Judges 9:4

_AND THEY GAVE HIM THREESCORE AND TEN PIECES OF SILVER OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BAALBERITH, WHEREWITH ABIMELECH HIRED VAIN AND LIGHT PERSONS, WHICH FOLLOWED HIM._ The house of Baal-berith - either the temple or the place where this idol was worshipped-Baal-berith, 'god of the covenant,' by invocation of whom the league of the cities was formed. VAIN AND LIGHT PERSONS, WHICH FOLLOWED HIM - idle, worthless vagabonds, the scum of society, who had nothing to lose, but much to gain, from the success of a revolutionary movement....

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....

Verse Judges 9:4. _THREESCORE AND TEN_ PIECES _OF SILVER_] Probably _shekels_; and this was the whole of his exchequer. As he was now usurping the government of God, he begins with a _contribution_ from the idol temple. A work begun under the name and influence of the devil is not likely to end to the glory of God, or to the welfare of man. _HIRED VAIN AND LIGHT PERSONS_] אנשים ריקים ופחזים _anashim reykim_ _uphochazim, worthless and dissolute men_; persons who were living on the public, and had nothing to lose. Such was the foundation of his _Babel_ government. By a cunning management of such rascals most revolutions have been brought about....

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 THEY GAVE HIM SEVENTY PIECES OF SILVER OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BAALBIRITH,.... The temple of their idol; of this name Judges 8:33, out of the money which had been dedicated to his service by freewill offering, or out of a bank which they deposited there for greater safety, and perhaps out of a superstitious notion of its being more prosperous and successful: of what value these pieces were is not certain; by pieces of silver, commonly shekels are meant; but these are thought to be of too little value to be given to a man to raise an army with, or carry on a scheme to advance himself to the throne; and talents are judged to be too large a sum for such a city to contribute out of a temple of theirs, and that but lately built, as it must be since the death of Gideon; they are therefore thought to be pounds, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; however, in the number of them there s

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 ...

LIGHT. rash. PERSONS. Hebrew. _'enosh._ App-14....

_the house of Baal-berith_ In Judges 9:46 El-bĕrîth = _God of the covenant_; see Judges 8:33 _n._Temples in antiquity had their own treasuries into which offerings and fines were paid; they also served the purpose of banks for public and private money, cf. Malachi 3:10; Malachi 3:10-12. _vain and light fellows_ i.e. disreputable and reckless, cf. Judges 11:3; 2 Chronicles 13:7....

_Abimelech Made King Judges 9:1-6_ 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, 2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. 4 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. 5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerub