Hakim-hakim 9:1

Abimelech Murders His Brothers

9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. ¹  He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, ² 

Hakim-hakim 9:41

9:41 Abimelech went back ³  to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. ⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 9:46

9:46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem ⁵  heard the news, they went to the stronghold ⁶  of the temple of El-Berith. ⁷ 

[9:1]  ¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:1]  ² tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”

[9:41]  ³ tc Heb “stayed.” Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation “and he returned to.” The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.

[9:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “drove…out from dwelling in Shechem.”

[9:46]  ⁵ sn Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.

[9:46]  ⁶ tn Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.

[9:46]  ⁷ sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.