Commentary - Judges 9:1-6

Bird's-eye view

The story of Abimelech is a sordid and bloody intermission in the book of Judges, a cautionary tale wedged between the ministry of Gideon and the later judges. It is what happens when Israel decides to experiment with kingship on their own terms, apart from the word and will of God. This is not a Spirit-anointed deliverer, but rather a self-made king, a man driven by raw ambition and a lust for power. The entire episode is a microcosm of the political idolatry that plagues mankind. Abimelech, the son of Gideon by a concubine from Shechem, leverages his family ties, engages in populist demagoguery, secures funding from a pagan temple, hires a gang of thugs, and consolidates his power by slaughtering all his potential rivals. It's a raw display of Machiavellian politics, ancient Near East style. But behind the curtain of human wickedness, the sovereign hand of God is at work, judging the house of Gideon for its later idolatries and judging the wicked men of Shechem for their treachery. This chapter is a stark illustration of the principle that when men reject God as their king, they do not get liberty; they get tyrants.

The narrative is a grim fulfillment of the downward spiral described earlier in Judges. After a great deliverance under Gideon, the people quickly turn to Baal worship, and Gideon's own family becomes a source of national disaster. Abimelech's rise is not an anomaly; it is the natural consequence of covenant infidelity. He is the bramble king of Jotham's later parable, a worthless man who offers nothing but shadow and fire. The story serves as a potent warning against the politics of pragmatism, tribalism, and godless ambition. It shows that power seized through sinful means will inevitably be maintained by sinful means and will end in ruin, all according to the perfect justice of God.

Outline

Context In Judges

Chapter 9 is the ugly harvest of seeds sown in chapter 8. After his victory, Gideon had refused the formal title of king, saying "The LORD shall rule over you" (Judg 8:23). This was a pious sentiment, but his actions told a different story. He took a great deal of gold and made an ephod, which became a snare of idolatry to Israel and to his own house (Judg 8:27). He also took many wives and fathered seventy sons, living like a de facto monarch. One of those sons was Abimelech, whose mother was a concubine from Shechem, a Canaanite stronghold. Furthermore, after Gideon's death, Israel immediately "played the harlot with the Baals and made Baal-berith their god" (Judg 8:33). So, the stage is set. Israel has abandoned Yahweh for the "lord of the covenant" (the meaning of Baal-berith), and Gideon's family is bloated and compromised. Abimelech's coup is not a bolt from the blue; it is the rotten fruit growing on a rotten tree. It is the logical next step in the cycle of apostasy that defines the era of the Judges.

Key Issues

The Politics of Baal

We cannot understand this chapter without understanding the theological foundation of Abimelech's power grab. He gets his seed money from the house of Baal-berith. Baal-berith means "lord of the covenant" or "covenant lord." The men of Shechem had abandoned Yahweh, the true covenant Lord of Israel, and had substituted a counterfeit. All idolatry is substitution, and political idolatry is particularly potent. When a people reject God as their ultimate authority, they do not become free. They simply create a new ultimate authority, a new god, which is usually the state or the strongman who leads it.

Abimelech's rise is funded by and founded upon false worship. His entire enterprise is a political expression of Israel's spiritual adultery. He is the kind of leader you get when you worship the kind of god Baal is. Baal worship was a nature religion, concerned with power, fertility, and prosperity, often pursued through ritual prostitution and other abominations. It was a religion of pragmatism and manipulation. You do things for the god so the god will do things for you. This is the exact spirit of Abimelech's campaign. He makes a pragmatic appeal to the Shechemites, they give him money from their god's temple, and he uses it to seize power. This is the politics of Baal: raw, violent, self-serving, and utterly godless. It is a reminder that a nation's politics are always a reflection of its worship. You cannot worship demons and expect to get godly magistrates.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s relatives and spoke to them and to the whole family of the household of his mother’s father, saying,

The story begins with raw ambition. Abimelech, whose name ironically means "my father is king," is the son of Gideon (also called Jerubbaal, "let Baal contend"). But he is not just any son; he is the son of a concubine from Shechem. This makes him a half-breed in the eyes of many Israelites, an outsider with a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't wait to be called by God or acclaimed by the people. He takes the initiative. He goes straight to his power base, his mother's clan in Shechem. This is a calculated political move. He knows he has no legitimate claim among the seventy sons of Gideon at Ophrah, so he cultivates a faction where he has a natural advantage. All revolutions begin with a discontented man seeking out other discontented men.

