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Judges 9:25

in Judges 9

The leaders of Shechem set up an ambush against Abimelech on the hilltops, and they robbed all who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

set up an ambush against Abimelech

on Judges 9:25-27

Robbing the roads cuts off the tolls and traffic a ruler lives on. When Gaal son of Ebed arrives, "the leaders of Shechem put their confidence in him," as they had in Abimelech three years before. They curse Abimelech at the vintage festival in "the house of their god," so the break is sworn in the shrine that paid for him at verse 4.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The men of Shechem set liers in wait - It pleased God to punish this bad man by the very persons who had contributed to his iniquitous elevation. So God often makes the instruments of men’s sins the means of their punishment. It is likely that although Abimelech had his chief residence at Shechem, yet he frequently went to Ophrah, the city of his father; his claim to which there was none to oppose, as he had slain all his brethren.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיָּשִׂ֣ימוּand they set

    vaiyasimuH7760 →584 times

  • לוֹ֩to <the> him

    lo

  • בַעֲלֵ֨י[the] citizens of

    vaaleiH1167 →84 times

  • שְׁכֶ֜םShechem

    shekhemH7927 →63 times

  • מְאָרְבִ֗יםambushers

    mearevimH693 →41 times

  • עַ֚לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • רָאשֵׁ֣י[the] tops of

    rasheiH7218 →599 times

  • הֶהָרִ֔יםthe mountains

    heharimH2022 →546 times

  • וַיִּגְזְל֗וּand they robbed

    vaiyigzeluH1497 →

  • אֵ֛ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[one] who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יַעֲבֹ֥רhe passed by

    yaavorH5674 →556 times

  • עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them

    ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times

  • בַּדָּ֑רֶךְon the road

    badarekhH1870 →707 times

  • וַיֻּגַּ֖דand it was told

    vaiyugadH5046 →370 times

  • לַאֲבִימֶֽלֶךְ׃ פto Abimelech

    laavimelekhH40 →66 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Joshua 8:4

    with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.

    it leads to

    • Judges 20:29

      So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

    • 1 Samuel 15:2

      This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.

    • Acts 23:21

      Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they…

    • Ecclesiastes 7:19

      Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

    • 1 Samuel 15:5

      Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.

About Judges

The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 9 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 9 →