Gideon would not be king; his son Abimelech will be, at any price. He hires cutthroats with silver from Baal’s temple and murders seventy of his brothers on one stone — all but the youngest, Jotham, who escapes and shouts a parable down from the mountainside: the trees went looking for a king, and only the bramble would take the job. Three years later a woman drops a millstone on Abimelech’s head, and Jotham’s curse comes true to the letter.
A study in Judges 9 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 8 min read
Threescore And Ten Persons, Upon One Stone
“And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons… 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.”
Judges 9:4-5
Gideon fathered seventy sons and one, Abimelech, by a Shechem servant-woman. This son wants the crown his father refused, and he buys it: temple money, hired thugs, and a massacre of his own brothers on a single block of stone. Note where the silver comes from — “the house of Baal-berith,” the idol Israel took up as soon as Gideon died. The apostasy funds the atrocity.
“Forgetful of all that they owed to Gideon, their judge and deliverer, the people of Israel accepted his baseborn son Abimelech as their king, who, to sustain his power, murdered all but one of Gideon’s lawful children. When men cast off the fear of God they are not long in departing from honor and integrity.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 556
The Trees Went Forth To Anoint A King
“The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them… 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.”
Judges 9:8, 14-15
Jotham’s fable — the first parable in the Bible — is aimed straight at Shechem. The olive, the fig and the vine all decline the throne: they are too busy being useful to go “to be promoted over the trees.” Only the bramble, a thornbush good for nothing but kindling, is eager for the crown. It offers “shadow” it is too low to give, and a threat of fire it can certainly deliver. The people who actually build a nation rarely chase power; the ones who chase it are often the ones with the least to offer.
God Sent An Evil Spirit Between Them
“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.”
Judges 9:22-23
The partnership sealed in blood does not hold. God’s judgment here does not fall as fire from heaven; it works through the falling-out of the guilty — Shechem turns on the king it crowned, and the king burns Shechem. Accomplices in a crime make poor allies afterward. The Bible is content to call the rupture God’s doing: He gave them over to each other.
A Woman Cast A Piece Of A Millstone
“And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull… 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.”
Judges 9:53, 56-57
Besieging a last tower, Abimelech takes a millstone on the head, thrown by an unnamed woman. His final concern is his reputation: have the armour-bearer finish him, “that men say not of me, A woman slew him.” It does not work — the account records exactly that. The chapter closes with the verdict repeated twice: God rendered, God render. Jotham’s curse was not bitterness; it was prophecy, and it came due.
