Judges 9:46
44 Then Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two companies rushed against all who were in the fields and struck them down.
45 And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
47 And when Abimelech was told that all the leaders in the tower of Shechem were gathered there,
48 he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
- KJV
- And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
- WEB
- When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith.
- ASV
- And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard thereof, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith.
- DARBY
- And all the men of the tower of Shechem heard [that], and they entered into the stronghold of the house of the God Berith.
- BLB
- And all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard, and they entered into the stronghold of the temple of El-berith.
- ÅB
- Da mennene i Sikems borg hørte det, gikk de alle inn i tårnet som hørte til El-Berits[^4] tempel.
- OTB
- Da alle lederne i tårnet i Sikem hørte om det, gikk de inn i det indre kammeret i tempelet til El-Berit.
- B1930
- Da mennene i Sikems borg hørte det, gikk de alle inn i tårnet som hørte til El-Berits tempel. / < d.s.s. Ba'al-Berit; se DMR 9, 4.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
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.
Read in contextPsalms 115:8
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Read in contextJudges 9:4
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.
Read in contextIsaiah 37:38
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
Read in contextJudges 9:27
And after they had gone out into the fields, gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trodden them, they held a festival and went into the house of their god; and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
Read in contextIsaiah 28:15–18
For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
Read in context2 Kings 1:2–4
Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
Read in context1 Kings 8:26
And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.
Read in context