Keraia
Judges 9

Judges 9:55

Abimelech’s Punishment · Judges 9:50–57
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Translations

Modern
And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
Traditional
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
Literal
And the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, and every man departed to his place.
Latin
Illoque mortuo, omnes qui cum eo erant de Israël, reversi sunt in sedes suas:

Original

Hebrew
English
And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

Notes

Judges 9:54–55

It was considered shameful to die at the hands of a woman or a child (see study note on Judges 8:20–21). Abimelech did not receive a peace agreement or burial notice because his rule was not legitimate.

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 Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

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

Topics

Judgments: Upon Abimelech Thebez: A City, at Which Abimelech Was Killed While Besieging