And Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
Gideon — the verse calls him Jerubbaal — had refused the crown of Israel and said the LORD alone would rule them. Now his son by a servant woman goes to his mother's hometown to seek that very throne, and the whole chapter grows out of that visit.
Abimelech means "my father is king." It says the opposite of what Gideon said.
He rises as king. Someone gave him his name — perhaps his mother, to show his link with the great man of Israel, and to cover the shame of his birth. That name shows how the subtle spirit was at work, whether it found expression or not: "My father was king." That is the very thing his father was not. His father refused to be king, and said God alone should be their king. And yet here is the son of his father declaring that his father was king. He declares further, in the strongest way, that his son also is going to be king.
This son did not appear from nowhere.
His enormous family and many wives do not suggest the spiritual vigour seen in men of faith, even in the days of the patriarchs. And surely Abimelech, son of the concubine, is too closely tied to this coarseness for us to miss the lesson. Ease and self-pleasing give birth to many a fruitful source of evil later on.
Refusing a crown is not the end of the danger.
It teaches us this. We may refuse a public place of exaltation and still have no defence against the most subtle and more dangerous snare: supposing that the memorials of our service can in any way add to the worship of God. This is using service as a way of exalting self, and that must "become a snare to us and to our house."
Abimelech's first move is not to Israel but to his mother's people.
Having cut off all rivals, he goes to Shechem, the town of his mother, the town according to nature. It matters that this town lies in the tribe of Ephraim, which is always, as you know, reaching out for rule. There he gets the men of Shechem to endorse him and recognise him as king.
Where did his power come from? Another writer points to his birth.
The sources of his power are that he is half Canaanite, half Israelite — son of Gideon on the one side, though son of the slave woman on the other. In this he is another Ishmael, and he carries the same symbolic meaning that the apostle gives to Ishmael in Galatians 4.
Here is the case he asks his mother's family to put to Shechem.
Abimelech did not only forget his father's example; he deliberately chose the opposite path of proud self-pleasing. He wanted to rule over Israel. He saw that to do this he must find a following that would reject all seventy of Gideon's sons born to him by his wives. So he persuaded his mother's relatives to speak to the men of Shechem. They were to ask which is better: that seventy of Gideon's sons should rule over them, or just one. He points out that he himself is their own flesh and bone. No one had suggested that Gideon's seventy sons should rule over Israel. Those sons likely knew that their father had refused the place of ruler. But a small minority can often force its way into prominence.
He moved as soon as his father died, and one writer names what drove him.
As soon as the judge, his father, was dead, he gathered his mother's family together and urged them to use their influence with the men of Shechem on his behalf. The glory of the LORD and the blessing of His people were not before him; he wanted to exalt himself — he would be king... It was by fair speeches that the son of Gideon won his way.
The chapter ends where such a beginning must end.
The ninth chapter of Judges records for us the bitter harvest of his pride and their folly. It teaches us to beware of trusting in man — the bramble in Jotham's parable — and above all when it is a question of God's things.
- Seed — Ease and self-pleasing at the end of Gideon's life produced the son who opens this chapter; the ephod he kept became a snare "to us and to our house."
- Name — "My father is king" claims for Gideon the very thing Gideon refused, and stakes the son's claim to follow him.
- Kin — His first appeal goes to his mother's family and hometown: rule built on natural ties, not on God's calling.
- Words — Fair speeches win his way for him. The offer of one ruler instead of seventy rests on kinship, and no one had asked for seventy rulers.
- Harvest — Judges 9 is the bitter crop of that sowing. It teaches us to beware of trusting in man, above all in the things of God.
Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, Which is better for you, that seventy persons, all sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? And remember that I am your bone and your flesh.
reason: claim not in quotes; very hard sentences
The question — seventy rulers or one — never came from Abimelech's own mouth. One writer shows who he sent to ask it.
Abimelech did not just forget his father's example. He deliberately chose the opposite path of proud self-pleasing. He wanted to rule over Israel. He saw that this meant finding a following that would reject all 70 of Gideon's sons, the sons his wives bore him. So he persuaded his mother's relatives to speak to the men of Shechem. They were to ask which was better: rule by 70 of Gideon's sons, or rule by one man. His appeal is that he himself is their own flesh and bone.
Abimelech's question assumes that seventy men were reaching for power. One writer points out that this threat was invented.
No one had suggested that Gideon's 70 sons should rule over Israel. Those sons likely knew that their father had refused the place of ruler. But a small minority can often force its way into prominence.
The name Abimelech carries a meaning. One writer finds in it the sad slide of Gideon himself.
