Judges 9:42-49

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.

[9:42]  ¹ tn Heb “the people”; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:42]  ² tn Heb “And they told Abimelech.”

[9:43]  ³ tn Heb “his people.”

[9:43]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”

[9:43]  ⁵ tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”

[9:44]  ⁵ tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”

[9:44]  ⁶ tn Heb “stood [at].”

[9:45]  ⁷ tn Or “destroyed.”

[9:45]  ⁸ tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

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

[9:46]  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.

[9:46]  ¹¹ sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.

[9:47]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it was told to Abimelech.”

[9:47]  ¹² tn Heb “were assembled.”

[9:48]  ¹³ tn Heb “his people.”

[9:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.

[9:48]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.

[9:48]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”

[9:48]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”

[9:49]  ¹⁵ tn The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:49]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”

[9:49]  ¹⁷ tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.