Judges 9:22

GAAL'S CONSPIRACY. (Jdg. 9:22-49)

When Abimelech had reigned three years--His reign did not, probably at first, extend beyond Shechem; but by stealthy and progressive encroachments he subjected some of the neighboring towns to his sway. None could "reign" in Israel, except by rebellious usurpation; and hence the reign of Abimelech is expressed in the original by a word signifying "despotism," not that which describes the mild and divinely authorized rule of the judge.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jdg 9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

Ver. 22. When Abimelech had reigned three years.] And now haply began to think, as afterward Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily did, that his kingdom was tied to him with chains of adamant.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 9:22. Had reigned three years over Israel — For though the men of Shechem were the first authors of Abimelech’s advancement, the rest of the people easily consented to that form of government which they so much desired.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

DOWNFALL OF ABIMELECH, Jdg_9:22-57.

22. Three years — So long a time it seems all Israel, not merely the men of Shechem, were content that the miserable Abimelech should rule over them. He probably confined himself to Shechem and the tribes of Israel contiguous, and his rule was but a weak specimen of royalty, with which most of the twelve tribes lightly concerned themselves. This abortive effort after a monarchy seems to have satisfied the Israelites until the days of Samuel.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 9

ABIMELECH’S TRAGIC BUT BRIEF HISTORY

(Jdg_9:22-57.)

CRITICAL NOTES.— Jdg_9:22. Had reigned] ruled by force rather than by natural right, implying a hard, as opposed to a mild, rule. Over Israel]. Shechem in some measure represented Ephraim, and Ephraim in some degree represented Israel. Where one is active, and has a strong will, among many who are passive, his ascendency is practically acknowledged.

Jdg_9:23. God sent an evil spirit.] not evil temper or disposition, but a wicked spirit, which stirred up evil dispositions, discords, and insurrections, ending in bloodshed (comp. 1Sa_16:14-15; 1Sa_18:10). In what took place, we see not only the action of those evil passions that gender strifes, but also the controlling and directing influence of the Moral Governor of the world. There was the intention of a Personal Ruler to punish high-handed crime in a manner suited to its character. If the evil feeling which led to the sad issues were in men’s hearts already, it was God that fixed the time for the awakening of these feelings, and directed them to produce these issues in the end, in the exercise of His moral government. The Shechemites were led to break their oath of fidelity to him whom they had chosen to be their king. Though at the moment they endorsed the strong act by which he had effectually cleared the way of all competitors for the throne, yet now after three years’ experience of the rigorous rule of the bramble king, they no doubt began to feel some remorse for their wicked conduct, in having been co-partners in his infamous deed.

Jdg_9:24. That their blood might be laid upon Abimelech … and on the men of Shechem. So it usually is in the course of Providence (comp. 1Ki_2:32; Psa_7:16; Mat_23:35-36; Est_9:25). “He maketh inquisition for blood.” “He beholdeth mischief to requite it with His hand.” All the events that followed were permitted by God, and overruled by Him, to bring down suitable retribution both on Abimelech and his partners in crime. The Shechemites wished to make themselves the rallying point of the nation by making Abimelech king, and they had other interests of their own to serve. But they quickly found, that, while they thought they were making use of him to serve selfish purposes of their own, he was actually making use of them as his tools. At length they resolved that, as he had played falsely by them in his general conduct, they, from being sworn friends, would now turn round and become deceitful foes.

Jdg_9:25. Set liers in wait for him, etc] i.e., during his absence. Probably, he was at that moment trying to extend his rule over other places. Supposing he might return attended only by a few followers, and unsuspicious of danger, they placed a number of men in ambush so as if possible to take him prisoner, for they were afraid to face him when on his guard and in the open field. Meantime these “liers in wait” commited acts of brigandage on all travellers as they passed along the mountains, which at once showed their character, and also perhaps a design to make it known that the country was getting disorganised under Abimelech’s rule.

Jdg_9:26. Gaal, the son of Ebed,] i.e., the son of a servant. He was so by the father’s side, as Abimelech was by the mother’s side. He too, like the latter, was a Canaanite. Both were morally and socially base in their origin. The appearance of two such men in the front rank indicated, that in these days “vile men were high in place.” It was a case of bramble contesting superiority with bramble. Gaal was probably something of a knight errant, or a chieftain at the head of a company of freebooters, or brigand chief. That such an adventurer should now turn up so unexpectedly, and be able all at once to command so much influence with the masses, was a sign of the evil days that had happened to Israel. The men of worth and of weight have disappeared from society; such nuisances as a Gaal or a Zebul are the rival claimants for the honours of the day; an Abimelech is the chosen king of one of the principal cities of Israel; while public robbery, treachery and disorder overspread the land.

Gaal is judged unworthy of having many particulars given about him, and so he quickly passes across the stage with no more notice taken of him than what is necessary, to show how low Israel’s history at this period had sunk. His appearing on the surface only proves that when base deeds are to be done, there is always someone starting up who is base enough to do them. In this upstart the men of Shechem actually put confidence as a leader.

Jdg_9:27. Gathered their vineyards and trode the grapes.] It was the season of vintage. At such a season, it was customary even for the heathen to keep some festival to the god they worshipped, as an act of thanksgiving for his granting them a bountiful harvest. The literal rendering is, they made praise offerings or thank-offerings, along with praise songs. That such a service of joy and thanksgiving was required to be observed among the Israelites, is clear from such passages as Lev_23:24; Deu_16:10-11; Isa_9:3. The offerings were of the fruits produced by the vineyards in the fourth year. But the Shechemites transferred to their god Baalberith, what should have been rendered to Jehovah.

Went into the house of their god.] The history of Israel in its deepest meaning, is the history of the true God fighting against all the false gods which men worship, and exposing their utter insufficiency.

They did eat and drink and cursed Abimelech.] How general the sin of drunkenness. Even in the earliest days of human history we see the blighting effects of it, and that in the case of Noah himself, ere he had time to settle down after coming out of the ark. And we see it now, like the opening mouth of a volcano, ready to pour its destructive streams on every side. To curse their ruler, in defiance of the law laid down (Exo_22:28; 2Sa_19:21; Isa_8:21), was the first evil effect and led on to worse. Thus it was among the heathen; at the feasts of Bacchus among the Romans, and at similar festivals among the Greeks, and other peoples. The harvest home was an occasion celebrated with banqueting and songs of rejoicing. But how often did those occasions, which might have been harmless and cheerful, become, through indulgence, the means of producing the deepest sorrow and woe!

Jdg_9:28. And Gaal said, who is Abimelech, etc.?] What is to be noted here, is the contrast between the present jubilant strain of merriment, and the tragic issue which anyone might see could not be far off, when such a man as Abimelech was to be dealt with. What a difference between the lighthearted braggartism of the revellers of to-day, while the enemy was at a safe distance, and the pallid terror of the cowards on the morrow, when the lion really appeared. Hitherto they had been too much cowed by the stern spirit, and energetic action, of their tyrant ruler, to do more than speak in whispers, and express their thoughts by signs. But now being treated with wine, and the object of their dread being beyond the hills, they could name him as a despot, and utter curses both loud and deep against his despotic sway.

Now was the time for this base upstart to step forward, when men of worth were hanging their heads with shame. If Gaal had courage for nothing else, he was bold enough to set all laws of decency and propriety at defiance, by proposing himself to be ruler in place of Abimelech. It was time to strike the iron, when he saw them begin to curse Abimelech. Accordingly he shouts out defiantly, “Who is this Abimelech, whom you have allowed to get the upper hand of you—this man who adopts to himself the title of Shechem, as if he were the only person who could speak or move there?” This is said contemptuously, and when, being well out of harm’s way, the speaker could afford to use treasonable language. Some would make the word Shechem apply to the people of the town, or even to Zebul. It is more natural to suppose, that one and the same person is alluded to in the language, for it was customary to address the same person by a double name, as may be seen in the parallel passages (1Sa_25:10; 1Ki_12:16). “Is he not a son of the man who boasted against your god, and though he proudly usurps the name of your town as his own, was not his mother a bondwoman, and no true descendant of Hamor, the father of your clan? And Zebul, who now rules over you, is but his officer in his absence, who has no other claim to advance. Your wisdom is to serve the true stock of the children of Hamor, and not this low caste usurper.”

Jdg_9:29. Would to God this people were under my hand.] This thought was what was uppermost in his heart all the time, but he did not dare at first to bring it out. Probably he waited to see if anyone else would make the proposal, but as none did, he, as if speaking aloud to himself, ventures the proposal himself. He puts it as if it were a special favour, and act of kindness done to the Shechemites, for him to take the command over them, and restore prosperity to their city. Since no one seemed to oppose the proposal, he takes for granted that it is carried, and proceeds to act accordingly. The great thing to be done is first to remove Abimelech. Accordingly a message of defiance is sent to the tyrant king, which was the most likely thing to unite the men of the city around Gaal and his company.

Jdg_9:30. And when Zebul heard the words of Gaal, etc.] Though these words were spoken amid a scene of dissipation, they were resented by Zebul, who whether a warm adherent of Abimelech or not, was deeply offended at being regarded as his tool, and also at being marked out for destruction equally with his master. Hence he sends secret reports of how matters are going to Abimelech.

Jdg_9:32. Up by night, thou, and the people that are with thee.] Zebul, from these verses, and from the whole account, seems to have been a man of considerable shrewdness; but how tame any character becomes, that is so sadly wanting in the higher moral qualities.

Jdg_9:35. And Gaal went out and stood at the gate.] Doubtless he would suppose, that someone may have conveyed information to Abimelech of what was going on; and now he came to see whether the way was clear. Besides he had sent a challenge to Abimelech. Meanwhile, Abimelech was acting on Zebul’s instructions, and was lying in wait to enter the city, so soon as Gaal should have left it. But the latter was getting more cautious, or timid, as danger approached, and was now only feeling his way.