2 “Speak, now, in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”

Here is the pitch, a masterpiece of populist demagoguery. First, he presents a false dilemma. "Which is better, to be ruled by seventy kings or just one?" He paints a picture of oppressive, chaotic committee rule. Seventy rulers would mean seventy tax collectors, seventy sets of competing interests. It's a scare tactic. He offers them the apparent stability and efficiency of a monarchy. Of course, the third option, which was God's will, was to have no king but the Lord. But that is conveniently left off the ballot. Then comes the clincher: "Remember that I am your bone and your flesh." This is covenant language, the language of kinship and solidarity. It's what Adam said of Eve. He is appealing to tribalism, to blood over covenant with God. He's saying, "I'm one of you. Those other seventy guys are outsiders. I'm your hometown boy." It is a powerful and insidious appeal, asking them to place their ethnic identity above their identity as the people of God.

3 And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem; and they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”

The propaganda works. His relatives become his campaign managers, spreading the message among the "lords of Shechem," the city's leadership. And their hearts were "inclined to follow Abimelech." The Hebrew is literally that their hearts "bent after" him. Why? The reason is stated plainly: "for they said, 'He is our relative.'" Their decision is not based on wisdom, or righteousness, or the will of God. It is based on pure tribalism. He is "our brother." This is the essence of identity politics. They saw an opportunity to gain power and influence through their kinsman. They chose blood over God, which is always the first step toward bloodshed.

4 So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him.

Now the conspiracy gets its funding. And where does the money come from? Not from the tithes of faithful Israelites, but from the treasury of a pagan temple, the house of Baal-berith, the "covenant lord." They are literally funding a rebellion against the God of Israel with money dedicated to a false god. This is apostasy made tangible. With this blood money, Abimelech hires his own private army. The text describes them as "worthless and reckless fellows." These are not noble warriors; they are vain, empty men, thugs for hire. They are the kind of men who are drawn to a leader like Abimelech, men with no principles, ready to do anything for a paycheck. A corrupt leader will always attract corrupt followers.

5 Then he came 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.

The plan moves from conspiracy to brutal execution. Abimelech takes his gang of mercenaries to his own father's home and commits mass fratricide. He slaughters his seventy brothers. The text adds the chilling detail that he killed them "on one stone," suggesting a systematic, ritualistic execution, like a pagan sacrifice. This is the price of his ambition. To secure his rule, he must eliminate all potential rivals. This is tyranny in its rawest form. It is a complete inversion of the covenant. Instead of protecting his "bone and flesh," he butchers them. But God in His sovereignty preserves a remnant. One son, Jotham, the youngest, escapes. He will live to pronounce God's curse on Abimelech and the men of Shechem, serving as God's prophetic witness against this wickedness.

6 Then all the lords of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem.

With his rivals eliminated, the coronation can proceed. The lords of Shechem and Beth-millo, a nearby fortress, gather to formalize what they have accomplished through murder and idolatry. They make Abimelech king. The location is significant. They do this by the "oak of the pillar" in Shechem. This was likely a well-known cultic site, a place of pagan worship. Abraham had built an altar near Shechem (Gen 12:6-7), and Joshua had renewed the covenant there, setting up a great stone as a witness (Josh 24:26). Now, this holy ground is desecrated by the crowning of an apostate king, an event born of idolatry and murder. It is a counterfeit coronation at a corrupted site, establishing a counterfeit kingdom.

Application

The story of Abimelech is ancient, but the temptations are evergreen. We live in an age that is drunk on politics, and this passage is a potent dose of sobriety. It warns us against the very things our culture prizes: the pursuit of raw power, the appeal to tribal identity, and the belief that the right political leader can solve our problems.

First, we must be wary of unbridled ambition, in ourselves and in our leaders. Abimelech wanted to be king, and he was willing to say anything and do anything to get there. We must look for leaders who are characterized not by ambition, but by humility and a servant's heart, men who have to be persuaded to lead, not men who claw their way to the top.

Second, we must reject the siren song of tribalism. Abimelech's appeal was, "He is our bone and our flesh." This is the language of identity politics, whether of the left or the right. Our ultimate identity is not in our race, our ethnicity, our nationality, or our political party. Our ultimate identity is in Christ. Our deepest solidarity must be with the household of faith, the brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. When we elevate any other "bone and flesh" relationship above that, we are on the road to Shechem.

Finally, we must see that all political problems are ultimately theological problems. Shechem's political corruption was funded by and founded upon their worship of Baal-berith. They got the king their god deserved. We too will get the leaders we deserve. If our nation worships at the altars of mammon, sex, and state power, we should not be surprised when our leaders are greedy, licentious tyrants. The only path to true political renewal is spiritual revival. The only way to have a righteous nation is to have a nation that fears Yahweh, the true covenant Lord, and submits to the rule of His anointed King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Any other foundation is a foundation of sand, destined for a bloody collapse, just like the kingdom of Abimelech.