Judges 9:2
in Judges 9“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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Judges 9
Commentary
3 notes on this verseWhether is better for you, either that all the sons - This was a powerful argument: Whether will you have seventy tyrants or only one? For, as he had no right to the government, and God alone was king at that time in Israel; so he must support his usurped rule by whatever means were most likely to effect it: a usurped government is generally supported by oppression and the sword.
This site's exposition
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went
on Judges 9:1-3
Gideon told Israel at 8:23 that neither he nor his son would rule them, and his son opens this chapter canvassing for the crown. Abimelech argues from kinship rather than from any claim of right, and the phrase he uses, I am your bone and your flesh, is the formula Laban used of Jacob at Genesis 29:14 and the one the tribes use to make David king at 2 Samuel 5:1. Shechem is his mother's town, named at 8:31, so among those men the seventy sons of Gideon are outsiders and he is not.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, . . . or that one reign over you--a false insinuation, artfully contrived to stir up jealousy and alarm. Gideon had rejected, with abhorrence, the proposal to make himself or any of his family king, and there is no evidence that any of his other sons coveted the title.
The words behind it
26 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבְּרוּ־ | daberu- | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| נָ֞א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| בְּאָזְנֵ֨י | beazenei | in [the] ears of | H241 → | 187 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בַּעֲלֵ֣י | baalei | [the] citizens of | H1167 → | 84 times |
| שְׁכֶם֮ | shekhem | Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| טּ֣וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| לָכֶם֒ | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| הַמְשֹׁ֨ל | hamshol | ¿ to rule | H4910 → | 81 times |
| בָּכֶ֜ם | bakhem | over <the> you | ||
| שִׁבְעִ֣ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
| אִ֗ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְרֻבַּ֔עַל | yerubaal | Jerub-Baal | H3378 → | 14 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מְשֹׁ֥ל | meshol | to rule | H4910 → | 81 times |
| בָּכֶ֖ם | bakhem | over <the> you | ||
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶחָ֑ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וּזְכַרְתֶּ֕ם | uzekhartem | and you will remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַצְמֵכֶם | ʾatzmekhem | [am] bone your | H6106 → | |
| וּבְשַׂרְכֶ֖ם | uvesarkhem | and flesh your | H1320 → | 270 times |
| אָנִֽי׃ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
דַּבְּרוּ־speak
daberu-H1696 →1141 times
נָ֞אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
בְּאָזְנֵ֨יin [the] ears of
beazeneiH241 →187 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
בַּעֲלֵ֣י[the] citizens of
baaleiH1167 →84 times
שְׁכֶם֮Shechem
shekhemH7927 →63 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
טּ֣וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
לָכֶם֒for <the> you
lakhem
הַמְשֹׁ֨ל¿ to rule
hamsholH4910 →81 times
בָּכֶ֜םover <the> you
bakhem
שִׁבְעִ֣יםseventy
shivimH7657 →91 times
אִ֗ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כֹּ֚לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יְרֻבַּ֔עַלJerub-Baal
yerubaalH3378 →14 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
מְשֹׁ֥לto rule
mesholH4910 →81 times
בָּכֶ֖םover <the> you
bakhem
אִ֣ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶחָ֑דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וּזְכַרְתֶּ֕םand you will remember
uzekhartemH2142 →230 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עַצְמֵכֶם[am] bone your
ʾatzmekhemH6106 →
וּבְשַׂרְכֶ֖םand flesh your
uvesarkhemH1320 →270 times
אָנִֽי׃I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 2:14Now 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,
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 1:10
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,
- Romans 8:3
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin.…
- Colossians 2:15
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54–57
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
- John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 2 Timothy 1:10
Through
Ephesians 5:30For we are members of His body.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:23
And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 6:15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
- 1 Corinthians 12:12–27
The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.
- Genesis 2:23
About Judges

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