Jdg_9:36. There come people down from the top of the mountains.] Zebul had not till now openly opposed Gaal, for the great body of the Shechemites appeared to be opposed to Abimelech. He therefore thought it better to temporise for a time. Zebul knew very well, that the figures on the mountain were real men, but wished to put Gaal off the tack of thinking so (who was a man of much less sharpness of discernment), in order to gain time for Abimelech’s four companies to effect a junction.

Jdg_9:37. There come people down by the middle—the elevated centre of the land.] Meonenim—the Wizard’s Oak—a place where these idolatrous soldiers may have looked for omens as to their success.

Jdg_9:38. Where is now thy month, etc.] A little time had been gained for the approach of Abimelech’s troops while Gaal continued inactive. The treacherous Zebul now throws off his mask, and bitterly taunts his rival with the boastful language he had used in Abimelech’s absence, ending with a challenge to him to fight his adversary in the open field, now that he was actually come. It is thus that Satan deludes his dupes in making them imagine there is no such thing as a pit of perdition. It is only a “shadow,” a mere figure of speech. Thus he temporises, until the time comes for transfixing the culprit with the arrow of an accusing conscience, and then he taunts him with a malicious sneer, while he writhes in his agony (Mat_27:4).

Jdg_9:39. Gaal went out before the men of Shechem.] At the head of the men of Shechem, for his whole drift was to enlist them on his side, and having already publicly dared to curse Abimelech they were no longer neutral.

Jdg_9:40. Unto the entering in of the gate] but could not pass through the gates, when they were shut against him in time.

Jdg_9:41. Dwelt at Arnmah.] Remained יֵֹשֵׁב sat down, not dwelt for any length of time, continued for the day at Arumah. Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren.] When it was manifest that Gaal was no match for Abimelech, the Shechemites fell from him, and Zebul took advantage of the moment of his weakness, to thrust him out of the town altogether. From this moment, we hear no more of him. He disappears as one who goes down no more to rise. Zebul also is seen no more. He fades from public view the moment his master comes to the front.

Jdg_9:42. The people went out into the field] probably for the purpose of resuming their harvesting work. They supposed there could now be no longer any trouble, seeing that Gaal had been thrust out from their midst, and Abimelech’s authority was restored. But the wrath of the bramble king was not to be so easily pacified. All the night long he had been meditating farther revenge on those who had dared to revolt from him; and, expecting that the people of the town would have to resume their field operations, he laid a trap for them accordingly. Dividing his men into three companies, with one company he seized the gate, and the other two companies he employed to make a regular massacre among the people, as they fled in all directions across the plain.

Jdg_9:45. Slew the people, beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. In this the human tiger went beyond his usual mark. It is as if a king were to slay all his subjects, and then rase his capital to its foundations, that it might not be known ever such a place had existed. This meant more than merely condemning Shechem for the future to a state of comparative infertility. For the sowing of salt on the surface of the ground could not absolutely prevent all growth. But salt was the symbol of any covenant which the people made with their god, and when for the breach of that covenant salt was employed, it meant that such a people came under the curse of their god. These Shechemites had made a covenant, in the house of their god (Baalberith), to be faithful subjects to Abimelech as their king; and now that that covenant was broken, he brings over their city the sign of the curse. Infidelity to such covenants was reckoned the greatest of crimes, and was understood to mean that they were devoted to destruction.

When Milan was taken (A. D. 1162) it was sowed with salt. At the massacre of St. Bartholomew (A. D. 1572) the house of Admiral Coligny, after he was murdered, was sown with salt (see illustrations in Mic_3:12; Psa_107:34; Jer_17:6; Deu_29:23).

Jdg_9:46. When the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, etc.] i.e., the same with the “house of Millo” in Jdg_9:6. Their numbers were now so reduced, while Abimelech was still as strong as ever, and roused to fury like an unchained lion, that they abandoned all resistance, and thought only of betaking themselves to the best place of security they could find. There was only one place they could run to with any hope of getting safety—the house of their god, called in Canaanite language Baalberith, but in that of the Israelites, Elberith. This was a stronghold—in the special sense, that those who were in it were understood to be under the special protection of their god. But there was also a fortified enclosure within it, which might be called their safe, where their money and treasures were preserved. This was the upper chambers of a lofty tower. The same word is used in 1Sa_13:6, where it means the topmost portion of inaccesible rocks.

Jdg_9:48. He gat him up to Mount Zalmon.] Abimelech now supposed that he had got a fit opportunity of carrying out his whole thought of revenge upon the rebels at once. When they were all brought together into one place, and in a helpless condition, it was easy to destroy them at one blow. Like Nero, afterwards, who wished that all the people of Rome should have but one neck, that he might have the pleasure of cutting off their heads at one stroke, so, now, this human fiend was glad to find that all the people of Shechem who were left, were gathered together into one bundle, that he might have the satisfaction of consuming them by one holocaust.

To raise a conflagration around them occurred to him as the readiest method of accomplishing their ruin. Hence he repairs to the thicket of Zalmon, in the immediate neighbourhood, a mountain covered with wood, which has been called a “Black Forest” [Luther], though some have identified it with Ebal, [Stanley]. (Psa_68:14). The reference in the Psalm is to the snow which sometimes rested on its top, and appeared the more striking, because of its contrast with the thick shade of wood that covered its sides. There was no difficulty in finding fuel sufficient for the purpose. Each man had but to carry one branch, and 1,000 men would have brought 1,000 branches. He himself set the example, axe in hand, cutting down his branch and setting it in order. Every man was invited to do the same, by which not only was fuel provided, but also a test was applied to ascertain whether all were faithful to their leader.

Jdg_9:49. All the people likewise cut down, etc.] All complied, for where there is a strong will in action, other wills naturally yield to its decisions. The wood was applied to the hold, and as a portion of it appears to have been of wood, it was soon enveloped amid the flames, and every man within the walls met with a horrible death. So true to the letter was Jotham’s curse fulfilled (Jdg_9:20).

Jdg_9:50. Thebez] now called Tubas, a small town about 13 miles north from Shechem. This town seems to have joined with Shechem in throwing off the yoke of Abimelech, and as this ferocious despot knew no limit to his malice short of extermination, when his lordly will was crossed, he now proceeded to do to Thebez as he had done to Shechem. This town appears to have been built in circular form, with a tower in the centre, many missiles being gathered on the top. To the highest part of this tower all the inhabitants fled for refuge, fastening every entrance securely behind them. Abimelech himself headed the attack. Being in a frenzy of rage he became regardless of the danger arising from showers of missiles thrown by the besieged. So it happened, that while fighting furiously in the thickest of the crowd, he was struck on the head by an upper millstone כֶּלַח רֶנֶב thrown from a woman’s hand—the hand, the moment, and the instrument, being all determined by the Disposer of all events. The effect was “all to break his skull.” i.e. entirely to break, or crush in his skull. [It is an old English expression]. It was the upper part of a hand-mill that was used, that which revolves when grinding, while the under part is fixed (Deu_24:6; Luk_17:35). It was the work of women to use such a mill. Some supposed they expected to be imprisoned several days in the top flat of the tower, and therefore would need to grind corn. It is singular that the great warrior Pyrrhus met his death in a manner precisely similar; a large tile from the roof of a house being thrown upon him by a poor woman, whose son was engaged in combat with the warrior, and in danger of being slain by him.

At length we see the “violent man’s dealing come down on his own pate.” “The wickedness of the wicked has come to an end.” There lies proud Abimelech, and a woman slew him! This was the last arrow he received from a world which he bitterly hated, and by which in turn he was shunned as a demon in human form. It was to him a small thing to die, but for a man of such lofty pretensions, it was bitter gall to have it said, that a woman slew the proud Abimelech!

How in a moment suddenly

To ruin brought are they!

With fearful terrors utterly

They are consumed away.

Even like unto a dream when one

From sleeping doth arise;

So thou, O Lord, when thou awak’st

Their image shalt despise.

Jdg_9:54-57. His young man thrust him through … and when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, etc.] An incubus was taken off the land. Everyone breathed more freely. Not a single tear was shed. No mourner was anywhere seen. The young man is glad of the opportunity offered to put his master to death (unlike the case of Saul, 1Sa_31:4-5). The men who composed Abimelech’s army will not do another stroke of the bloody work, to which he had called them. The army melted away, and every man went to his own home. We hear nothing of a funeral—nothing of a successor—nothing of a wind-up!—nothing but an ominous pause on earth, and a whisper from Heaven’s Justice saying, “Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren; and all the evil of the men of Shechem, did God render upon their heads; and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.”

What was said of Pope Boniface VIII. might also be set up as a suitable epitaph for this bramble king of Shechem. “He entered the world like a fox, reigned like a lion, and died like a dog.”—(Trapp). O unhappy son of Gideon!—perhaps the child of many prayers, certainly the child of a noble example of parental piety, perhaps the child of many pious counsels, certainly the child of great religious privileges, would that the hand of mercy had placed a protracted sick bed between thee, and the summons to appear before the great Judge, that so an opportunity might have been given for repenting of thy evil deeds, and taking refuge in the “blood which cleanseth from all sin!”

HOMILETICAL SUGGESTIONS.—Jdg_9:22-57

THE TEACHINGS OF A DARK NIGHT IN ISRAEL’S HISTORY

I. God sometimes sends winnowing seasons both on individuals and on communities.

Ordinarily, He is gentle in His providential dealings with men, and for the most part, even under not a few provocations, there is little of the frown on His face, or of the stern in His voice. He would allure, rather than terrify them into repentance. But when they have long made light of sin, and have turned a deaf ear to gentler warnings, at fit seasons He brings influences around them, which thoroughly sift and try their character. Then it is impossible for a man to refrain altogether undiscovered. His arts of concealment will no longer serve his purpose, his heart is stirred as a pool is by the application of a rod, when, from the surface to the bottom, all that it contains is put into a state of agitation. Circumstances in Providence ferment round a man, and he is shaken and tossed as the leaf in the wind, so that he is obliged to appear exactly as he is. The false is then discovered from the true, and what is false in any character is detected as well as what is genuine.

So it was with the Israelites as a community, at different periods of their history; so it was with Gideon; so with Abimelech, and with the men of Shechem. This is one of those lines of practical instruction, which God keeps up in every history from age to age, whether of individuals, or of communities. To bring out men’s characters, and show what they are, when exposed to different fires as tests, is one of the great moral uses of such history as is contained in the word of God.

Winnowing seasons are intended not only to reveal what is chaff, but to clear it away. Such a history as that of Abimelech resembles the raging whirlwind, which, however destructive it may seem, has usually the effect of clearing a stagnant atmosphere. It is God’s voice saying solemnly, “Stand in awe and sin not. Woe to the wicked man! for it shall be ill with him.” It is another kind of rod, that God takes into His hand to chastise His people, besides the Moabites or Midianites.

II. The importance of choosing a right King.

(1.) It was important for Israel now. While Gideon ruled as a “judge” the “peace of the nation flowed as a river, and its righteousness as the waves of the sea.” But when Abimelech was chosen to occupy the place of power, the wheels went rapidly backwards, and at last by leaps and bounds rolled downhill. A greater mistake could not have been committed, than to choose a fellow mortal to be their king at all, when the King Eternal Himself so graciously condescended to single out this people from all the people of the earth to reign over them. But when they did commit this sin, and cast a slight on the wonderful love of their God, they were punished by being left to choose the worst man in all Israel to occupy that position. “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is the reproach of any people.”

(2.) It was so in their after history. In the days when kings ruled over Israel and Judah, the colour of the history was uniformly given by the character of the king. When a certain king ascended the throne, and we read, that “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” we uniformly find that the state of things prospered in the land. But when we read, that “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,” all things begin to go against him. The sovereign in those days had it in his power to give a tone to society, which none but a despot can wield now. Society then for the most part followed the example of him who reigned over it. But there was in the case of the chosen people another reason. The King was held to represent the people, so that what he was, and did, the people were reckoned to be and to do. Hence we see in one reign the country going to ruin under Saul, and in the very next rising under David to the very climax of its greatness.

(3.) It is important for any people. In England, we see the Queen of the freest and most enterprising people on the face of the globe, after the long test of fifty years’ rule, retaining as much of the love and loyalty of her subjects as she did on the day when first they hailed her as sovereign; and this, notwithstanding the fact, that the intellectual forces were never more strongly brought into collision than during her reign. While something certainly is due to the excellent constitution of the realm, by which the sovereign is exempted from the responsibility of guiding the legislation of the nation, not a little also, is due to the wise, benevolent, and virtuous character of the Sovereign herself.

(4.) And there is a King in Zion, who has seen not one jubilee only, but all the jubilees that are contained in eighteen centuries, and who will see all that are to come through unending time. The Church of God has an everlasting King, to whom she owes all her vital energy, her survival from a thousand dangers, and her future prosperity, until she become a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Jesus is, under the Gospel, the rightful King of all individual hearts, and they are wise indeed who allow Him to reign alike over their thoughts, words, and deeds. Where He is allowed to reign, there order, Heaven’s first law, is set up, peace with God is established, peace of conscience is enjoyed, and the joy of the Holy Ghost is the happy atmosphere breathed by the soul. Every man’s heart is the chosen seat of Government for this King, and from that centre, He desires to rule the whole life.

III. God’s delay in punishing high-handed sin.

Why should three years be allowed to pass, ere such outrageous conduct received the punishment it deserved? The principle of instant retribution for offences committed against the laws of righteousness, under the government of a holy and righteous God, certainly seems the most natural. We see it in the remark which Shimei’s conduct called forth from Abishai to David, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.” Such is the instinct of many. And the first threatening uttered by the Lawgiver against the first sin, required instant execution of the penalty on the head of the offender. “In the day thou eatest, thou shalt surely die.” That moment the sense of moral turpitude was felt for the first time, separation took place between man and his God, and his body became mortal. But here, as on so many occasions, judgment is deferred. The sun does not cease to shine, nor do Heaven’s lightnings flash out against the perpetrator of so many awful murders, but, for three long years, he is permitted to walk the earth, while Heaven’s thunders sleep, and he is not consumed.

Two important principles are illustrated by this delay—

1. Without such delay moral government could not be carried on. Moral government requires that there be the fullest liberty for the exercise of the will allowed to the subject of moral rule. Were the transgressor always to be cut down at the moment of transgression, there could be no further opportunity for moral dealing with him. And as the whole race of men have within them a tendency to depart from God, and offend against the laws of His government, in one short hour their history would, on this principle, come to an end. For the tendency to violate the laws of God would certainly show itself, and on every occasion it did death must happen, so that in one day the world would be swept clear of its inhabitants. Besides, were man always to be punished with death for his first sin, there would be no opportunity of bringing out his character on all its sides, and under every variety of circumstance. Farther, if a man saw that for the first known sin he might commit the certain consequence would be death, he would be put under a system of terrorism as to his obedience, which would destroy all liberty of action, and it would not be known what his character really was, until he were left free to act according to his own disposition.

2. This delay shows God’s unwillingness that men should perish. If it were a pleasure to Him to inflict death on the wicked, we might suppose He would make haste, on the commission of sin, always to carry out the sentence. Had even His love for men been according to an ordinary standard, and measurable by a man’s conception, we might suppose, that the heinous character of several sins would be such, as to provoke the offended Lawgiver to send swift and condign punishment on the heads of the transgressors, in order to mark His detestation of their sins. But God is so unwilling that men should perish, that He always acts as one reluctant to punish. He delays and defers, and defers and delays, until men begin to think He has forgotten their sins entirely. Though opposed to sin more than light is to darkness, His patience goes far beyond the measure of a man’s forbearance. He never loses the absolute calm of His holy nature. The want of self-government is far beneath the majesty of His august character. “I am God—not man,—therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” That he rises up so slowly to do the work of the Just Judge, proves His reluctance to proceed against the rebel, even when the argument on the side of justice is most strong. It shows that His heart is at the farthest possible remove from taking delight in the death of the sinner, and that no possible motive could induce Him to inflict the penal sentence, except that, on the one hand, justice requires that He should administer to sin what is its due, and on the other, He jealously requires that there should be a full vindication of His own holy and righteous character as the moral Governor of the universe.

IV. God remembers all the sins that wicked men commit.

Though full three years passed since the great crimes were committed, which opened the way for Abimelech’s ascending the throne of at least a part of Israel, nothing had been forgotten by the all-seeing God. Every moment of that time these sins were present to His view, yet He did not depart from the customary method to act with deliberation, in bringing round the time and the manner of the punishment.

Men forget that “with the Lord a thousand years are as one day.” The sins of a man’s whole lifetime are as present to “that faithful witness,” at the last hour of life, as they were at any previous part of it. Sins which he has left fifty years behind him in the past, are as freshly in the presence of Him with whom he has to do, as they were each one at the moment of commission. God says of His backsliding people, “They consider not, that I remember all their wickedness.” This is an element which the wicked too often leave out of consideration. For there is ever a proneness in men to make light of sin, because it is not visibly and solemnly dealt with the moment it is committed. So far however is God from not marking it, that He says even of His own people, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond” (Jer_17:1). It is impossible that sin can ever fall into oblivion, until satisfaction is given for it. No man is safe from the sins he committed many years ago, on the ground that possibly they may now be forgotten. Not a single sin can be forgotten, until it is solemnly dealt with, and due atonement made.

For the final account, God will bring every secret work and thought into judgment. And to represent the accuracy and particularity with which the process shall be gone through, we are told there are “Books of remembrance” which shall be opened, and every man shall be dealt with according to what is found written in the Books. It will then be seen, that “God requireth that which is past.” Not only the acts of the life, but the springs of character in the thoughts, volitions and purposes of the inner man—all the lines of a man’s conduct, beginning with his motives and aims, his judgments and decisions, and going out to the spirit which he displayed, the principles on which he acted, and the whole course of life which he led. It is clear, therefore, that no sinful man can build any hope of deliverance from condemnation on the ground, that any of his past sins may become forgotten through lapse of time. Unless some abnormally great and solemn transaction should take place before the end of life, he will to a certainty find all the sins of his life then meeting him, in the same measure of guilt they had when they were committed (Ecc_12:14; Psa_50:21; Rom_2:16; Psa_90:8).

What a relief from anxiety does the Gospel message bring at this point. For 1500 years the atoning victim was laid on the altar year by year, showing that there was still a remembrance of sins. At last came “the Lamb of God which bore away the sin of the world.” “Christ died for our sins.” “Now there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” He hath “finished transgression, and made an end of sin.” “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” So great is the change wrought in the condition of those who accept of this solemn method of disposing of their sins, that we read in one place, “In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found again.” “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” And yet again, “They are without fault before the throne of God.”

V. The miseries which befall the wicked come not by chance, but as the result of God’s moral government of the world.

It was not by mere accident, without any directing cause, that a spirit of disaffection rose between the Shechemites and their self-appointed king. It was indeed a natural expectation, when we take the dispositions and proclivities of the parties into account. It was natural that the rule of a man so imperious in will, so selfish in aims, so capricious in tastes, so unprincipled in character, with no relaxation in his rod-of-iron treatment, and nothing benignant, or even tolerant in his bearing, would very soon cool down loyalty in any hearts where it really existed, and, in spite of themselves, the men of Shechem would waken sooner or later to the conviction, that they had been made dupes of by a bold and aspiring man, whom they could neither love nor respect. They saw that he was making use of them as tools, or stepping-ladders, to something higher. For, not content with remaining at home in Shechem, he seems to have been making occasional excursions to other places; and Thebez is mentioned as one of the towns which he had brought under his authority. Hence, among those who elected him king, there would be coldness first, then alienation, and by-and-bye hatred and resentment, with, at last, a desire for revenge. All this was according to the working of natural causes.

