seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
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 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.
7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17 Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18 But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”
21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.
Here's the link to the commentary.
Because he is your brother: The real reason the men of Shechem supported Abimelech was because he was their brother. Abimelech’s mother, though only a maidservant to Gideon, was from Shechem. Abimelech probably grew up in Shechem (Judges 8:31).
Abimelech, the son of his maidservant: “Abimelech’s mother is called a ‘slave girl’, a term usually referring to a wife’s servant who is also a concubine, such as Hagar or Bilhah.” (Wolf)
Let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem: Jotham’s warning to the men of Shechem was that their unwise choice would come back to hurt them. He predicted that “fire” would come forth from Abimelech and devour them. After this bold warning he ran away and fled for fear of his life.
“The prophecy of Jotham was not to be immediately fulfilled. The fire smoldered for three years but at last manifested itself.” (Morgan)
This is part 1 of chapter 9. My On-line Bible Titled the chapter "Abimelech".
Ok controversy.... Yesterday we learned that Abimelech was the son of a concubine. Remember Ishmael? He was the son of a concubine too. His family was run off by Abraham and Ishmael's stepmother. The story of Ishmael and the story of Abimelech sound so similar!
Birthright is a big deal. Ishmael's Birthright was stolen from him. Esau's Birthright was stolen from him. Now... Abimelech was the son of a concubine. I'm pretty sure, since Gideon had so many wives, no one noticed that Abimelech's mom had no wedding band. Or, maybe not wearing a ring made her more appealing to an aging man. At any rate, it would be easy to overlook one ring on one finger. Gideon had 70 legitimate sons. He had a lot of wives.
I think it's safe to assume that Abimelech had a problem with his place in the clan.
Abimelech went to his mother's brothers, his uncles in Shechem, and asked them for help. They probably had a problem with the illegitimate status of their sister's boy and were more than willing to give Abimelech some startup money for the assassination of the 70 stepbrothers.
Now... here's my question...
Now look at verse 5. He killed 70 men with one rock!!!! Cannon balls weren't invented until 1450 AD.
How did Abimelech kill 70 men with one rock. If he killed them one by one... wouldn't the word get out to the other brothers so they could arm themselves and fight back? That doesn't seem feasible. It looks like he got all the boys together and slaughtered them. That's how the youngest, Jotham, knew to hide.
I googled it and found it was likely a millstone dropped from some height. He must have gathered all the men together and dropped the stone on them. Getting the men together is one thing... but getting a huge millstone off the ground to be dropped on his stepbrothers took some work! This was premeditated murder.
Gideon had 70 sons. Jotham hid. Abimelech only really killed 69 right?
That must have been one mean rock!
