Abimelech killeth his brethren. Joatham’s parable. Gaal conspireth with
the Sichemites against Abimelech, but is overcome. Abimelech destroyeth
Sichem: but is killed at Thebes.
9:1. And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his
mother’s brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his
mother’s father, saying:
9:2. Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that
seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that
one man should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone,
and your flesh.
9:3. And his mother’s brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem,
all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech,
saying: He is our brother:
9:4. And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of
Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and
vagabonds, and they followed him.
Baalberith.... That is, Baal of the covenant, so called from the
covenant they had made with Baal, chap. 8.33.
9:5. And he came to his father’s house in Ephra, and slew his brethren,
the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained
only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.
9:6. And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the
families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king,
by the oak that stood in Sichem.
9:7. This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of Mount
Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men
of Sichem, so may God hear you.
9:8. The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the
olive tree: Reign thou over us.
9:9. And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men
make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?
Both gods and men make use of.... The olive tree is introduced,
speaking in this manner, because oil was used both in the worship of
the true God, and in that of the false gods, whom the Sichemites
served.
9:10. And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.
9:11. And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious
fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?
9:12. And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.
9:13. And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God
and men, and be promoted among the other trees?
Cheereth God and men.... Wine is here represented as agreeable to God,
because he had appointed it to be offered up with his sacrifices. But
we are not obliged to take these words, spoken by the trees, in
Joatham’s parable, according to the strict literal sense: but only in a
sense accomodated to the design of the parable expressed in the
conclusion of it.
9:14. And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over
us.
9:15. And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come
ye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out
from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.
9:16. Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in
appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal,
and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of
him who fought for you,
9:17. And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of
Madian,
9:18. And you are now risen up against my father’s house, and have
killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech,
the son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because
he is your brother:
9:19. If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with
Jerobaal and his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he
rejoice in you.
9:20. But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the
inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out
from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour
Abimelech.
9:21. And when he had said thus, he fled, and went into Bera: and dwelt
there for fear of Abimelech, his brother.
9:22. So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years.
9:23. And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the
inhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him,
9:24. And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of
Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their
brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided
him.
9:25. And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains:
and while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking
spoils of all that passed by: and it was told Abimelech.
9:26. And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went over
to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming,
9:27. Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading
down the grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple of
their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.
9:28. And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is
Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and
hath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of
Sichem? Why then shall we serve him?
9:29. Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand,
that I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to
Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.
9:30. For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the
son of Obed, was very angry,
9:31. And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold, Gaal,
the son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his brethren, and
endeavoureth to set the city against thee.
9:32. Arise, therefore, in the night, with the people that is with
thee, and lie hid in the field:
9:33. And betimes in the morning, at sun rising, set upon the city, and
when he shall come out against thee, with his people, do to him what
thou shalt be able.
9:34. Abimelech, therefore, arose with all his army, by night, and laid
ambushes near Sichem in four places.
9:35. And Gaal, the son of Obed, went out, and stood in the entrance of
the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and all his army with him,
from the places of the ambushes.
9:36. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold, a
multitude cometh down from the mountains. And he answered him: Thou
seest the shadows of the mountains as if they were the heads of men,
and this is thy mistake.
9:37. Again Gaal said: Behold, there cometh people down from the midst
of the land, and one troop cometh by the way that looketh towards the
oak.
9:38. And Zebul said to him: Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou
saidst: Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the
people which thou didst despise? Go out, and fight against him.
9:39. So Gaal went out, in the sight of the people of Sichem, and
fought against Abimelech,
9:40. Who chased and put him to flight, and drove him to the city: and
many were slain of his people, even to the gate of the city:
9:41. And Abimelech sat down in Ruma: but Zebul drove Gaal, and his
companions, out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in it.
9:42. So the day following the people went out into the field. And it
was told to Abimelech,
9:43. And he took his army, and divided it into three companies, and
laid ambushes in the fields. And seeing that the people came out of the
city, he arose, and set upon them,
9:44. With his own company, assaulting and besieging the city: whilst
the two other companies chased the enemies that were scattered about
the field.
9:45. And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and
killed the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed
salt in it.
Sowed salt.... To make the ground barren, and fit for nothing.
9:46. And when they who dwelt in the tower of Sichem, had heard this,
they went into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a
covenant with him, and from thence the place had taken its name, and it
was exceeding strong.
9:47. Abimelech also hearing that the men of the tower of Sichem were
gathered together,
9:48. Went up into mount Selmon, he and all his people with him: and
taking an axe, he cut down the bough of a tree, and laying it on his
shoulder, and carrying it, he said to his companions: What you see me
do, do ye out of hand.
9:49. So they cut down boughs from the trees, every man as fast as he
could, and followed their leader. And surrounding the fort, they set it
on fire: and so it came to pass, that with the smoke and with the fire
a thousand persons were killed, men and women together, of the
inhabitants of the town of Sichem.
9:50. Then Abimelech, departing from thence, came to the town of
Thebes, which he surrounded and besieged with his army.
9:51. And there was in the midst of the city a high tower, to which
both the men and the women were fled together, and all the princes of
the city, and having shut and strongly barred the gate, they stood upon
the battlements of the tower to defend themselves.
9:52. And Abimelech, coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and,
approaching to the gate, endeavoured to set fire to it:
9:53. And behold, a certain woman casting a piece of a millstone from
above, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull.
9:54. And he called hastily to his armourbearer, and said to him: Draw
thy sword, and kill me: lest it should be said that I was slain by a
woman. He did as he was commanded, and slew him.
9:55. And when he was dead all the men of Israel that were with him,
returned to their homes.
9:56. And God repaid the evil that Abimelech had done against his
father, killing his seventy brethren.
9:57. The Sichemites also were rewarded for what they had done, and the
curse of Joatham, the son of Jerobaal, came upon them.