Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Judges
Chapter 9: Abimelech and the Bramble King
The son Gideon refused to make a king makes himself one, murdering seventy brothers on one stone to seize a crown. Jotham, the lone survivor, cries out his parable of the bramble from the mountain, and God's justice grinds slow but sure, until an evil spirit, a rebellion, and a woman's millstone bring the whole bloody bargain crashing down on every head that shared in it.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Judges chapter 9. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 9 is the dark underside of chapter 8: the ephod-snare bears its fruit in Abimelech, and God's sure justice runs its course. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Abimelech Slays His Brethren (Judges 9:1-6)
Gideon's son by a concubine plots with Shechem, hires killers with temple silver, and murders seventy brothers to make himself king.
Upon One Stone
"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, 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. 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. 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. And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem."
Word Study
"Abimelech," Hebrew Abimelek (אֲבִימֶלֶךְ), "my father is king." The name is a bitter irony. His very name claimed a royalty his father had refused, for Gideon had said, "I will not rule over you... the LORD shall rule over you." Abimelech took the name as a program: he would be king though God and his father had said no. And he pursued it by shedding his brothers' blood "upon one stone," a phrase that turns the killing into something like a mass slaughter at an altar. Notice the source of his funds: "threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith", idol money bought the murder of seventy brothers, one piece of silver for each life. Ambition financed by idolatry and paid in blood is the very engine of Abimelech's rise. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), and here it purchased fratricide.
Explanation
Abimelech was Gideon's son by a Shechemite concubine, and he plays on that local kinship to win the men of Shechem: better one king who is "your bone and your flesh" than seventy sons of Gideon. They fund him from the treasury of their idol, Baal-berith ("Baal of the covenant"), and with hired "vain and light persons" he butchers his brothers on one stone. Only Jotham, the youngest, escapes by hiding. Then Shechem crowns him king beside the sacred pillar. It is the exact nightmare Gideon's refusal had tried to prevent: a self-made king, enthroned on murder, sponsored by idolatry. The ephod-snare of chapter 8 has ripened into a harvest of blood.
Gospel Focus
Abimelech is the anti-king, everything the true King is not. He grasped a crown God never gave; he built his throne on the death of his brethren; he was financed by idols. Set beside him the LORD Jesus, the true King, who "thought it not robbery to be equal with God" yet "made himself of no reputation," who did not slay His brethren to reign but died to save them, "for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11). Abimelech shed his brothers' blood to gain a kingdom; Christ shed His own blood to give His brethren a kingdom. Every earthly grasp for power over others is a shadow of Abimelech; the way of the true King is the cross.
Jotham's Cry from Gerizim (Judges 9:7-21)
The lone survivor stands on the mountain and tells a parable: the worthy trees refused the crown, and only the worthless bramble reached for it.
Come Thou, and Reign Over Us
"And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother."
Word Study
"the bramble," Hebrew atad (אָטָד), a thorn-bush or buckthorn, worthless for fruit, good only for kindling. Jotham's parable is the oldest in Scripture, and its genius is the bramble. The fruitful trees, olive, fig, and vine, all refuse the crown; they are too busy being useful, blessing "God and man" with oil, sweetness, and wine, to crave rule over others. Only the atad, the thornbush that bears nothing and gives no shade worth trusting, grasps at power, and its "shadow" is a mockery. The lesson is timeless: those most fit to lead are often least eager for the office, while the empty and worthless scramble for it. And the bramble's nature is to burn, "let fire come out of the bramble", the thorn that offers false shelter ends in flames that consume both itself and the "cedars." A leader chosen for ambition rather than fruitfulness brings fire, not shade.
Explanation
Jotham escapes long enough to deliver God's verdict in parable form from Mount Gerizim, the mount of blessing. The fruitful trees, each content in its usefulness, decline the throne; only the barren bramble accepts, on absurd terms, demanding trust in a shadow it cannot give and threatening fire if refused. Then Jotham drops the veil: Shechem has crowned a bramble. If they acted honorably toward Gideon's house, let them rejoice in Abimelech; but if treacherously, and they had, then let fire break out mutually, Abimelech devouring Shechem and Shechem devouring Abimelech. Having pronounced the curse, Jotham flees for his life. His words hang over the rest of the chapter like a sentence awaiting execution.
Gospel Focus
The parable exposes the difference between fruitfulness and ambition. The olive, fig, and vine were too fruitful to crave power; the bramble, having no fruit, wanted only rule. God's kingdom runs on the opposite spirit from the world's. Jesus said, "whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister... even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Matthew 20:26-28). The truly great are those who, like the fruitful trees, pour themselves out to bless God and man, not those who claw for position. Beware the bramble spirit that wants a throne but bears no fruit; and beware crowning it, for its shadow cannot shelter you, and its end is fire.
The Fire Begins to Fall (Judges 9:22-45)
After three years God stirs division between the tyrant and the city that made him, and the mutual destruction Jotham foretold begins.
God Sent an Evil Spirit
"When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren. And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee. Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them. And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt."
Word Study
"God sent an evil spirit," Hebrew ruach raah (רוּחַ רָעָה), "a spirit of evil, calamity, or ill-will." This does not mean God authored moral evil; God "cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (James 1:13). It means God, in righteous judgment, gave the murderers over to the very spirit of treachery and discord already in their own hearts, so their sin recoiled on their own heads. The text is explicit about the purpose: "that the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech... and upon the men of Shechem." God sovereignly turned the conspirators against one another. It is the same solemn justice by which God "gave them up" (Romans 1:24) to their own passions. When men will not repent, God can use their own evil as the rod that beats them; the fire came "out of the bramble" exactly as Jotham said.
