Keraia
Judges 9

Judges 9:49

The Fall of Shechem · Judges 9:30–49
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Translations

Modern
So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.
Traditional
And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
Literal
And all the people, indeed each man, cut down his bough, and they went after Abimelech, and they put them against the stronghold, and they burned above them the stronghold with the fire, and died also all the people of the tower of Shechem—about a thousand men and women.
Latin
Igitur certatim ramos de arboribus præcidentes, sequebantur ducem. Qui circumdantes præsidium, succenderunt: atque ita factum est, ut fumo et igne mille homines necarentur, viri pariter et mulieres, habitatorum turris Sichem.

Original

Hebrew
English
So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.

Notes

Judges 9:46–49

The leaders (literally lords) of Shechem, who first plotted against Abimelech, gathered in the temple of Baal-berith. The temple then burned around them. Archaeologists have confirmed this destruction at the site.

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

People

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

Places

Shechem: City in Canaan, later allotted to Ephraim

Glossary

Abimelech Beth-Millo Citadel Curse, Cursed Judges, Book of Shechem (Place) Tower of Shechem Warfare

Topics

Judge: Abimelech Tower of Shechem Towers: Frequently Thrown Down in War