Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his
mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his
mother's family, “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem,
‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal
rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am
your bone and your flesh.”
And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in
the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined
to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” And they
gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith
with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who
followed him. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and
killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one
stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he
hid himself. And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all
Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of
the pillar at Shechem.
When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount
Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you
leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went
out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree,
‘Reign over us.’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my
abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over
the trees?’ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign
over us.’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my
sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ And
the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ But the
vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men
and go hold sway over the trees?’ Then all the trees said to the
bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ And the bramble said to the
trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then
come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of
the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you
made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and
his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved—for my father
fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand
of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day
and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made
Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of
Shechem, because he is your relative—if you then have acted in good
faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day,
then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if
not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of
Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of
Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” And Jotham ran
away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of
Abimelech his brother.
Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. And God sent an evil
spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the
leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the
violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and
their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them,
and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his
brothers. And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him
on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along
that way. And it was told to Abimelech.
And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives,
and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. And they went out
into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and
trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of
their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. And Gaal the son
of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we
should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul
his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why
should we serve him? Would that this people were under my hand!
Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, ‘Increase
your army, and come out.’”
When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son
of Ebed, his anger was kindled. And he sent messengers to Abimelech
secretly, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives
have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against
you. Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with
you, and set an ambush in the field. Then in the morning, as soon
as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he
and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to
them as your hand finds to do.”
So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night
and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the
son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the
city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the
ambush. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look,
people are coming down from the mountaintops!” And Zebul said to
him, “You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men.” Gaal spoke
again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of
the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the
Diviners' Oak.” Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now,
you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not
these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with
them.” And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and
fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before
him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. And
Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his
relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.
On the following day, the people went out into the field, and
Abimelech was told. He took his people and divided them into three
companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw
the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and
killed them. Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed
forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while
the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed
them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He
captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he
razed the city and sowed it with salt.
When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they
entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith. Abimelech was
told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered
together. And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the
people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and
cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his
shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have
seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.” So every one of the
people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against
the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so
that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000
men and women.
Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and
captured it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and all
the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and
shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. And
Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to
the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman
threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull.
Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said
to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman
killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone
departed to his home. Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech,
which he committed against his father in killing his seventy
brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem
return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the
son of Jerubbaal.
