Judges 9:50
in Judges 9Then Abimelech went to Thebez, encamped against it, and captured it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
KJV
Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
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This verse in Judges 9
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThen went Abimelech to Thebez,.... Which, according to Ben Gersom, had rebelled against him; it was near to Shechem.
This site's exposition
Then went Abimelech to Thebez
on Judges 9:50-52
Thebez is named twice in the whole Bible, here and in Joab's message at 2 Samuel 11:21, and it sits a few hours north of Shechem. The people do what Shechem did, crowd into the strong tower and shut the door behind them, and Abimelech does what worked before and goes hard to the door to burn it. Going too near a wall is exactly what Joab's messenger is later told the king will ask about, and this siege is the example he is given to quote.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Of this meteor, this ignis fatuus of a prince, that was not a protector but a plague to his country, we may say, as once was said of a great tyrant, that he came in like a fox, ruled like a lion, and died like a dog. "For the transgression of a land, such are the princes thereof." The Usurpation of Abimelech.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The men of Thebez (modern Tubas) had, doubtless, joined the Shechemites in their rebellion against Abimelech.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תֵּבֵ֑ץ | tevetz | Thebez | H8405 → | |
| וַיִּ֥חַן | vaiyichan | and he encamped | H2583 → | 143 times |
| בְּתֵבֵ֖ץ | betevetz | at Thebez | H8405 → | |
| וַֽיִּלְכְּדָֽהּ׃ | vaiyilkedah | and he captured it | H3920 → | 121 times |
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְAbimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תֵּבֵ֑ץThebez
tevetzH8405 →
וַיִּ֥חַןand he encamped
vaiyichanH2583 →143 times
בְּתֵבֵ֖ץat Thebez
betevetzH8405 →
וַֽיִּלְכְּדָֽהּ׃and he captured it
vaiyilkedahH3920 →121 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.