But this Book sees God’s hand in everything. So we read that “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.” It is added that there was a special design in view, “that the cruelty done to the sons of Jerubbaal,” &c. This testimony implies, that there was something more than the blind working of natural causes. Overruling these and directing these, was the will of the Supreme Ruler in Providence at work, to fulfil a purpose of retribution on the heads of perpetrators of a great wickedness. We dare not deny to God the character of a Moral Governor, nor His presence in His own works. We cannot resolve the whole course of causes and consequences in the history of this world into a mere system of naturalism, nor can we accept of deism as the true philosophy of God’s relation to man, and at the same time be guided by the teachings of this Book. Scripture uniformly recognises God’s presence among the affairs of men, adjusting the laws so as to reward the righteous, and inflict retribution on the wicked. God could have brought a hundred different issues out of the train of causes that were at work in this history, had it so pleased him. But he arranged to bring about that which did actually happen, that the object might be gained which He intended, in the righteous punishment of evildoers.

VI. Compacts formed in sin are soon broken.

The Shechemites appear to have sworn to Abimelech to be faithful to him as their king, while he on his part engaged to act similarly by them. But, at the time they did so, their hands were reeking with the innocent blood they had shed, and so the compact was formed in sin.

(1.) The curse of the Lord rested on such compact. High-handed sin always brings down the frown of Him who sits on the Throne of Righteousness. When men “walk contrary to Him, He walks contrary to them;” and though they “associate themselves together they shall be broken in pieces; though they take counsel together, it shall come to nought.” “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” “He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” “He is angry with the wicked every day.”

(2.) There is no principle in such compact which conscience can respect. None of these wicked men could respect either themselves, or each other, for the revolting act of wickedness of which they were guilty, in having slain the seventy innocent sons of Jerubbaal. On the contrary, conscience, as the “domestic chaplain” of the soul [Trapp], in so far as he was allowed to utter his voice, must have loudly condemned the iniquity, and this must have led to mutual recrimination against one another. It must indeed have produced the constant risk of an explosion, conscience acting as a sort of dynamitard in the camp. Or, if conscience were seared and practically inoperative among them, then there was no principle of right to hold them to their compact; conscience being the faculty which acknowledges the existence of what is right and what is wrong. But when the sense of doing what is right is taken away, where is the security for continuing faithful to the compact?

(3.) Among wicked associations there is no real cohesive power. The parties here concerned, both the man who aspired to be king and those who agreed to elect him to that high office, knew that this was an open act of rebellion against that God who was already King of Israel, and who wished none other to usurp the seat. And there was the terrible aggravation of this sin, in the previous massacre. What then could have led them to associate together to gain such an end? It could not possibly have been any desire thereby to promote the good of the commonwealth. It could only have been some selfish and interested purposes of their own which they believed would thereby be served. Abimelech was a man of unbounded ambition, and seemed to have no thoughts but those of self-aggrandisement. The men of Shechem were nothing to him but tools to serve his purpose. They, on the other hand, thought they saw in Abimelech one who might form a suitable rallying point for the scattered tribes of Israel, and one who, by uniting all the people, and going out before them to fight their battles, might make them become respected all around, as one of the great nations of the earth—Shechem being the capital city. It was an additional consideration to this, that he had destroyed the house of Jerrubbaal, who was the destroyer of their god. And still further they said of Abimelech, “Is he not our brother—of our own stock, and a young man of excellent promise?”

In all this banding, together there was no real cohesive power. The motives of the respective parties were not only not the same, but were strongly in conflict; and each party had but to come to see in actual history what the aims of the other were, in order to become at once jealous, and suspicious of deceit being practised by their partners in the compact. What cared Abimelech for the feelings and interests of the men of Shechem, if only his iron will were fully carried out among them. Was not he their master, and was not their whole purpose in life summed up simply in obeying the king? Let any one tremble if he should dare to think otherwise. Such was the spirit of the ruler. Those who had chosen him to the office felt that they were as birds caught in a snare. Their eyes were opened to the fact, that, in place of being exalted in station, and realising a new golden age of their history as a people, they had come under a reign of terror, and had sunk to the position of slaves, to be trodden under foot and made to do all kinds of drudgery at the will of a capricious despot. Here, surely, was nothing that was attractive, but everything that was repellent.

So is it universally among the wicked—there is no proper cohesive power. We cannot accept the line of the poet as correct—

“Devil with devil damn’d firm concord holds.”

The only point in which the wicked entirely agree is, their common hatred of what is good. Pilate and Herod for once agreed, when they both had occasion to oppose the Saviour. The nations around Israel were as a rule ever quarrelling with each other, until some one of them began to oppose Israel, when quickly the others joined with them (Psalms 83). The wicked are in their very nature selfish, proud, jealous, full of envy, covetousness, malice, and evil lusts and passions, which could not fail to break up and disintegrate their unions more or less.

(4.) Where there is no strongly uniting force, men’s fickleness tends to break up compacts. Nothing is more capricious than the human will, when left entirely without the restraint of right principle. All history proves it. We see it in the treatment given by the populace of the Grecian States to their heroes in the field, or their wise men of the senate or the schools, who were half worshipped by them to-day; yet to-morrow, for some freak of the popular will, were either banished their country, or had a deep brand of odium affixed to their names. It is not without reason that our essayist has said—“The head that to-day grows giddy with the roar of the million has the very next been fixed on a pole.” Nearly all Oriental history proves it, portions of Roman history, portions of the history of nearly all the other countries of Europe, and especially France, exemplify it; nor do we except certain periods of our own English history.

VII. Our idols often prove our scourges.

The men of Shechem were at first hero-worshippers of Abimelech, in which they grievously sinned, when they made him king in place of Jehovah. Now Abimelech becomes their scourge in the terrible tragedy here recorded (Jer_2:19; Pro_1:31). Thus David found it with Absalom and Adonijah; Jacob, for many years with Joseph; Jehoshaphat with Ahab; and the Israelites, with several heathen nations with whom they intermarried and had too friendly relations.

VIII. Men are often called to read their sin in their punishment.

(1.) Abimelech rose to influence by putting forth false claims as an adventurer, and now it is by the setting forth of the false claims of another adventurer (Gaal), that the standard of revolt is raised against his authority.

(2.) In the house where he found the money, that enabled him to carry into execution the awful deed which left his way free to ascend the throne, his subjects met to pour curses on his head, and to plot his ruin.

(3) The man who made it his boast to say, “My father was a king,” is at last rejected by his votaries for one who was the son of a slave (Ebed means a slave).

(4.) By a woman he rose to power (his mother; when the Shechemites said. “He is our brother”) and by a woman he met his death.

(5.) He slew all his brothers on one stone, and now by means of one stone he is slain.

(6.) He sinned so much, that he might get the crown set on his head, and now he dies through his head being crushed.

(7.) His grand ambition was, that his name might go down to posterity as Abimelech the Invincible,” and yet the last thing the world hears of him is, ‘A woman slew him.”

IX. All the wicked’s confidences are refuges of lies.

The men of Shechem who swore to be faithful to the upstart king, soon rebelled against him in a body, and followed another adventurer—Zebul the ruler of the city, was the only friend that stuck to his master, and he appears to have acted from selfish motives. The men of the tower were against him. The people of Thebez to a man rose against him. And the very men who followed him did so through fear; for, the moment he breathed his last, every man threw down his sword and retired to his home; while the body of their chief was left to the vultures, and his name to the execration of posterity. (Psa_37:35; Jonah 2)

How different the confidence of the righteous! (Isa_57:2; Isa_26:3-4; Psa_112:7; Psa_125:1; Isa_33:15-16).

X. The wicked are often employed to be the instruments of inflicting the punishment of their sins on each other.

Thus it was conspicuously here, in the case of the men of Shechem and their so-called king. Thus it has been in nearly all ages, in the wars which one nation has had with another. How often, too, in Scripture history do we read of the king of Babylon at one time, of Nineveh at another, or of Egypt at still another, being employed by the Governor among the nations, to punish this or that people for their long-continued wickedness in the sight of high Heaven! The wars of the Saracens and Crusaders, the descent of the Turkish hordes from the heights of Central Asia, on the west of Asia, and the east of Europe, and the wars of ancient Rome, when the Cæsars conquered all the west, the north, and the east of Europe, and the wars, too, which led to the fall of the Roman empire by the inrushing of Goths, Huns, and Vandals from all parts of the north, for the destruction of the city that had so long sinned, are examples.

It is on the same principle, that the evil angels are said to be the instruments of inflicting wrath on the wicked. They brought the plagues on Egypt (Psa_78:49); perhaps they brought the flood on the old world; some suppose they brought the hail, the lightning, and the hornet on the Canaanites for their destruction; also they destroyed the property of the Gadarenes by entering into the swine; Satan himself is said to have the power of inflicting death on mankind as God’s messenger (Heb_2:14)—he is the “spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph_2:2), and these are “led captive by him at his will” (2Ti_2:26).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Discord between Abimelech and Shechem. The intrigue of Gaal.

Jdg_9:22-30.

22When [And] Abimelech had [omit: had] reigned [held sway] three years over 23Israel, [.] Then [And] God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men [lords] of Shechem; and the men [lords] of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: 24That the cruelty [violence] done to the three-score and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother which slew them, and upon the men [lords] of Shechem which aided him [strengthened his hands] in [for] the killing of his brethren. 25And the men [lords] of Shechem set liers in wait [ambuscades] for14 him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. 26And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren [on an expedition], and went over to [passed over into] Shechem: and the men [lords] of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards [held vintage], and trode the grapes, and made merry [prepared harvest-feasts], and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the [a] son of Jerubbaal? and [is not] Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?15 29And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. 30And he said to Abimelech, Increase16 thine army, and come out. And when [omit: when] Zebul the ruler [prefect] of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, [and] his anger was kindled.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[1 Jdg_9:25.—לוֹ. Keil: ‘Dat. incommodi; to his disadvantage.” Cf. the Commentary.—Tr.]

[2 Jdg_9:28.—De Wette: “Why should we serve him, we?” The position of אֲנָחְנוּ at the end of the sentence, marks the speaker’s indignation at the thought of Shechem’s serving a son of Jerubbaal.—Tr.]

[3 Jdg_9:29.—The pronunciation רַבֶּה (with seghol) is perhaps designed to give to the imperative piel form the strengthening effect of the ending ־ָה found with the other imperative (וָצֵאָה), but of which לה״ verbs do not admit. Cf. Ewald, Gram. p. 511, note.—Tr.]

EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL

Jdg_9:22. And Abimelech held sway. The narrator says not, “he reigned” (מָלַךְ), nor “he ruled” (מָשַׁל), but וַיָּשַׂר: Abimelech was nothing but a שַׂר. He is not acknowledged either as a rightful king, or as a military chieftain of Israel: he is only a usurper, whom his adherents have clothed with arrogated power. And though his authority is said to have been “over Israel,” this does not mean that it extended over the whole nation. The history shows that his authority did not extend beyond the narrow circle of the mountains of Ephraim. Deference and consideration were doubtless paid him in more extended regions, for these no fait accompli, whether it be good or evil, ever fails to command.

Jdg_9:23. And God sent an evil spirit. Friendship among the wicked is only a league of vice against others. In itself it cannot stand. Wickedness, says Hesiod, prepares its own punishment. Abimelech, it seems, ruled three years in peace. Plutarch, in his noble treatise on the purposes of the Deity in so often delaying the retribution due to crime, finds the ground of it in the wisdom of Providence, which knows the opportune moment for punishment. Here, as in other passages where he speaks of unholy men, our narrator names the recompensing deity Elohim, not Jehovah. Elohim sends the evil spirit of discord among them; for the undeviating law by which sin punishes itself, is grounded in the very nature of the Deity. It would be the destruction of the justice and truth of the divine government, if worthlessness escaped its recompense. The moral universe is so constituted as to ensure evil fruits to evil deeds. The experience which here presents itself is one of the most common in the history of states and individuals. It is the type of all unnatural conspiracies against right, and of their issue. It is moreover demonstrative of the perfect clearness with which the divine government of the world is apprehended in the Book of Judges, that the falling out of vice with itself, and the stopping up by wickedness of the natural sources of its own advantage, are represented as the action of an evil spirit sent by Elohim.17 Shechem now seeks to deal with Abimelech, as heretofore it helped him to deal with the sons of Gideon. Treason began, and treason ends, the catastrophe.

Jdg_9:24. That the violence .… might come home. The twofold expression of the thought, first by לָבוֹא, and then by לָשׂוּם, serves to give it emphasis. The whole history is related so fully, only to show Israel that there is such a thing as retributive justice,—that sin bears its guilt and punishment. Blood comes home to murderers as guilt. Who did ever experience this more terribly than Israel itself, when it slew Him who was more than Gideon and his sons! That which this narrative exhibits as coming on Abimelech and Shechem in the course of three years, the history of the world, has manifestly fulfilled through centuries on those who cried, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Both are punished, Abimelech and Shechem; for both are equally guilty. So likewise both Jerusalem suffered, and the empire by which Pilate was appointed.

Jdg_9:25. And they laid ambuscades for him. What it was that gave immediate occasion for discord, is not communicated. But Shechem found that it had deceived itself, in thinking that Abimelech’s elevation would make itself the virtual ruler. It had fallen into the hands of an iron despot, against whom the cowardly and pleasure-loving Shechemites did not dare openly to rise. They resorted therefore to underhanded stratagems to make him odious. For the robberies committed from places of concealment become perfectly intelligible, and fall moreover into harmonious connection with the expression “וַיִּבְגְּדוּ, they dealt treacherously” (Jdg_9:23), when they are regarded as carried on by the Shechemites, but in such a manner as to make them appear to be ordered or instigated by Abimelech. Through them he had become a murderer; they would now make him seem to be a robber and highwayman. But Abimelech received intelligence of the deception. Henceforth, the peace between them was broken; and people such as are here portrayed, know very well that now it is time to be on their guard against each other.

Jdg_9:26-28. And Gaal Ben-Ebed came. An adventurer, probably a Shechemite, whose name18 perhaps already expresses the popular contempt into which the braggart subsequently fell, having come to the city with his followers, the Shechemites thought that in him they had found a party-leader who could protect them against Abimelech. Accordingly, they held their vintage, celebrated their harvest-home with songs of rejoicing (הלּוּלִים), and then observed the customary sacrificial banquet in the temple of their god. The narrative seeks to exhibit the dramatic contrast between the present jubilant enjoyment and the approaching terrible issue, the present boldness and the subsequent cowardice, the passing luxury and the impending death and destruction. Such sacrificial feasts, particularly as connected with the temple of the “Covenant-God,” were also known elsewhere (cf. Dion. Halicarn. vi. 25, on the “covenant-feast” at Ephesus; cf. K. F. Hermann, R. A. der Griechen, ed. Stark. § 66, 4). Among all nations, says Athenæus (lib. v. p. 192), every meal was referred to God, and He was honored with song and praise. But these feasters in the temple at Shechem had no thought of religion. To them applies what Plutarch says, in the introduction to his Symposium: “when barbarity and immorality betake themselves to wine, the banquet comes to a disastrous end.” The fumes of wine make these men rash and thoughtless. That which they had hitherto kept secret, they now divulge. Maledictions against Abimelech make themselves heard. The scene enables us to estimate aright the political wisdom of the Corinthian Tyrant Periander, when he forbade social feasts to his opponents. The speech of the poltroon Gaal is especially remarkable. The episode in which the narrator acquaints us with the divine judgment on Abimelech, affords at the same time a glance into the hidden springs of political life in a city like Shechem.

Let us serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. The apostasy of Israel, after the death of Gideon, in Shechem took the form of a covenant entered into with the remaining heathen. The contrast between heathenism and the religious life of Israel was founded in the existence and the characters of national and local idol gods over against the true God of Israel. The covenant between the heathen and the apostate Israelites in Shechem, found its expression in the election of Abimelech as king, on the ground that on the one hand he was Shechem’s brother, and on the other Gideon’s son. This covenant now breaks up. The wine-heated Gaal pronounces the word: even Abimelech is still too much of Israel. “By what right,” he says, “does Abimelech command our homage? Is he not always still a son of Jerubbaal, the enemy of our god?” The reaction of heathenism must be made complete. Shechem must hold fast to its own ancestors. The families who trace their descent from the heathen Hamor (Genesis 34) i.e. those who desire to banish all Israelitish traditions, must be the masters! The offspring of Hamor, the heathen progenitor, must not serve the descendants of Jacob! When the Tyrant of Sicyon19 sought to throw off the influence of Argos, he expelled from the city the worship of Adrastus, the primitive Argive hero. That was his way of declaring himself independent.

Is he not a son of Jerubbaal? and is not Zebul his overseer? Zebul, who in Jdg_9:30 is called the “prefect of the city,” was not of the party who now feasted. He evidently belonged to the Israelites, who, though they had made a covenant with the heathenism of Shechem, were not willing to serve the children of Hamor. He belonged to the upper families of the city; and Gaal in his drunken audacity, discloses the idea that he also must be overthrown, “because Abimelech’s tool.”

Jdg_9:29-30. Verse 29 gives the further speech of Gaal in a very vivid and forcible manner. “O that some one would give this people into my hands! then would I quickly remove Abimelech! That is directed against Zebul. What Gaal means, is, that if he were prefect of the city, as Zebul is, he would make short work with Abimelech.

And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. Gaal does not actually say this to Abimelech, nor does he cause it to be said to him, as many expositors think, for Abimelech hears of it for the first time through Zebul. It is only an animated apostrophe to Abimelech, in which Gaal boastingly challenges Abimelech to prepare himself as if he were present. The inhabitants of Shechem, between their potations, doubtless applauded Gaal, which had the usual effect of emboldening the wine-heated orator. But this drunken jubilation resulted in the ruin of Shechem; for it reached the ears of Zebul. His anger kindled; for his own overthrow, he learned, was to be connected with that of Abimelech.

The narrative, in its admirable simplicity, allows us clearly to trace the advancing progress of that fatal destiny, in which secret treachery and open dissipation, boasting and jealousy, conspire together to precipitate a righteous doom upon the city.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

[Bp. Hall: The prosperity of the wicked is but short and fickle. A stolen crown, though it may look fair, cannot be made of any but brittle stuff. All life is uncertain; but wickedness overruns nature.—The same: It had been pity that the Shechemites should have been plagued by any other hand than Abimelech’s. They raised him unjustly to the throne; they are the first that feel the weight of his sceptre. The foolish bird limes herself with that which grew from her own excretion. Who wonders to see the kind peasant stung with his own snake?—The same: How could Abimelech hope for fidelity of them, whom he had made and found traitors to his father’s blood? No man knows how to be sure of him that is unconscionable. He that hath been unfaithful to one, knows the way to be perfidious, and is only fit for his trust that is worthy to be deceived; whereas faithfulness, beside the present good, lays a ground of further assurance. The friendship that is begun in evil cannot stand: wickedness, both of its own nature and through the curse of God, is ever unsteady.—The same: If the men of Shechem had abandoned their false god with their false king, and out of a serious remorse and desire of satisfaction for their idolatry and blood, had opposed this tyrant, and preferred Jotham to his throne, there might have been both warrant for their quarrel, and hope of success; but now, if Abimelech be a wicked usurper, yet the Shechemites are idolatrous traitors.—The same: When the quarrel is betwixt God and Satan, there is no doubt of the issue; but when one devil fights with another, what certainty is there of the victory?—Tr.]

Footnotes:

[14][Jdg_9:25.—לוֹ. Keil: ‘Dat. incommodi; to his disadvantage.” Cf. the Commentary.—Tr.]