As Gideon grew older, his faith grew dimmer, and I fear his pride increased. His concubine, the servant woman, bore him a son, and he called him "Abimelech." And what does "Abimelech" mean? It means "My Father is King." The very place Gideon had refused in his early days, he now seeks to seize, and his son's name betrays his sad fall. "My Father" (that is, Gideon) "is King": sad, sad departure from the noble faith he once had. Earlier he had said, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you." Now he seeks the place of king.
The verse ends with a claim of kinship. One writer shows what kind of throne that claim builds, and why Shechem was the town for it.
He sets himself to rule over the people of God, and to do that he builds his throne on violence. There must be violence if there is rule of that kind; if there is the rule of man, it must be by violence. Therefore he kills all his brothers, all the many sons of Gideon, with a single exception. Having cut off all rivals in this way, he goes to Shechem, the town of his mother, the town according to nature. Shechem lies in the tribe of Ephraim, and Ephraim is always reaching out for rule. There he gets the men of Shechem to endorse him and recognize him as king.
No force appears in this verse, only words. One writer names both the method and the principle that finally caught up with Abimelech.
The Lord has declared that whoever humbles himself will be exalted, and whoever exalts himself will be brought low. Abimelech proved that true. Gideon's son won his way by smooth speeches. "His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords" (Psalm 55:21). All this deceives the crowd and leads it away, as it led the men of Shechem.
The verse leaves a question for the reader. One writer asks whether we want the chair another man stepped away from.
Let us not be seeking a place. Let us not be like Abimelech, who wanted to step into the empty chair of the man before him — a chair his own father had refused… Wherever people think that certain ones are rulers, and will be rulers despite anything in themselves or in the saints, you can be sure it is the bramble. And the bramble has no fruit for God.
- Ambition. Abimelech wanted to rule, so he first invented a reason for Shechem to reject his seventy brothers.
- Invention. The rival he warned about never existed. None of Gideon's sons wanted the place their father refused.
- Kinship. His claim was not right but blood: Shechem was his mother's town, the town according to nature.
- Flattery. Smooth speech opened the door. Then came the murder of his brothers, because a man who seizes rule must keep it by violence.
- Fruitlessness. The man who grasps at a place others refused is the bramble — no fruit for God. Whoever exalts himself will be brought low.
And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem all these words. And their heart inclined after Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.
Gideon is dead, and his son by a servant woman goes to Shechem to build a following. Verse 3 is the moment the city's heart turned. No word from God won it. One claim of family ties did, spoken through his mother's relatives.
Gideon had refused to rule Israel. His son wanted the opposite, and he worked the one advantage he had in that town: family.
Abimelech did not just forget his father's example. He chose the opposite path on purpose, a path of proud self-pleasing. He wanted to rule over Israel. He saw that to do this he must find a following that would reject all 70 sons Gideon had by his wives. So he persuaded his mother's relatives to speak to the men of Shechem. They asked the men whether it is better that 70 of Gideon's sons should rule over them, or just one. He appeals to this: he himself is their own flesh and bone.
But look at the choice he set before them.
No one had suggested that Gideon's 70 sons should rule over Israel. Those sons likely knew that their father had refused the place of ruler. But a small minority can often push its way into power.
The three words that swung Shechem sound warm. Warm words can hide a trap.
Here a wolf takes over the Shepherd's place, and seizes the flock to devour it… To seize a place that was not his, he used purely human methods. His mother was Gideon's concubine, and through her brothers he deceived the men of Shechem under the appearance of brotherhood. They put their trust in this traitor. Their moral state was so low that they even forgot the bond that united them to all Israel. They said of Abimelech: "He is our brother." Brotherhood had lost its true meaning for them. It had become only the name of a party.
So talk won the city. That kind of talk splits people into two groups.
Now the Lord has declared that "he who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself will be humbled," and Abimelech proved it true. Fair speeches won the son of Gideon his way… All this deceives the crowd and leads them away, as it did the Shechemites. But the faithful few, "the people who know their God," are kept safe.
A heart does not turn overnight. The people who listened to Abimelech were not simply loyal Israelites making a bad call.
Israel had once again fallen back into idolatry, and taken Baal-berith to be their god. The name means "lord of the covenant"… The worship of Baal was at least a sign of covenant with the Canaanites, whose god he was. The history here gives clear proof of an alliance with the pagan nations… This word [for "lords"] keeps coming back, and that can hardly be an accident. It probably points to most of them being Canaanites, and it links them to the Phoenician Baal-worship of Canaan… Baal-worship and mixing with the Canaanites are certainly at their worst in the story of crime and bloodshed that follows here.
Once the city said yes, Abimelech needed money to move.