Explanation
Three years pass, and then God moves. He sends "an evil spirit" of division between Abimelech and Shechem, and the alliance built on blood begins to devour itself, just as Jotham prophesied. A newcomer, Gaal, stirs the city to open revolt, boasting against Abimelech; but Zebul, Abimelech's loyal officer, secretly summons the king. In a night ambush Abimelech routs Gaal, and the next day he falls on the people in the fields, storms the city, slaughters its inhabitants, razes it, and "sowed it with salt", the ultimate curse of desolation, that nothing should ever grow there again. The men who crowned the bramble are consumed by the fire they enthroned. Their treachery has come home.
Gospel Focus
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). Shechem sowed murder and treachery and reaped it back, measure for measure. God's justice may seem slow, three years passed, but it is certain, and often it comes by simply letting sin bear its own fruit. The men of Shechem financed murder from Baal's temple and were slain in that same city; they trusted the bramble's shadow and were burned by its fire. Sin is its own executioner when God withdraws His restraint. Let no one presume on delay: the harvest is coming, and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Only in Christ is the debt of sin paid by Another, so that we reap not judgment but grace.
The End of Abimelech (Judges 9:46-57)
The tyrant burns a thousand in a tower, then meets his own end beneath a woman's millstone, and God's justice is complete.
Thus God Rendered the Wickedness of Abimelech
"And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal."
Word Study
"God rendered," Hebrew shub (שׁוּב) in the causative, "to bring back, to return, to requite." Twice the chapter's close hammers the point: "God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech," and "all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads." The verb pictures sin as a thing that God causes to return upon its doer, boomeranging back on the head that launched it. Abimelech killed his brothers "upon one stone"; he died by a piece of "a millstone" cast on his head. He burned a thousand in a tower; he was destroyed assaulting a tower. The punishment mirrors the crime. This is the moral architecture of God's universe: "his mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate" (Psalm 7:16). And the whole account underlines that it is God who renders it, not chance, not merely human vengeance, but the just Judge of all the earth.
Explanation
Abimelech's rampage climaxes as he burns a thousand men and women in the stronghold of Shechem's temple, fire from the bramble consuming the "house of the god Berith" that had funded him. Then, besieging Thebez, he presses to burn another tower, and "a certain woman" drops a millstone from the wall and crushes his skull. Horrified that it will be said "a woman slew him," he begs his armorbearer to finish him, but the shame he feared is recorded forever anyway (2 Samuel 11:21 remembers it). The narrator seals the meaning twice: "Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech" and the evil of Shechem, "and upon them came the curse of Jotham." The parable came true to the letter. Fire from the bramble; fire against the bramble.
Gospel Focus
The whole chapter is a monument to the certainty of divine justice. The proud tyrant who murdered seventy is felled by a nameless woman's millstone; the city that bought blood is burned and salted; and every step fulfills the word Jotham spoke. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19). We need not avenge ourselves or fret when the wicked prosper for a season; God keeps perfect accounts and renders every deed upon its own head. But this same certainty of judgment is the reason the gospel is such good news, for at the cross the LORD "laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). The judgment our sins deserve fell on Christ, so that all who trust Him are spared the recompense Abimelech could not escape. Justice will be done; thank God that in Christ it was done for us.
Chapter 9 in Review
Judges 9 is the darkest chapter yet, the bitter fruit of Gideon's snare. Abimelech, "my father is king," murders seventy brothers on one stone with idol-money and crowns himself at Shechem. Jotham, the lone survivor, cries his parable from Mount Gerizim: the fruitful trees refused the crown, and only the worthless bramble grasped it, promising a shadow it could not give and threatening fire. God waits three years, then sends an "evil spirit" of division, and the alliance built on blood devours itself, Shechem burned and salted, and Abimelech's skull crushed by a woman's millstone.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter proclaims one truth above all: God is not mocked, and whatsoever a man sows he reaps. The recompense mirrored the crime to the letter, and the narrator names God twice as the One who "rendered" it. Abimelech is the anti-king whose grasping ambition is the opposite of the true King, who shed His own blood, not His brethren's. And the very certainty of judgment that condemned the bramble is what makes the cross such good news, for there the judgment we deserved fell upon Christ.
- Abimelech is the anti-king, grasping a crown by his brethren's blood; the true King gave His own.
- The fruitful trees refused the throne; only the barren bramble craved it, ambition without fruit.
- God's "evil spirit" of judgment let sin recoil on its doers; He gives the impenitent up to their own evil.
- "God rendered" the wickedness upon its own head; His justice is slow but certain and exact.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you crave position and rule, the bramble spirit, or are you content to bear fruit that blesses God and man?
- Where are you tempted to avenge yourself, instead of trusting the God who "renders" all things justly?
- The judgment Abimelech could not escape fell on Christ for you. Have you taken refuge in Him?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Abimelech's fratricide; the anti-king and the true King: Judges 9:1-6; 1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 2:11; Philippians 2:6-7.
- Jotham's parable of the bramble; true greatness serves: Judges 9:7-21; Matthew 20:26-28.
- God's evil spirit of judgment; sowing and reaping: Judges 9:22-45; James 1:13; Romans 1:24; Galatians 6:7.
- God rendered the wickedness; vengeance is the Lord's; judgment borne by Christ: Judges 9:46-57; Psalm 7:16; Romans 12:19; Isaiah 53:6.