Judges 9:1

_AND ABIMELECH THE SON OF JERUBBAAL WENT TO SHECHEM UNTO HIS MOTHER'S BRETHREN, AND COMMUNED WITH THEM, AND WITH ALL THE FAMILY OF THE HOUSE OF HIS MOTHER'S FATHER, SAYING,_ Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem. The idolatry which had been stealthily creeping into Israel during the latter years of Gideon was now openly professed; Shechem was wholly inhabited by its adherents: at least idolaters had the ascendancy. Abimelech, one of Gideon's numerous sons, was connected with that place, was ambitious of sovereign power, and having plied successfully the arts of a demagogue with his maternal relatives and friends, he acquired both the influence and money by which he raised himself to a throne. COMMUNED ... WITH ALL THE FAMILY OF THE HOUSE OF HIS MOTHER'S FATHER. Here is a striking instance of the evils of polygamy-one son has connections and interests totally alien to those of...

1-6 The men of Shechem chose Abimelech king. God was not consulted whether they should have any king, much less who it should be. If parents could see what their children would do, and what they are to suffer, their joy in them often would be turned into sorrow: we may be thankful that we cannot know what shall happen. Above all, we should fear and watch against sin; for our evil conduct may produce fatal effects upon our families, after we are in our graves....

CHAPTER IX _Abimelech is made king; and, to secure himself tn the kingdom,_ _slays his brethren; Jotham, the youngest only escapes_, 14. _Jotham reproves him and the Shechemites by a curious and_ _instructive parable_, 7-21. _Abimelech having reigned three years, the Shechemites, headed_ _by Gaal the son of Ebed, conspire against him_, 22-29. _Zebul, governor of the city, apprises Abimelech of the_ _insurrection, who comes with his forces, and discomfits Gaal_, 30-40. Abimelech assaults the city, takes, beats it down, and sows it

We are not told how soon after the death of Gideon these events happened. There must have been time for the apostacy and establishment of Baal-worship, and for the development of ill-will between Abimelech and his brethren....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 9:1 THE SON OF JERUBBAAL. Throughout this chapter Gideon is spoken of by the name of Jerubbaal. There must be some cause for this. The simplest and most probable cause is that this whole history of Abimelech is taken from some other source than the preceding chapters. And a considerable difference in the style of the narrative, which is feebler and more obscure, seems to bear out this inference. WENT TO SHECHEM. This revolt from the house of Gideon in favour of Abimelech seems to partake of the nature of an Ephraimite rising against the supremacy of Manasseh. It was doubtless galling to the pride of the great tribe of Ephraim (Judges 8:1, Judges 8:2;...

AND ABIMELECH THE SON OF JERUBBAAL WENT TO SHECHEM, UNTO HIS MOTHER'S BRETHREN,.... It seems that though the mother of Abimelech lived at Shechem, he was taken and brought up in his father's house at Ophrah, where he was when he died; and from hence he came to Shechem, to pay a visit to his uncles there; whether his mother was now living, is not certain: AND COMMUNED WITH THEM; about the death of his father, the state of his family, and the government of Israel: AND WITH ALL THE FAMILY OF THE HOUSE OF HIS MOTHER'S FATHER; that descended from his grandfather, the several branches of them, and of the family, the heads of them at least: SAYING, as follows....

CHAPTER 9 ABIMELECH THE KING AND HIS WICKEDNESS _ 1. The murder of Gideon's sons (Judges 9:1)_ 2. Jotham's parable (Judges 9:7) 3. Scenes of strife and destruction of Shechem (Judges 9:22) 4. Abimelech's end (Judges 9:50) The story of Abimelech is intensely interesting in its typical meaning. Abimelech was the offspring of an unlawful union: the son of Gideon and the concubine in Shechem. He was half Israelite and half Canaanite. Abimelech means “my father was king”; he claims therefore supremacy, lordship over the people Israel on the basis of succession. His father had refused that honor; the bastard offspring

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 ...

BRETHREN. Put by Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of Species) for other relatives....

_Shechem_ now Nâblus (the Roman Flavia Neapolis), 30 miles N. of Jerusalem, 5 miles S.E. of Samaria, situated in a narrow, fertile valley, at the entrance to which rise the two mountains, Ebal on the N. and Gerizim (Judges 9:7) on the S. The town lies on the watershed (1870 ft.) between the Mediterranean and the Jordan basins, hence perhaps its name, _shoulder_. Easily dominated from the heights on either side, it could never defend itself against attack (Judges 9:44 f.); but it had the great advantage of lying close to the crossing of the two main routes which traverse the country from N. to S. and from E. to W.; this accounts for the highway robbery in lawless times (Judges 9:25, cf....