[15][Jdg_9:28.—De Wette: “Why should we serve him, we?” The position of אֲנָחְנוּ at the end of the sentence, marks the speaker’s indignation at the thought of Shechem’s serving a son of Jerubbaal.—Tr.]

[16][Jdg_9:29.—The pronunciation רַבֶּה (with seghol) is perhaps designed to give to the imperative piel form the strengthening effect of the ending ־ָה found with the other imperative (וָצֵאָה), but of which לה״ verbs do not admit. Cf. Ewald, Gram. p. 511, note.—Tr.]

[17]“A something is meant which operates upon the intellectual nature (das Geistige Wesen) of man; therefore, neither a disposition, nor yet a demon.” Hoffmann, Schrift beweis, i. 109.

[18][The author, by writing Ben (Ebed) instead of translating it as he did in the text, seems to intimate that the whole name, Gaal Ben-Ebed, was perhaps the expression of subsequent contempt. Gaal, from גָּעַל, to abhor, to loathe, means loathing, Gesenius, Lex.; Ben-Ebed, Son of a Slave. Cf. Jdg_9:18, where Jotham speaks of Abimelech as a son of Gideon’s bondwoman.—Tr.]

[19][Clisthenes. See Herod., v. 67, and Grote, Hist. of Greece, iii. 33, seq.—Tr.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Three years Abimelech reigned, after a sort, without any disturbance; it is not said, He judged Israel, or did any service at all to his country, but so long he enjoyed the title and dignity of a king; and not only the Shechemites, but many other places, paid him respect. They must have been fond of a king that could please themselves with such a one as this. But the triumphing of the wicked is short. Within three years, as the years of a hireling, all this glory shall be contemned, and laid in the dust, Isa 16:14. The ruin of these confederates in wickedness was from the righteous hand of the God to whom vengeance belongs. He sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Jdg 9:23), that is, they grew jealous one of another and ill-affected one to another. He slighted those that set him up, and perhaps countenanced other cities which now began to come into his interests more than he did theirs; and then they grew uneasy at his government, blamed his conduct, and quarrelled at his impositions. This was from God. He permitted the devil, that great mischief-maker, to sow discord between them, and he is an evil spirit, whom God not only keeps under his check, but sometimes serves his own purposes by. Their own lusts were evil spirits; they are devils in men's own hearts; from them come wars and fightings. These God gave them up to, and so might be said to send the evil spirits between them. When men's sin is made their punishment, though God is not the author of the sin, yet the punishment is from him. The quarrel God had with Abimelech and the Shechemites was for the murder of the sons of Gideon (Jdg 9:24): That the cruelty done to them might come and their blood be laid as a burden upon Abimelech that slew them, and the men of Shechem that helped him. Note, 1. Sooner or later God will make inquisition for blood, innocent blood, and will return it on the heads of those that shed it, who shall have blood given them to drink, for they are worthy. 2. Accessaries shall be reckoned with, as well as principals, in that and other sins. The Shechemites that countenanced Abimelech's pretensions, aided and abetted him in his bloody project, and avowed the fact by making him king after he had done it, must fall with him, fall by him, and fall first. 3. Those that combine together to do wickedly are justly dashed in pieces one against another. Blood cannot be a lasting cement to any interest.

I. The Shechemites began to affront Abimelech, perhaps they scarcely knew why or wherefore, but they were given to change. 1. They dealt treacherously with him, Jdg 9:23. It is not said, They repented of their sin in owning him. Had they done so, it would have been laudable to disown him; but they did it only upon some particular pique conceived against him by their pride or envy. Those that set him up were the first that deserted him and endeavoured to dethrone him. It is not strange that those who were ungrateful to Gideon were unfaithful to Abimelech; for what will hold those that will not be held by the obligation of such merits as Gideon's? Note, It is just with God that those who tempt others to be cone perfidious should afterwards be themselves betrayed by those whom they have taught to be perfidious. 2. They aimed to seize him when he was at Arumah (Jdg 9:41), his country-seat. Expecting him to come to town, they set liers in wait for him (Jdg 9:25), who should make him their prisoner whom they had lately made their prince. Those who were thus posted, he not coming, took the opportunity of robbing travellers, which would help to make the people more and more uneasy under Abimelech, when they saw he could not or would not protect them from highway-men. 3. They entertained one Gaal, and set him up as their head in opposition to Abimelech, Jdg 9:26. This Gaal is said to be the son of Ebed, which signifies a servant, perhaps denoting the meanness of his extraction. As Abimelech was by the mother's side, so he by the father's, the son of a servant. Here was one bramble contesting with another. We have reason to suspect that this Gaal was a native Canaanite, because he courts the Shechemites into subjection to the men of Hamor, who was the ancient lord of this city in Jacob's time. He was a bold ambitious man, served their purpose admirably well when they were disposed to quarrel with Abimelech, and they also served his purpose; so he went over to them to blow the coals, and they put their confidence in him. 4. They did all the despite they could to Abimelech's name, Jdg 9:27. They made themselves very merry in his absence, as those who were glad he was out of the way, and who, now that they had another to head them, were in hopes to get clear of him; nay, they went into the house of their god, to solemnize their feast of in-gathering, and there they did eat, and drink, and cursed Abimelech, not only said all the ill they could of him in their table-talk and the song of their drunkards, but wished all the ill they could to him over their sacrifices, praying to their idol to destroy him. They drank healths to his confusion, and with as loud huzzas as ever they had drunk them to his prosperity. That very temple whence they had fetched money to set him up with did they now meet in to curse him and contrive his ruin. Had they deserted their idol-god with their image-king, they might have hoped to prosper; but, while they still cleave to the former, the latter shall cleave to them to their ruin. How should Satan cast out Satan? 5. They pleased themselves with Gaal's vaunted defiance of Abimelech, Jdg 9:28, Jdg 9:29. They loved to hear that impudent upstart speak scornfully, (1.) Of Abimelech, though calling him in disdain Shechem, or a Shechemite, he reflected upon their own city. (2.) Of his good father likewise, Gideon: Is not he the son of Jerubbaal? So he calls him, perhaps in an impious indignation at his name and memory for throwing down the altar of Baal, turning that to his reproach which was his praise. (3.) Of his prime minister of state, Zebul his officer, and ruler of the city. "We may well be ashamed to serve them, and need not be afraid to oppose them." Men of turbulent ambitious spirits thus despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Gaal aimed not to recover Shechem's liberty, only to change their tyrant: "O that this people were under my hand! What I would do! I would challenge Abimelech to try titles for the crown;" and it should seem he desired his friends to send him word that he was ready to dispute it with him whenever he pleased: "Increase thy army, and come out. Do thy worst; let the point be determined by the sword." This pleased the Shechemites, who were now as sick of Abimelech as ever they had been fond of him. Men of no conscience will be men of no constancy.

II. Abimelech turned all his force upon them, and, in a little time, quite ruined them. Observe the steps of their overthrow.

1. The Shechemites' counsels were betrayed to Abimelech by Zebul his confidant, the ruler of the city, who continued hearty for him. His anger was kindled (Jdg 9:30), and the more because Gaal had spoken slightly of him (Jdg 9:28), for perhaps, if he had complimented and caressed him now that things were in this ferment, he might have gained him to his interest; but he, being disobliged, sends notice to Abimelech of all that was said and done in Shechem against him, Jdg 9:31. Betrayers are often betrayed by some among themselves, and the cursing of the king is sometimes strangely carried by a bird of the air. He prudently advises him to come against the city immediately, and lose no time, Jdg 9:32, Jdg 9:33. He thinks it best that he should march his forces by night into the neighbourhood, surprise the city in the morning, and then make the best of his advantages. How could the Shechemites hope to speed in their attempt when the ruler of their city was in the interests of their enemy? They knew it, and yet took no care to secure him.

2. Gaal, that headed their faction, having been betrayed by Zebul, Abimelech's confidant, was most wretchedly bantered by him. Abimelech, according to Zebul's advice, drew all his forces down upon Shechem by night, Jdg 9:34. Gaal, in the morning, went out to the gate (Jdg 9:35) to see what posture things were in, and to enquire, What news? Zebul, as a ruler of the city, met him there as a friend. Abimelech and his forces beginning to move towards the city, Gaal discovers them (Jdg 9:36), takes notice of their approach to Zebul that was standing with him, little thinking that he had sent for them and was now expecting them. "Look," says he, "do not I see a body of men coming down from the mountain towards us? Yonder they are," pointing to the place. "No, no," says Zebul; "thy eye-sight deceives thee; it is but the shadow of the mountains which thou takest to be an army." By this he intended, (1.) To ridicule him, as a man of no sense or spirit, and therefore very unfit for what he pretended to, as a man that might easily be imposed upon and made to believe any thing, and that was so silly and so cowardly that he apprehended danger where there was none, and was ready to fight with a shadow. (2.) To detain him, and hold him in talk, while the forces of Abimelech were coming up, that thereby they might gain advantage. But when Gaal, being content to believe those he now saw to be but the shadow of the mountains (perhaps the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, which lay close by the city), was undeceived by the discovery of two other companies that marched apace towards the city, then Zebul took another way to banter him, upbraiding him with what he had said but a day or two before, in contempt of Abimelech (Jdg 9:38): Where is now thy mouth, that foul mouth of thine, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech? Note, Proud and haughty people are often made in a little time to change their note, and to dread those whom they had most despised. Gaal had, in a bravado, challenged Abimelech to increase his army and come out; but now Zebul, in Abimelech's name, challenges him: Go out, and fight with them, if thou darest. Justly are the insolent thus insulted over.

3. Abimelech routed Gaal's forces that sallied out of the town, Jdg 9:39, Jdg 9:40. Gaal, disheartened no doubt by Zebul's hectoring him, and perceiving his interest weaker than he thought it was, though he marched out against Abimelech with what little force he had, was soon put to the worst, and obliged to retire into the city with great precipitation. In this action the Shechemites' loss was considerable: Many were overthrown and wounded, the common effect of popular tumults, in which the inconsiderate multitude are often drawn into fatal snare by those that promise them glorious success.

