Judges 9:2

Translations

Modern

“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”

Traditional

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.

Literal

“Speak, please, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘What is better for you, that seventy men reign over you, all sons of Jerubbaal, or that one man reigns over you?’ And remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”

Latin

Loquimini ad omnes viros Sichem: Quid vobis est melius, ut dominentur vestri septuaginta viri omnes filii Jerobaal, an ut dominetur unus vir? simulque considerate quod os vestrum et caro vestra sum.

Original

Hebrew

English

“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”

Notes

Judges 9:1–3

Abimelech, the son of a concubine (Judges 8:31; see study note on Judges 19:1), claimed he could create the royal dynasty that his father had rejected.
The absence of any record of a conquest of Shechem, despite Israel’s covenant activities in the city (Joshua 24), suggests that Shechem’s people became part of Israel. Abimelech’s uncles and his mother might have been of non-Israelite origin.

Judges 9:1–57

Abimelech's reign marked a shift from the relative peace of the early judges (Judges 3:7–8:35) to the decline of the later years (10:1–16:31).

Theme notes and profiles

Gideon Preaching to a Tough Crowd Shechem

Events

Usurpation by Abimelech

Related verses

Genesis 29:14
Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,
Judges 8:30
Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
1 Chronicles 11:1
Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
Hebrews 2:14
Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
2 Samuel 19:13
And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of His body.

People

Gideon: Judge of Israel; defeated Midianites; tested and reassured by God

Places

Shechem: City in Canaan, later allotted to Ephraim

Glossary

Abimelech Arumah Baal-Berith Bone Flesh Judges, Book of Ophrah (Place) Shechem (Place) Warfare

Topics

Ambition: Abimelech Conspiracy: Abimelech Against Gideon's Sons Judge: Abimelech Rulers: Wicked: Abimelech, Killing his Seventy Brothers

Judges 9:2

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