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Judges 9:40

in Judges 9

but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. And many Shechemites fell wounded all the way to the entrance of the gate.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even unto the entrance of the gate.

KJV

And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him

on Judges 9:40-41

The fighting ends where it began, with the wounded falling "all the way to the entrance of the gate". Abimelech stays in Arumah and leaves Zebul to drive Gaal out of Shechem, which keeps the town standing another day. What comes next shows the restraint was a matter of timing.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

In this action the Shechemites' loss was considerable: Many were overthrown and wounded, the common effect of popular tumults, in which the inconsiderate multitude are often drawn into fatal snare by those that promise them glorious success.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The consequence was that he allowed himself to be drawn into an ambush, was defeated, the city of Shechem destroyed and strewn with salt. The people took refuge in the stronghold, which was set on fire, and all in it perished.

The words behind it

10 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.

  • וַיִּרְדְּפֵ֣הוּand he pursued him

    vaiyirdefehuH7291 →143 times

  • אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְAbimelech

    ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times

  • וַיָּ֖נָסand he fled

    vaiyanosH5127 →159 times

  • מִפָּנָ֑יוfrom before him

    mipanavH6440 →2123 times

  • וַֽיִּפְּל֛וּand they fell

    vaiyipeluH5307 →435 times

  • חֲלָלִ֥ים[those] fatally wounded

    chalalimH2491 →94 times

  • רַבִּ֖יםmany

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • פֶּ֥תַח[the] entrance of

    petachH6607 →164 times

  • הַשָּֽׁעַר׃the gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

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

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

    1 Kings 20:30

    The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 18:24

      Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”

    • 1 Kings 22:25

      Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”

    • 1 Kings 20:26

      In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

    • Luke 13:4

      Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?

    • Psalms 18:25

      To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

Where this verse is studied

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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.