4. Zebul that night expelled Gaal, and the party he had brought with him into Shechem, out of the city (Jdg 9:41), sending him to the place whence he came. For though the generality of the city continued still averse to Abimelech, as appears by the sequel of the story, yet they were willing to part with Gaal, and did not oppose his expulsion, because, though he had talked big, both his skill and courage had failed him when there was occasion for them. Most people judge of men's fitness for business by their success, and he that does not speed well is concluded not to do well. Well, Gaal's interest in Shechem is soon at an end, and he that had talked of removing Abimelech is himself removed, nor do we ever hear of him any more. Exit Gaal - Gaal retires.

5. Abimelech, the next day, set upon the city, and quite destroyed it, for their treacherous dealings with him. Perhaps Abimelech had notice of their expelling Gaal, who had headed the faction, with which they thought he would have been satisfied, but the crime was too keep to be thus atoned for, and his resentments were too keen to be pacified by so small an instance of submission, besides that it was more Zebul's act than theirs; by it their hands were weakened, and therefore he resolved to follow his blow, and effectually to chastise their treachery. (1.) He had intelligence brought him that the people of Shechem had come out into the field, Jdg 9:42. Some think into the field of business to plough and sow (having lately gathered in their harvest), or to perfect their harvest, for it was only their vintage that they had made an end of (Jdg 9:27), and then it intimates that they were secure. And because Abimelech had retired (Jdg 9:41) they thought themselves in no danger from him, and then the issue of it is an instance of sudden destruction coming upon those that cry, Peace and safety. Others think they went out into the field of battle; though Gaal was driven out, they would not lay down their arms, but put themselves into a posture for another engagement with Abimelech, in which they hoped to retrieve what they had lost the day before, (2.) He himself, with a strong detachment, cut off the communication between them and the city, stood in the entering of the gate (Jdg 9:44), that they might neither make their retreat into the city nor receive any succours from the city, and then sent two companies of his men, who were too strong for them, and they put them all to the sword, ran upon those that were in the fields and slew them. When we go out about our business we are not sure that we shall come home again; there are deaths both in the city and in the field. (3.) He then fell upon the city itself, and, with a rage reaching up to heaven, though it was the place of his nativity, laid it in ruins, slew all the people, beat down all the buildings, and, in token of his desire that it might be a perpetual desolation, sowed it with salt, that it might remain a lasting monument of the punishment of perfidiousness. Yet Abimelech prevailed not to make its desolations perpetual; for it was afterwards rebuilt, and became so considerable a place that all Israel came thither to make Rehoboam king, Kg1 12:1. And the place proved an ill omen. Abimelech intended hereby to punish the Shechemites for their serving him formerly in the murder of Gideon's sons. Thus, when God makes use of men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing and they another, Isa 10:6, Isa 10:7. They design to maintain their honour, but God to maintain his.

6. Those that retired into a strong-hold of their idol-temple were all destroyed there. These are called the men of the tower of Shechem (Jdg 9:46, Jdg 9:47), some castle that belonged to the city, but lay at some distance from it. They, hearing of the destruction of the city, withdrew into a hold of the temple, trusting, it is likely, not so much to its strength as to its sanctity; they put themselves under the protection of their idol: for thus all people will walk in the name of their god, and shall not we then choose to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life? For in the time of trouble he shall hide us in his pavilion, Psa 27:5. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, Pro 18:10. But that which they hoped would be for their welfare proved to them a snare and a trap, as those will certainly find that run to idols for shelter; it will prove a refuge of lies. When Abimelech had them altogether penned up in that hold he desired no more. That barbarous project immediately came into his head of setting fire to the strong-hold, and, so to speak, burning all the birds together in the nest. He kept the design to himself, but set all his men on work to expedite the execution of it, Jdg 9:48, Jdg 9:49. He ordered them all to follow him, and do as he did: as his father had said to his men (Jdg 7:17), Look on me, and do likewise; so saith he to his, as becomes a general that will not be wanting to give both the plainest direction and the highest encouragement that can be to his soldiers: What you have seen me do make haste to do, as I have done. Not Ite illuc - Go thither; but Venite huc - Come hither. The officers in Christ's army should thus teach by their example, Phi 4:9. He and they fetched each of them a bough from a wood not far off, laid all their boughs together under the wall of this tower, which it is probable was of wood, set fire to their boughs, and so burnt down their hold and all that were in it, who were either burnt or stifled with the smoke. What inventions men have to destroy one another! Whence come these cruel wars and fightings but from their lusts? Some think that the men of the tower of Shechem were the same with the house of Millo, and then Jotham's just imprecation was answered in the letter: Let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour not only in general the men of Shechem, but in particular the house of Millo, Jdg 9:20. About 1000 men and women perished in these flames, many of whom, it is probable, were no way concerned in the quarrel between Abimelech and the Shechemites, nor meddled with either side, yet, in this civil war, they came to this miserable end; for men of factious turbulent spirits perish not alone in their iniquity, but involve many more, that follow them in their simplicity, in the same calamity with them.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(22) Had reigned.—The verb is here sûr, not malak, as in Jdg_9:6; but whether the change of word is meant to be significant we cannot say.

Over Israel—i.e., over all the Israelites who would accept his authority—mainly the central tribes.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22–25. The Shechemites turn against Abimelech

22. was prince over Israel] Strictly, as the whole ch. implies, only over Shechem and its neighbourhood (Ophrah, Thebez). The words are an editorial generalization. The title of king is purposely avoided.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel. The people in general consenting to what the men of Shechem had done, at least not opposing it, all being desirous of a king, and therefore put up with a mean person, rather than have none; though it is amazing they should, and that they had not rose up as one man against Abimelech, and avenged the blood of the sons of Gideon, who had been so useful and serviceable to them; it is indeed said that he reigned over all Israel, and his reign, such as it was, was very short, as is often the case with wicked princes.

When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel. The people in general consenting to what the men of Shechem had done, at least not opposing it, all being desirous of a king, and therefore put up with a mean person, rather than have none; though it is amazing they should, and that they had not rose up as one man against Abimelech, and avenged the blood of the sons of Gideon, who had been so useful and serviceable to them; it is indeed said that he reigned over all Israel, and his reign, such as it was, was very short, as is often the case with wicked princes.

Judges 9:23

jdg 9:23

jdg 9:23

jdg 9:23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem,.... Permitted, yea, gave a commission to Satan, the evil spirit, to go among them, who stirred up suspicions, jealousies, hatred, and ill will to one another, and sowed the seeds of discord and contention among them; or God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, to think ill of one another, grow jealous, and meditate revenge:

and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech; did not openly declare their minds, but secretly conspired against him, and privately consulted ways to find means to get rid of him, and shake off his government.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Had reigned - Rather, “had ruled.” It is not the phrase used in Jdg 9:6. It looks as if the Shechemites alone had made him king, and the rest of Israel had submitted to his dominion, without allowing his title of king.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For though the men of Shechem were the first authors of Abimelech’s advancement, it is more than probable that the rest of the people easily consented to that form of government which they so much desired; or, at least, made no resistance against it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Had reigned. The Hebrew word here used is quite a different one from that in vers. 8, 10, 12, 14, and elsewhere, where the reign of a king is designated. It means to exercise dominion, to be a chief or captain over a people. The use of it here suggests that though, as we read in ver. 6, the Canaanite men of Shechem and the house of Millo had made him their king, yet he was not made king by the tribes in general, only he exercised a kind of dominion over them, or over a sufficiently large portion of them to warrant their being called Israel.

Vers. 22-57. Be sure your sin will find you out.

We are living under the government of God, and though many things happen in the world which seem strange and inexplicable to us upon the theory of God"s righteous rule over mankind, yet we have but to be patient, and to observe impartially the end of things, in order to see by many infallible proofs that God is good to those who are of a clean heart, and that the end of the ungodly is that they shall perish. Nor can we afford to lose the evidences of God"s righteous judgment. The immediate present fills such a large space in our view; ungodly mirth, successful wickedness, prosperous iniquity, bold blasphemy, the triumphs of sin, the rewards of selfishness, the impunity of evil livers, parade themselves so ostentatiously in the world, that the steps of our faith in God might easily slip if we did not keep steadily in mind the lessons taught us by the providence as well as by the word of God. Now it may be safely affirmed that the whole course of this world presents to the impartial observer continuous evidence that "the way of transgressors is hard," and that "there is no peace to the wicked;" while, on the contrary, the "way of the lust is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." It is quite true that this evidence is from time to time, as it were, crossed and checked in its flow by puzzling phenomena of a different character. But just as the ebbing or flowing tide is apparently interrupted by single waves which exceed or fall short of their expected place, and yet for all that is steadily receding or advancing; or as the temperature of the advancing spring for a time declines, or that of the advancing autumn increases, and yet a sure advance is being made towards summer heat or winter cold, so it is with the righteous judgment of God. Under it, in spite of apparent exceptions and temporary diversions, the righteous are advancing in the way of peace, and the ungodly are bringing upon themselves a righteous retribution. Fasten the eyes of your mind then upon these truths; observe them working themselves out in the daily lives of men before your eyes, and in the career of nations as delineated in the page of history. See how the sins of a man are continually finding him out in the most unexpected ways, and at the most unexpected times. Mark how evil deeds, unpunished at the time, nay, apparently successful, forgotten by the doer, and thought by him to be for ever passed away, yet come back to him, stand in his way, become thorns in his sides, frustrate his hopes, mar all his purposes, break out into deadly consequences, cast a dark shadow upon his life. Look at the life of nations. The barbarians of the North avenging the abominations of imperial Rome; the Turkish empire withering away because of its bloody deeds, its cruel oppressions, its detestable sensualities; the expulsion of the Jews; the wrongs of the Indians; the butcheries of the Inquisition, still wasting away the life and power of Spain; the French nation, receiving in bloody revolutions and still more bloody wars the just reward of the adulteries and unblushing vices of her monarchs and nobles: and, most striking of all, the Jewish race, suffering through eighteen centuries of slaughter and pillage and persecution and wandering, without a home and without a country, the vengeance which they called down upon themselves for the blood of the Son of God, whom they crucified and slew. Or learn the same lesson in another way. Observe how in the very nature of things the tendency of wickedness is to defeat its own ends, and to bring sorrow upon them that work wickedness. The successful lie when found out works distrust and suspicion in all with whom a man has to do. The deed of violence and blood arouses hatred and abhorrence in the breasts of those cognisant of it. The act of unscrupulous power awakens fear and jealousy and resentment in the beholders. The wrongs of women raise up avengers among men. The avarice which plunders and wrings treasures from their possessors leaves a sting of resentment behind it; and when a man has surrounded himself with distrust and suspicion, and hatred and abhorrence, with envies and jealousies, and resentment and fierce revenge, what room is there left for happy enjoyment or quiet possessions? His sin finds him out in the very midst of his success, and he reaps according to what he has sown; so that in the very operation of the natural laws which attach to right and wrong we see the just judgment of God. In the marvellous pages of Holy Scripture these natural lessons are illustrated, exemplified, and enforced with a clearness and a vigour unequalled and unapproached in any writings of man. They culminate in the declaration of the craning of the day of judgment, when God will reward every man according to his works. The observed tendencies of good and evil will then be fully confirmed. Every work will then have its proper recompense of reward: all inequalities will be redressed, the temporary exceptions will disappear, the just procedure will he vindicated to the utmost. In the full court of heaven and earth God will show himself a righteous judge, when all men shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The flood which drowned the world of the ungodly, the fire which burnt up the cities of the plain, the miserable end of the tyrant Abimelech, the dogs which licked the blood of Ahab by the vineyard of Naboth, the flames which devoured the temple at Jerusalem, and the instances which every day brings before us of shame and sorrow springing out of sin, are but prophetic voices, to which we shall do well to take heed. confirming the announcement in the word of God of that great and terrible day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, and will reward every man according to his works

