The sign of the fleece. B. C. about 1249. That is, Let Baal plead. k 1 Sam. 12. 11. 2 Sam. 11. 21, Jerubbesheth. 1 ver. S. JUDGES. Baal? will ye save him? he that will Then all 'the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and m Josh. 17. 16. went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 35 And he sent messengers through2 Chr. 24. 20. out all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. p See Ex. 4. 3, 4, 6, 7. q Gen. 18. 32. a ch. 6. 32. b Deut. 8. 17. Is. 10. 13. 1 Cor. 1. 29. 2 Cor. 4. 7. 36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 P Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. Gideon's army reduced. C B. C. c Deut. 20. 8. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Who- about 1249. soever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and Ï will try them for thee there and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that d 1 Sam. 14. 6. lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. e 9 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: T and all the people that were with host. him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. • Gen. 46. 2, S. 14. 11 And thou shalt hear what they f ver. 18, 14, 15, See Gen. 24 | say; and afterward shall thine hands 1 Sam. be strengthened to go down unto the 14. 9, 10. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. Or, ranks by Ave. Ex 13. 18. & 8. 10. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the ch. 6. 5, 33. east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a The Midianites defeated. B. C. JUDGES. dream unto his fellow, and said, Beabout 1249. hold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else, save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. Heb. the breaking thereof. Heb, trump es in the hand of all I of them. | Or, Are- 15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and + the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put ta trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The 42 Car. 20. sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: 'and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set "every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host Or, towards. fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath. Ex. 14. 13, 12 Kings 7. 7. Josh, 6. 4, 14, 20. See 1 Ps. 83. 9. La. 9.4. 1 Sam. 14. 20. 2 Chr. 20. 23. ↑ Heb. lip. unto Beth-barah and Jordan. all the men of Ephraim gathered about 1249. themselves together, and took the waters unto P Beth-barah and Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the 'other side Jordan. r 18. 10. 26. s ch. 8. 4. a See ch. 12. 1. 2 Sam. 19. 41. + Heb. What thing is this thou hast done unto us. † Heb. strongly. Phil. 2. 3. 3 God hath delivered into your ch. 7. 24, 25. hands the princes of Midian, Öreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when † Heb. spirit. he had said that. 4 T And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. c Prov. 15. 1. Ps. 60. 6. 5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of Gen. 33. 17. bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kinę 3 of Midian. e See 1 Kings 20. 11. 6 And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we see 1 Sam. should give bread unto thine army? 7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise : and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth nad answered him. 25. 11. ver. 16. + Heb. thresh. Gen. 32. 30. 1 Kings 12. 25. 27. 9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come 1 Kings 22. again in peace, I will break down this tower. 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with k ver. 17. 2 Kings 3.26. 1 ch. 7. 12. a ch. 18. 27. 1 Thess. 5. 3. + Heb. terri fied o Ps. 83. 11. † Heb. writ. p ver. 6. q ver. 7. m 11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was " secure. 12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and † discomfited all the host. 13 ¶ And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, Gideon maketh an ephod. my son rule over you: the LORD 24 And Gideon said unto them, I 25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. a B. C. about 1249. x1 Sam. 8. 7. & 10. 19. & 12. 12. y Gen. 25. 13. & 37. 25, 28. 26 And the weight of the golden 14 And caught a young man of the 15 And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did Pupbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness, Heb. made to and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. know. 17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. 18 ¶ Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. 31 And his concubine that was infch. 9. 1. Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 T And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites. ver. 27. 33 And it came to pass, 'as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, 'and made Ba-1 ch. 9. 4, 46. 19 And he said, They were my breth- 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, 22 ¶ Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall Abimelech is made king. B. C. about 1209. 1 ch. 8. 31. good? wheth er, &c. b ch. 3. 30. JUDGES. AND Abimelech the son of Jeru baal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, 2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of Heb. What is 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. © Gen. 29. 14. Heb. after. 4 Gen. 29. 15. ⚫ ch. 8. 33. ch. 11. S. 2 Chr. 13, 7. Prov. 12. 11. Acts 17. 5. (ch. 6. 24. 12 3 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our d brother. The parable of Jotham. B. C. 15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king about 1209. over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, Plet fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. o Is. 30. 2. Dan. 4. 12. Hos. 14. 7. p ver. 20. Num. 21. 28. Ez. 19. 14. 9. Ps. 104. 16. Is. 2.13. & 37. 24. Ez. 31. S. 16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have 42 Kings 14. made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him ac- ch. 8. 35. cording to the deserving of his hands: 17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian : 18 And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, 4 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abime-king over the men of Shechem, belech hired 'vain and light persons, which followed him. 5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the 12 Kings 11. 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. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 ¶ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top Deut 11. 29. of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, 'Reign thou 19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then 'rejoice ye in 18. 8. 6. Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: 20 But if not, "let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. 21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. 22 ¶ When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, 23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech : 24 That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid, upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the Heb. killing of his brethren. 25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. 26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Gaal's conspiracy. B. C. about 1206. 1 Sam. 25.10. d Gen. 34. 2,6. 1 Kings 12.16. e 2 Sam. 15. 4. Il Or, hot. ly, or, to Tormah. с JUDGES. Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? 29 And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. 30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31 And he sent messengers unto Heb. crafti Abimelech † privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee. 32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: Heb. as thy hand shall find, 1 Sam. 10. 7. Heb. navel. Or, The regarders of times, Deut. 18. 14. { ver. 28, 29. 33 And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them tas thou shalt find occasion. 34 And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 37 And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the + middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. 38 Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. 39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. 41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. | Abimelech is slain. B. C. 42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out about 1206. into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43 And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them. 44 And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. h & ver. 20. Deut. 29. 23. 1 Kings 12. 25. 2 Kings 3. 25. 46 T And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into a hold of the house of i ch. 8. 33. the god Berith. 47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount * Zalmon, he and all the peo-Ps. 68. 14. ple that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. 49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. 52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ↑ Heb. I have done. |
