:22]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “commanded” (שָׂרַר, sarar), which appears only here in Judges, differs from the ones employed earlier in this chapter (מָשַׁל [mashal] and מָלַךְ [malakh]).

[9:23]  ² tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”

[9:23]  ³ tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:29]  ³ tn Heb “people.”

[9:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “in my hand.”

[9:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “said to Abimelech.” On the other hand, the preposition ל (lamed) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178). If so, one could translate, “He boasted, ‘Abimelech…’”

[9:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “Make numerous.”

[9:29]  ⁷ tn The words “for battle” are interpretive.