Judges 9:53
in Judges 9But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and brake his skull.
KJV
And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
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This verse in Judges 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA piece of a millstone - פלח רכב pelach recheb, a piece of a chariot wheel; but the word is used in other places for upper millstones, and is so understood here by the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic. And all to break his skull - A most nonsensical version of ותרץ את גלגלתו vattarits eth gulgolto, which is literally, And she brake, or fractured, his skull. Plutarch, in his life of Pyrrhus, observes that this king was killed at the siege of Thebes, by a piece of a tile, which a woman threw upon his head.
This site's exposition
a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone
on Judges 9:53-54
The upper millstone was the stone a woman turned by hand, light enough to lift and heavy enough to kill, so the weapon comes off a roof and out of a kitchen. A stone killed seventy brothers at verse 5 and a stone kills the man who used it, which is the chapter's own arithmetic. His last order is given so that men say not of me, A woman slew him, and Judges 4:9 had already put the honour of Sisera's death in a woman's hand; Saul gives his armourbearer the same order at 1 Samuel 31:4 and is refused. Joab quotes this death from memory at 2 Samuel 11:21, generations later, which shows how well it was remembered.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The homicide Abimelech, bastard son of Gideon, killed the seventy legitimate sons, and, thinking he had hit upon a ruse for securing his grasp on the royal power, he destroyed his accomplices in the crime. He, however, was in turn destroyed by them and in the end was slain with a stone cast by a woman's hand.… In short, countless examples teach us that the profit of human wisdom is illusory, for it is a meager and lowly thing and not a great and preeminent good.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Mill-stone - Such great stones no doubt they carried up with them, whereby they might defend themselves, or offend those who assaulted them. Here the justice of God is remarkable in suiting the punishment to his sin.
And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone,....
See, (1.) His foolish pride, in laying so much to heart this little circumstance of his disgrace. Here was no care taken about his precious soul, no concern what would become of that, no prayer to God for his mercy; but very solicitous he is to patch up his shattered credit, when there is no patching his shattered skull.
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The besieged city--the strong tower within--the men and women crowding its battlements--the fire applied to the doors, and even the huge fragments of stone dropping from the hands of one of the garrison on the heads of the assailants, are all well represented to the life--just as they are here described in the narrative of inspired truth [GOSS].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The phrase “all” to is now obsolete, and means “quite,” “entirely,” as in Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתַּשְׁלֵ֞ךְ | vatashlekh | and she threw | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| אַחַ֛ת | ʾachat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| פֶּ֥לַח | pelach | a mill-stone of | H6400 → | |
| רֶ֖כֶב | rekhev | an upper mill-stone | H7393 → | 119 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] head of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֑לֶךְ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| וַתָּ֖רִץ | vataritz | and it crushed | H7533 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גֻּלְגָּלְתּֽוֹ׃ | gulgalto | skull his | H1538 → |
וַתַּשְׁלֵ֞ךְand she threw
vatashlekhH7993 →125 times
אִשָּׁ֥הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
אַחַ֛תone
ʾachatH259 →971 times
פֶּ֥לַחa mill-stone of
pelachH6400 →
רֶ֖כֶבan upper mill-stone
rekhevH7393 →119 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] head of
roshH7218 →599 times
אֲבִימֶ֑לֶךְAbimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
וַתָּ֖רִץand it crushed
vataritzH7533 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גֻּלְגָּלְתּֽוֹ׃skull his
gulgaltoH1538 →
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
Jeremiah 49:20Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away;…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:45
Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged…
- Malachi 1:3–4
but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
- Jeremiah 50:45
Through
Job 31:3Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
it leads to
Through
Judges 9:20But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
it leads to
- Judges 9:15
But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the…
- Judges 9:15
Through
2 Samuel 11:21Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you…
it leads to
- Judges 9:50–54
Then Abimelech went to Thebez, encamped against it, and captured it.
- Judges 7:1
Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the…
- Judges 9:50–54
Through
Jeremiah 50:45Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:20
Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away;…
- Jeremiah 49:20
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, ON HUMILITY; 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.