Judges 9:1-6

Judges 9. The Kingship and Fall of Abimelech. The story of Gideon's half-Canaanite son does not equal the finest parts of the book in dramatic interest, but the glimpse which it affords of the relations subsisting between the mixed races of Palestine in the time of the Judges is of great value to the historian. The whole narrative is ancient, though not quite uniform. Here D makes no contribution. Apparently he did not regard Abimelech as worthy to rank among the Judges, and therefore he omitted this section, which was restored to its place by R.

Judges 9:1. Abimelech Made King of Shechem.Abimelech probably means the (Divine) King is Father, which throws some light on Gideon's conception of his God. He and other Israelites were already feeling after that great truth of the Divine Fatherhood, which is the heart of Christianity. Shechem (1 Kings 12:1 *), now called Nâ blû s (the Roman Neapolis), lies in a fertile valley between Mount Ebal and Gerizim. Abimelech was not, of course, made king of all the twelve tribes, nor even of one whole tribe, but only of the town of Shechem and its neighbourhood. His rule was on a par with that of the kings who are mentioned in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:19).

Judges 9:2. The young man made a skilful use of his pedigree. Would not the Shechemites prefer that one of themselves, one who had lived among them all his days, rather than a stranger, should reign over them? His mother, as a sadî ca wife (W. R. Smith, Kinship, 93f.), would be among her own people at Shechem, not among Gideon's at Ophrah. The idiom your bone and your flesh answers to the English your flesh and blood.

Judges 9:4. Abimelech begins his reign, as new kings so often do in the East, by hiring assassins to put all possible rivals out of the way (cf. 2 Kings 10:1; 2 Kings 11:1). For vain and light read reckless and worthless.

[ Judges 9:5. Upon one stone: as if it was an altar and the murder a sacrificial rite (1 Samuel 14:33). Thus presumably the blood was safely disposed of, and would not cry for vengeance. A. S. P.]

Judges 9:6. The coronation took place at the oak of the pillar, or Monument-tree, i.e. a holy oak beside which there was a standing stone. For the house of Millo read Beth-millo, apparently a town near Shechem.