Treasure taken from the house of a false god kept this man's influence alive. The usurper appealed to the people's pockets, and he was not ashamed of the impure source the money came from. This silver did the devil's work. Baal's treasure took the place of the Lord's power. It gave the usurper the means to persecute and cut off the family of God.
Abimelech grabbed a place above the people. True leadership among God's people runs the other way.
The lesson of government, dear friends, is the lesson of service. He rules best who serves best. The true head of the people is the one who is at their feet serving them. Some bring the people the precious fruits of God's grace — the olive, the fig, the vine. These are the ones, and the only ones, who rule or lead the saints of God by their service.
- Ground. The city's heart was ready before Abimelech opened his mouth. A town that worshipped Baal and mixed with the Canaanites was open soil for a usurper.
- Word. In Shechem's mouth "brother" no longer meant the tie binding all Israel; it had narrowed to the name of a party.
- Flattery. Fair speeches carried him. The crowd followed; the people who knew their God did not.
- Harvest. Idol money paid for his rise. It gave him the means to cut off Gideon's house.
- Rule. He rules best who serves best. The true head of God's people is the one at their feet, serving.
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them vain and wanton men, and they followed him.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he came to his father's house, to Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons upon one stone; but there remained Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal; for he had hid himself.
Gideon had refused to rule Israel, but one of his sons wanted the crown. This verse shows what he paid for it, and it raises three questions: where did such a man come from, why was one brother spared, and what did God do about it?
Abimelech wanted the throne, and seventy brothers stood in his way. One writer explains why a rule like his always needs blood.
He sets himself to exercise authority over the people of God, and to do so he builds his throne on violence. There must be violence if there is rule of that kind; if there is the rule of man, it must be by violence. So he kills all his brothers, all the many sons of Gideon, with a single exception.
What makes the crime worse is that there were no rivals to remove. The threat existed only in Abimelech's mind.
No one had suggested that Gideon's 70 sons should rule over Israel… Then, to stop any chance of opposition, he went to Ophrah and killed the other sons of Gideon. Only the youngest, Jotham, was able to hide (v. 5). This awful crime of mass murder of his own brothers meant nothing to him. None of them had shown any aspiration to reign over Israel, but he wanted to make sure that none of them would.
The murderer did not appear from nowhere. His very name — Abimelech means "my father is king" — records a change in the old warrior who had once turned the crown down.
As Gideon grew older, his faith grew dimmer, and I fear his pride increased. When his servant girl, his concubine, bore him a son, "he called him Abimelech" (Judges 8:31)… Once he had said, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you." Now he seeks the place of king, and his servant girl's son seizes that place at the cost of all his brothers except the youngest. Terrible result of their father's self-indulgence and pride — but "whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
Another writer looks at where his power came from.
The sources of his power are clear: he is half Canaanite, half Israelite — Gideon's son on one side, but the slave woman's son on the other.
The seventy died on one stone. One writer reads this bloodshed as a sign of a dark day still ahead.
Abimelech soon developed a thirst for blood — sadly typical of the dark day at hand. "He went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone." How quickly Israel forgot what they owed to Gideon! A power that has abandoned God is always a persecutor of God's people.
One son got away. Writers note where he hid, and what he did with the life he kept.
Naturally, he first had to clear his way by wiping out Jerubbaal's true successors. But a remnant escapes into hiding at Beer, the "well" — a good place for God's refugees. That remnant is Jotham, who is still able to make his testimony heard against the usurper.
Abimelech's reign ended when a woman dropped a millstone on his head. Scripture ties that death straight back to this verse.
God is not limited in His means. The One who once sold Sisera into the hands of a woman could use the same means here, when everything else had failed. "Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal" (Judges 9:56-57).
Later in this chapter, Jotham tells a story about trees choosing a king. The useful trees refuse, and the crown goes to the bramble, a thorn bush. One writer turns that picture on the reader.
Let us not be seeking a place. Let us not be like Abimelech, wanting to step into the empty chair of someone before him — a chair his own father had refused… Some think that certain people are rulers, and will go on being rulers regardless of anything in themselves or in the saints. Wherever you find that thought, you may be sure it is the bramble. It is simply that which bears no fruit for God.
- Seed — Gideon refused the crown. Then he named a servant girl's son "my father is king." His pride and self-indulgence planted this harvest.
- Ambition — The rule of man is built on violence, and Abimelech's was. Seventy men died, though none of them had ever sought to reign.
- Pattern — A power that has left God always turns on God's people. The stone at Ophrah points to a darker day ahead.
- Remnant — One brother hid, and that brother became the witness. God kept a voice alive against the usurper.
- Harvest — A woman's millstone ended his reign, and Scripture gives the reason: God returned Abimelech's evil on his own head. Whatever one sows, that he reaps.