Abimelech and Jotham's Warning

Abimelech, a son of Jerubbaal, went to his mother’s relatives in Shechem. He urged them to ask the men of Shechem whether it was better for seventy sons of Jerubbaal to rule over them, or one man, and he reminded them that he was their own flesh and blood. They supported him, gave him silver from the house of Baal Berith, and he hired reckless men.

Then he went to Ophrah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. Only the youngest, Jotham, escaped by hiding. After that, the men of Shechem and the house of Millo made Abimelech king.

When Jotham heard, he stood on Mount Gerizim and called out to the men of Shechem. He told a fable about trees looking for a king. The olive tree, fig tree, and vine refused, but the bramble accepted and spoke of fire. Jotham said the people had acted against Jerubbaal’s house, even though his father had fought for them and rescued them from Midian.

If they had acted truly and rightly, they could rejoice in Abimelech. If not, he said, fire would come out from Abimelech against Shechem and the house of Millo, and from them against Abimelech. Then Jotham fled to Beer for safety.

Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, so that the violence done to Jerubbaal’s seventy sons would be answered. The men of Shechem turned against Abimelech. They set ambushes on the mountain tops and robbed people on the roads. Later Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. During a feast in the house of their god, they cursed Abimelech, and Gaal openly challenged his rule.

Zebul, the ruler of the city, secretly warned Abimelech. Abimelech came by night with his men and lay in wait in four companies. When Gaal went out, Zebul first dismissed his warning, then challenged him to fight. Abimelech chased Gaal, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.

The next day Abimelech divided his men into three companies, attacked the people in the field, captured the city, killed the people in it, beat the city down, and sowed it with salt. When the people of the tower of Shechem gathered in the stronghold of the house of Elberith, Abimelech and his men set it on fire, and about a thousand men and women died there.

Then Abimelech attacked Thebez. The people fled into a strong tower, and Abimelech came near the door to burn it with fire. But a woman threw an upper millstone onto his head and broke his skull. Abimelech quickly told his young armour-bearer to kill him, and he died. When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each went home. The passage says God repaid Abimelech for killing his seventy brothers, and repaid the wickedness of the men of Shechem too. Jotham’s curse came upon them.