Judges 9 Sixty Nine Dead Brothers

[seekeroftruth]

Judges 9:1 Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2 “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.”

3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” 4 They gave him seventy shekels[a] of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.​

a. Judges 9:4 That is, about 1 3/4 pounds or about 800 grams

Now remember, Abimelek's father was Gideon. Jerub-Baal was just Gideon's "nic-name". Jerub Baal actually means... "let God deal with him". Jerub Baal [Gideon] started out good.... God used him to conquer a couple kings.... but then he went bad. Abimelek's father Gideon [now nicnamed "let God deal with him" Jerub-Baal] made a golden ephod and the Israelites worshiped it. Abimelek's father [Gideon aka Jerub Baal meaning "let God deal with him"] had so many "wives" and concubines that he had 70 sons.

Gideon [Abimelek's father no matter what name you give him] made himself "king" even though they are actually living in a Theocracy with God on the thrown, and Gideon as a Judge [not a king]. Now, it looks like, one of his 70 sons is going to break bad.

Can you imagine, killing all your brothers in line for a throne that really doesn't exist? Did you notice? Abimelech is the son of a concubine.... I bet if he was here today... people would say.... "he has some anger issues".

This is from the easy English site.

Abimelech spoke to the people in Shechem. He said that he would be a better ruler than Gideon’s other sons. He may have done this because his father had not married his mother. Perhaps he was jealous of his brothers. They may have thought that he had no value as a person. (Jephthah in chapter 11 had the same experience.) The people in Shechem were quite willing to have a king that was a son of Gideon. Abimelech was also their own relative. Abimelech spoke to his uncles first, and they told the people in Shechem. They agreed that Abimelech would be their king. They gave money to him. Then he could hire soldiers to help him. These soldiers could go and they could kill his brothers. They murdered the brothers on a stone, as if these were animals for a sacrifice. People killed animals as a sacrifice when a king got his crown. When they were making the sacrifice, they also followed a ceremony. The people would follow the ceremony now and this would make the soldiers’ action look right. The ceremony happened at a holy oak tree. There was also a stone here. People had put it up to remember something. Abimelech had a very small kingdom. It was not much bigger than the western area where Manasseh’s tribe lived. The kingdom lasted only three years. It did not continue after Abimelech’s death.​

So Abimelech killed all of his brothers to get a throne that didn't exist in the Theocracy they lived in. A murderer was on a throne in the small country.... wait... Shechem.... didn't his great great great whatever uncle murder everyone in Shechem over the seduction of their sister Dinah? Genesis 34 So now the son of a guy nicnamed "God deal with him", who killed his sixty nine of his own brothers, was king of Shechem.... where his family before him had slaughtered everyone [after talking them into being circumcised].

Talk about a model long term dysfunctional family.