Judges 9:27

9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, ¹  squeezed out the juice, ²  and celebrated. They came to the temple ³  of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

Judges 9:46

9:46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem ⁴  heard the news, they went to the stronghold ⁵  of the temple of El-Berith. ⁶ 

[9:27]  ¹ tn Heb “vineyards.”

[9:27]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[9:46]  ⁴ sn Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.

[9:46]  ⁵ 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.

[9:46]  ⁶ sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.