Judges 9:45

Translations

Modern

And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

Traditional

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

Literal

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city, and he killed the people who were in it, and he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

Latin

Porro Abimelech omni die illo oppugnabat urbem: quam cepit, interfectis habitatoribus ejus, ipsaque destructa, ita ut sal in ea dispergeret.

Original

Hebrew

English

And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

Notes

Judges 9:45

Scattering salt stopped plants from growing and caused destruction.

Judges 9:43–45

Abimelech lost any right to be seen as an inspired leader. He ordered his men to attack the people of Shechem, killing them all and destroying the city.

Judges 9:22–57

Theological statements in Judges 9:23–24 and 9:56–57 frame the story of the civil conflict that caused the destruction of Abimelech and Shechem. This event fulfilled the curse that Jotham declared (Judges 9:19–20).

Judges 9:1–57

Abimelech's reign marked a shift from the relative peace of the early judges (Judges 3:7–8:35) to the decline of the later years (10:1–16:31).

Theme notes and profiles

Gideon Shechem

Events

Usurpation by Abimelech

Related verses

Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
2 Kings 3:25
They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.
Psalm 107:34
…and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
Ezekiel 47:11
But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
Zephaniah 2:9
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
1 Kings 12:25
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.
James 2:13
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

People

Abimelech: Son of Gideon, self-proclaimed king of Shechem

Glossary

Abimelech Baal-Berith Curse, Cursed Judges, Book of Shechem (Place) Warfare

Topics

Armies: Employed in Assaulting Cities Cities were Frequently: Razed and Sown with Salt Judge: Abimelech Salt: Places Sown With, to Denote Perpetual Desolation Shechem: Also Called Sychar, a City of Refuge in Mount Ephraim: Destroyed by Abimelech Sieges: Cities Taken by Frequently Broken Down Sieges: Cities Taken by Sometimes Sown with Salt Sieges: Shechem

Judges 9:45

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Translations

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