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Judges 9:4

in Judges 9

So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him.

KJV

And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal–berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Threescore and ten pieces of silver - Probably shekels; and this was the whole of his exchequer. As he was now usurping the government of God, he begins with a contribution from the idol temple. A work begun under the name and influence of the devil is not likely to end to the glory of God, or to the welfare of man. Hired vain and light persons - אנשים ריקים ופחזים anashim reykim uphochazim, worthless and dissolute men; persons who were living on the public, and had nothing to lose. Such was the foundation of his Babel government.

This site's exposition

seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith

on Judges 9:4-5

The silver comes from the temple of Baal-berith, the god Israel took up when Gideon died at 8:33, so the shrine funds the coup. Seventy shekels buy seventy deaths, one a brother, and the "worthless and reckless men" hired are the following Jephthah gathers at 11:3. The killing "on one stone" reads as an execution, and Jotham survives by hiding, as Joash later does at 2 Kings 11:2.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Pieces of silver - Not shekels, which were too small a sum for this purpose; but far larger pieces, the exact worth whereof it is not possible for us now to know. The house of Baal-berith - Out of his sacred treasury; having since Gideon's death built this temple (which he would never have suffered whilst he lived) and endowed it with considerable revenues.
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baalbirith,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Like leader like followers. How cruelly he got his father's sons out of the way. The first thing he did with the rabble he headed was to kill all his brethren at once, publicly and in cold blood, threescore and ten men, one only escaping, all slain upon one stone.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the house of Baal-berith--either the temple, or the place where this idol was worshipped; Baal-berith, "god of the covenant," by invocation of whom the league of cities was formed.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

15 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.

  • וַיִּתְּנוּ־and they gave

    vaiyitenu-H5414 →2011 times

  • לוֹ֙to <the> him

    lo

  • שִׁבְעִ֣יםseventy

    shivimH7657 →91 times

  • כֶּ֔סֶףsilver

    kesefH3701 →403 times

  • מִבֵּ֖יתּfrom [the] house of

    mibeitH1004 →2046 times

  • בַ֣עַלBaal-

    baalH1170 →4 times

  • בְּרִ֑יתBerith

    beritH1170 →4 times

  • וַיִּשְׂכֹּ֨רand he hired

    vaiyiskorH7936 →

  • בָּהֶ֜םfor them

    bahem

  • אֲבִימֶ֗לֶךְAbimelech

    ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times

  • אֲנָשִׁ֤יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • רֵיקִים֙unprincipled

    reikimH7386 →14 times

  • וּפֹ֣חֲזִ֔יםand undisciplined

    ufochazimH6348 →

  • וַיֵּלְכ֖וּand they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • אַחֲרָֽיו׃after him

    ʾacharavH310 →715 times

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

The walk

8 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

    Proverbs 12:11

    The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 28:19

      The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Proverbs 14:23

      There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12

      and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

    • Psalms 128:2

      For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

    • Ephesians 4:28

      He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

  • Through

    Acts 17:5

    The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas,…

    it leads to

    • Galatians 5:26

      Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.

    • Acts 17:13

      But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.

  • Through

    Judges 8:33

    And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

    it leads to

    • Judges 9:46

      On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.

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

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.