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR. Vers. 22-57. The Nemesis of usurpation.

The quick succession of events shows.that the political situation is one of unstable equilibrium. The movement of affairs is rapid, as if the stage were being cleared for the real and important action that is to follow.

I A NATURAL ELEMENT. The instruments of usurpation soon display their untrustworthy and turbulent character. Their help to Abimelech was chiefly in the interests of disorder. When the hard rule of the tyrant (force of word "reigned") was felt they became restive. The accession to their ranks of Gaal the marauding chieftain gives them the requisite stimulus toward open rebellion. So in time the drunken revels, the highway robberies of Shechem move irresistibly onward toward open revolt, and its consequence, overwhelming destruction. In this way the perpetrators of the coup d"etat are made the agents of the Divine vengeance upon each other. In punishing the rebels a seeming accident made Abimelech the victim of a woman"s hand. Blood for blood. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." The tragic element in human history.

II A DIVINE ORDERING OF EVENTS. So natural does the development of events appear, that there is danger of overlooking the overruling providence of God. What may be termed the "poetic justice" of the political movements of the time and their results renders it impossible to credit the sublimely neutral forces of nature with the working out of the issues. God wrought through the natural forces and the complications of the political sphere. His people have to be led onward in the pathway of national progress and religious illumination, therefore such obstacles must be swept out of the way. Yet all this is consistent with the moral freedom of those whose actions and end are so promotive of the Divine purpose. What was done in one development of events might equally have been secured by another. This principle that "maketh for righteousness" is evident to every careful and devout student of history. It may be detected in the individual private life, and in the history of a nation. How far the evolution of events which we esteem secular and blind is so informed by the Divine purpose we shall not discover in this life. But enough is laid bare to encourage the holy and righteous, and to awaken in the breast of the wicked "a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Over Israel - For though the men of Shechem were the first authors of Abimelech's advancement, the rest of the people easily consented to that form of government which they so much desired.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Abimelech's reign lasted three years. ויּשׂר, from שׂוּר to govern, is used intentionally, as it appears, in the place of ויּמלך, because Abimelech's government was not a monarchical reign, but simply a tyrannical despotism. "Over Israel," that is to say, not over the whole of the twelve tribes of Israel, but only over a portion of the nation, possibly the tribes of Ephraim and half Manasseh, which acknowledged his sway.

Jdg 9:23-24

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, so that they became treacherous towards him. "An evil spirit" is not merely "an evil disposition," but an evil demon, which produced discord and strife, just as an evil spirit came upon Saul (Sa1 16:14-15; Sa1 18:10); not Satan himself, but a supernatural spiritual power which was under his influence. This evil spirit God sent to punish the wickedness of Abimelech and the Shechemites. Elohim, not Jehovah, because the working of the divine justice is referred to here. "That the wickedness to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood (the blood of these sons that had been shed), to lay it upon Abimelech. " "And their blood" is only a more precise definition of "the wickedness to the seventy sons;" and "to lay it" is an explanation of the expression "might come." The introduction of לשׂוּם, however, brings an anakolouthon into the construction, since the transitive שׂוּם presupposes Elohim as the subject and דּמם as the object, whereas the parallel חמס is the subject to the intransitive לבוא: that the wickedness might come, and that God might lay the blood not only upon Abimelech, the author of the crime, but also upon the lords of Shechem, who had strengthened his hands to slay his brethren; had supported him by money, that he might be able to hire worthless fellows to execute his crime (Jdg 9:4, Jdg 9:5).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The Defeat of Gaal

v. 22. When Abimelech had reigned, held sway, three years over Israel, over as many of the people as acknowledged his rule,

v. 23. then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, sowing the seeds of discord and treason between them; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, they rebelled against him;

v. 24. that the cruelty, the violence, done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid, upon Abimelech, their brother, which slew them, and upon the men of Shechem which aided him in the killing of his brethren. The vengeance of God was to strike both the tyrant and those who had strengthened him in his wicked plans, as both were equally guilty.

v. 25. And the men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him in the top of the mountains, men in ambush for the purpose of bringing discredit upon Abimelech, who evidently did not live in Shechem, and they robbed all that came along that way by them, thus making it appear either that he was not able to keep the criminals at bay, or that they were operating with his consent, that he himself was a robber and a highwayman; and it was told Abimelech, his eyes thus being opened to the real state of affairs.

v. 26. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren, apparently the leader of a roving band, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him, believing him to be the very man for their purpose, namely, to lead the rebellion against Abimelech.

v. 27. And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, arranged a great banquet or sacrificial meal, and went into the house of their god, Baal-berith,and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

v. 28. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, apparently a true adventurer, said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal, the enemy and destroyer of their god? and Zebul his officer? The ruler or prefect of the city was Abimelech’s representative, according to Gaal’s idea, the tyrant’s tool. Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the original heathen owners of the city; for why should we serve him?

v. 29. And would to God this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech. His drunken boast was that if he but had as much authority as Zebul, he would soon disclaim allegiance to the tyrant and put him out of the way. And he said to Abimelech, a boastful challenge, as though the latter had been present in person, Increase thine army and come out, namely, to make war upon rebellious Shechem.

v. 30. And when Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, when they were brought to his attention, his anger was kindled.

v. 31. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, or, to Tormah, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.

v. 32. Now, therefore, up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, for Abimelech evidently was in the midst of his army, on some expedition, and lie in wait in the field, remain in ambush till the morning;

v. 33. and it shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city, move upon it to give battle; and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as. thou shalt find occasion.

v. 34. And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, following the plan outlined by Zebul, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

v. 35. And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, for he considered himself the ruler of the town; and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait, making ready for the attack on the city.

v. 36. And when Gaal saw the people, the approaching forces, he said to Zebul, whose position as prefect made his presence in the gate necessary, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains, the higher hills in the distance. And Zebul, in order to deceive him and to prevent his gathering a full force for the defense of the city, said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

v. 37. And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, over the hills in the middle distance. and another company come along by the Plain of Meonenim, the Magicians’ Grove, a dark woods against the near horizon. There could no longer be any doubt that an attacking force was moving upon the city.

v. 38. Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou hast despised? Go out, I pray now, and fight with them. Here was a chance to make good his boasting, if he were really such a great hero.

v. 39. And Gaal, goaded on by this biting remark of Zebul, went out before the men of Shechem, in the presence of the heathen nobility of the city, and fought with Abimelech,

v. 40. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, escaping both death and capture, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

v. 41. And Abimelech, instead of following up his advantage that day, dwelt at Arumah, went into camp at this small town nearby; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem, he once more became a rover.

v. 42. And it came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the field, pursuing their work in the fields and vineyards with the idea that Abimelech was satisfied with the banishment of Gaal; and they, scouts or sentinels, told Abimelech.

v. 43. And he took the people, his army,and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them, in the manner which is now explained.

v. 44. And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, in a sudden charge, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, thus cutting off the retreat of the men in the fields; and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them,

v. 45. And Abimelech, having held the gate until his forces had finished their gruesome work outside, fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, leveling it to the ground, and sowed it with salt, to signify that the city was to remain a desert of salt forever (but it was afterward rebuilt. 1Ki 12:25).

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem

This means that God applied the curse Jotham made by sending an evil spirit to cause trouble and animosity between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem.

God did this so the violence done ... helped him murder his brothers

The passive phrases can be stated in active form. AT: "God did this to avenge the seventy sons whom Abimelech their brother murdered and the men of Shechem helped murder" (See: Active or Passive)

seventy

"70" (See: Numbers)

Jerub Baal

This is another name for Gideon. See how you translated this in Judges 6:32.

translationWords

Abimelech

rule

Israel

year

God

demon

Shechem

betray

trust

avenge

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Ruled. He wielded his authority through repression, and conducted himself arrogantly.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.