Глава 9

1–5. The beating of the sons of Gideon by the Shechemites through the machinations of Abimelech. 6. Accession of Abimelech. 7–20. The Parable and Flight of Jotham. 22–57. The reign of Abimelech and his death. Judges 9:1. Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers and spoke to them and to all the tribe of his mother's father, and said: Judges 9:2. inspire all the inhabitants of Shechem: what is better for you, that all seventy sons of Jerubbaal should rule over you, or that one should rule over you? and remember that I am your bone and your flesh. Judges 9:3. His mother's brothers inspired all these words about him to the inhabitants of Shechem; and their heart was inclined towards Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. Judges 9:4. And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the house of Baal-belith; Abimelech hired idle and self-willed people to do this, who followed him. Judges 9:5. And he came to his father's house in Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. Only Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, remained, because he had gone into hiding. Judges 9:6. And all the inhabitants of Shechem and all the house of Millo gathered together, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak tree that was near Shechem. Abimelech, who was adopted by Gideon from a Shechemite concubine, turned to the residents of the city of Shechem (modern Naplus) as related to him on his mother’s side and persuaded them to beat the sons of Gideon, adopted from other wives. Using the 70 shekels of silver (about 56 rubles) given to him by the Shechemites from the treasury of the former Church of Baal-Berith in Shechem (cf. Judgment 8:33), he hired unworthy people who committed the heinous murder of all the sons of Gideon, with the exception of the escaped Jotham. After this, the Shechemites and the inhabitants of the Shechem fortress (“the whole house of Millo”) made Abimelech king. The place of enthronement was an oak tree that stood near Shechem, probably the same one under which Joshua erected the monument of the covenant of the Lord (Joshua 24:26). Judges 9:7. When they told Jotham about this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and, raising his voice, shouted and said to them: Listen to me, people of Shechem, and God will listen to you! Judges 9:8. One day the tree went to anoint a king over itself and said to the olive tree: Reign over us. Judges 9:9. The olive tree said to them: Shall I leave my fat, with which gods and men are honored, and go to wander among the trees? Judges 9:10. And the trees said to the fig tree, Come and reign over us. Judges 9:11. The fig tree said to them, “Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go to wander among the trees?” Judges 9:12. And the trees said to the vine, Come and reign over us. Judges 9:13. The vine said to them: Shall I leave my juice, which makes glad gods and men, and go to wander among the trees? Judges 9:14. Finally all the trees said to the thorn tree: Come and reign over us. Judges 9:15. The thorn tree said to the trees: if you truly make me king over you, then go and rest under my shadow; if not, then fire will come out of the thorns and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Judges 9:16. See therefore, have you acted with truth and justice in making Abimelech king? And have you dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have you acted according to his good deeds? Judges 9:17. My father fought for you, did not value his life, and delivered you from the hand of the Midianites; Judges 9:18. But now you have risen up against my father’s house, and killed seventy of my father’s sons on one stone, and made Abimelech the son of his handmaid king over the inhabitants of Shechem, because he is your brother. Judges 9:19. If you have now dealt truly and justly with Jerubbaal and his house, then [may blessing be upon you and] rejoice in Abimelech, and let him rejoice in you; Judges 9:20. if not, then let fire come out from Abimelech and burn the people of Shechem and the whole house of Millo, and let fire come out from the people of Shechem and the house of Millo and burn Abimelech. The vile act of the Shechemites regarding the descendants of Gideon and the accession of Abimelech served as an occasion for Jotham, one of the remaining sons of Gideon, to deliver an accusatory speech to them from the top of Mount Gerizim in the form of an apologist, or tributary fable, about the trees that chose a king for themselves. Judges 9:21. And Jotham ran and fled and went to Beer, and lived there, hiding from his brother Abimelech. Upon the pronouncement of the apologist, Jotham fled to Beer, by which some understand Bathsheba (Gen. 21:31), as the furthest from Shechem. Judges 9:22. Abimelech reigned over Israel for three years. Abimelech “reigned” over Israel for three years, but did not “judge” Israel like the other judges of Israel. Judges 9:23. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and among the inhabitants of Shechem, and the inhabitants of Shechem did not submit to Abimelech, Judges 9:24. so that in this way vengeance would be accomplished for the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and their blood would turn against Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and against the inhabitants of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill their brothers. Judges 9:25. The inhabitants of Shechem set people in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, who robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. This was reported to Abimelech. The despotic image of the ruler Abimelech aroused the Shechemites themselves against him, who set up an ambush against him, which, however, became known to Abimelech. Judges 9:26. And Gaal the son of Ebed also came with his brothers to Shechem, and they walked around Shechem, and the inhabitants of Shechem trusted in him. Judges 9:27. And they went out into the field, and gathered their grapes, and pressed them in winepresses, and held festivals, and went to the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. Judges 9:28. Gaal the son of Ebed said: Who is Abimelech, and what is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not this the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his chief captain? Serve better the descendants of Hamor, the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? Judges 9:29. If anyone had given this people into my hands, I would have driven Abimelech away. And it was said to Abimelech: Increase your army and go out. A certain Gaal, the son of Ebed, on the feast of the grape harvest, probably in honor of the god Adonis, incited the Israelites against Abimelech, inducing them to serve the descendants of Hamor, the father of Shechem, who still remained in Shechem (cf. Gen. 34:2). Judgment 9:30 . Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger was kindled. Judges 9:31. He cunningly sends messengers to Abimelech to say: Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and behold, they have stirred up the city against you; Judges 9:32. So, get up at night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field; Judges 9:33. in the morning, when the sun rises, get up early and approach the city; and when he and the people that are with him come out to you, then do to them whatever your hand finds. Judges 9:34. And Abimelech and all the people that were with him arose by night, and they laid four companies in ambush at Shechem. Judgment 9:35. [In the morning] Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the city gate; and Abimelech and the people that were with him arose from the ambush. Judges 9:36. Gaal, seeing the people, said to Zebul: behold, the people are coming down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said to him: The shadow of the mountains seems to you like people. Judges 9:37. Gaal spoke again and said: Behold, the people are coming down from the heights, and one detachment is coming from the oak of Meonnim. Judges 9:38. And Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth that said, “Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?” These are the people whom you have neglected; come out now and fight him. Judges 9:39. And Gaal went ahead of the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. Judgment 9:40 . And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from him, and many fell slain to the very gates of the city. Judges 9:41. And Abimelech remained in Arum, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers so that they would not live in Shechem. Judges 9:42. The next day the people went out into the field and reported this to Abimelech. Judges 9:43. He took his people and divided them into three companies and placed them in ambush in the field. And when he saw that the people had left the city, he rose up against them and beat them. Judges 9:44. While Abimelech and the troops that were with him approached and stood at the city gates, the other two troops attacked everyone who was in the field and killed them. Judgment 9:45 . And Abimelech fought with the city all that day, and took the city, and killed the people that were in it, and destroyed the city and sowed it with salt. The uprising of the Shechemites against Abimelech, warned in time by the mayor of Shechem, Zebul, ended in the defeat of the Shechemites, the expulsion of Gaal and his brothers and the destruction of the city itself, the place of which was sown with salt, i.e. as if turned into a salt marsh. “The oak of Meonnim” (v. 37) - “the oak of those who tell fortunes by the clouds” indicates the superstitious custom of the Shechemites, who had the church of Baal-belit and, apparently, also worshiped Adonis (v. 27), to tell fortunes by the movement of the clouds. The town of Aruma (41) was near Shechem, now El-Orma, probably identical with Ruma (2 Kings 23:36). Judges 9:46. Hearing about this, all those who were in the tower of Shechem went to the tower of the church of Baal-Berith. Judges 9:47. It was reported to Abimelech that all those who were in the tower of Shechem had gathered there. Judges 9:48. And Abimelech went to Mount Selmon, he and all the people who were with him, and Abimelech took axes with him and cut branches of wood, and put them on his shoulders, and said to the people who were with him, “You have seen what I did; rather, do the same as me. Judges 9:49. And every one of all the people cut branches, and they went after Abimelech, and laid them to the tower, and with their help they burned the tower with fire, and all that were in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, died. The remnant of the Shechemites, imprisoned in the tower of Baal-berith, after the siege of it by Abimelech, died in fire along with the tower. Court.9:50. Then Abimelech went to Tebetz and besieged Tebetz and took it. Judges 9:51. There was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women and all the inhabitants of the city fled there, and they locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower. Judges 9:52. Abimelech came to the tower and surrounded it and went to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. Judges 9:53. Then one woman threw a piece of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and broke his skull. Judges 9:54. [Abimelech] immediately called the lad, his armor-bearer, and said to him: Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say about me: a woman killed him. And his servant pierced him, and he died. Judgment 9:55 . The Israelites, seeing that Abimelech had died, each went to his own place. Judgment 9:56. This is how God rewarded Abimelech for the crime he did to his father by killing seventy of his brothers. Judgment 9:57. And God turned all the atrocities of the inhabitants of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them. During the siege of the city of Tebez, which lay north of Shechem, now Tubez, the inhabitants of which, apparently, also participated in the Shechemite conspiracy against Abimelech, Abimelech himself died from a stone thrown from above the city wall by one woman (cf. 2 Kings 11: 21–22). You might be interested in: