Judges 9:46

Judges 9:46 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith.
• English Standard Version (ESV)When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.

Context of Judges 9:46

44Abimelech and his group of soldiers ran to stand at the city gate. They stopped people going back into the city. The other two groups attacked the people in the fields and killed them. 45Abimelech attacked the city all that day. He took the city and he killed all the people who lived there. Then he destroyed the city. He put salt all over it as a curse. The city's leaders who lived in the tower of Shechem heard the news. They went to hide in the strong building of El-berith's temple. 47Somebody told Abimelech that all the leaders were there together in the temple. 48He took all his men up to Mount Zalmon. He used an axe to cut some branches off a tree. He put the branches on his shoulders. Then he said to his men, ‘Be quick! Do the same thing as you have seen me do!’

Judges 9:46 word by word

וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֔וּ כָּֽל־בַּעֲלֵ֖י מִֽגְדַּל־שְׁכֶ֑ם וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־צְרִ֔יחַ בֵּ֖ית אֵ֥ל בְּרִֽית׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And when all the menבַּעַלba‛al · masterH1167
• of the towerמִגְדָּלmigdâl migdâlâh · towerH4026
• of Shechemשְׁכֶםshekem · ShechemH7927
• heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• they enteredבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• into an holdצְרִיחַtserîyach · excavationH6877
• of the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• of the godאֵל'êl · El (Berith)H410
• Berithבְּרִיתberîyth · (Baal)-berithH1286

Cross-references for Judges 9:46

• Judges 9:4So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of their god, Baal-Berith. Abimelech used this money to pay some wicked men to help him.
• Judges 8:33Soon after Gideon died, the Israelites stopped being faithful to the Lord. They started to worship the idols of Baal again. They chose Baal-Berith to be their new god.
• 1 Kings 8:26So now, God of Israel, please cause what you promised to my father, your servant David, to happen.
• 2 Kings 1:2At this time, Ahaziah was king of Israel. He lived in the city of Samaria. One day he fell from the window of an upstairs room in his palace. He became very ill. So he sent men to the temple of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. He told them, ‘Ask their god if I will become well again after my disease.’
• Psalms 115:8The people that make those idols will become useless like them. The same is true for everyone who trusts their idols to help them.
• Isaiah 28:15You boast, ‘We have made a covenant with death. Yes, we have made an agreement with Sheol. When trouble comes to our city like a deep flood of water, we will be safe. We trust in our lies to keep us safe.’
• Isaiah 37:38One day, Sennacherib was worshipping his god Nisrok, in Nisrok's temple. Two of Sennacherib's sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, went in and they killed him with their swords. Then they ran away to the region of Ararat. Sennacherib's son, Esarhaddon, now ruled Assyria as king.

Commentaries on Judges 9:46

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 46A hold of the house of the god Berith - This must mean the precincts of the temple, as we find there were a thousand men and women together in that place.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 46An hold of the house of the god Berith - As combining the advantages of a “sanctuary” (compare 1 Kings 2:28) and a fortress. The word rendered “hold” occurs elsewhere only in 1 Samuel 13:6, where it is rendered “high-place.” Its exact signification is uncertain.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 30-49Verses 30-49 Abimelech intended to punish the Schechemites for slighting him now, but God punished them for their serving him formerly in the murder of Gideon's sons. When God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing, and they another. That, which they hoped would have been for their welfare, proved a snare and a trap, as those will certainly find, who run to idols for shelter; such will prove a refuge of lies. (Jdg 9:50-57)Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 46-49The leaders (literally lords) of Shechem, who first plotted against Abimelech, gathered in the temple of Baal-berith. The temple then burned around them. Archaeologists have confirmed this destruction at the site.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22-4922. When Abimelech had reigned three years--His reign did not, probably at first, extend beyond Shechem; but by stealthy and progressive encroachments he subjected some of the neighboring towns to his sway. None could "reign" in Israel, except by rebellious usurpation; and hence the reign of Abimelech is expressed in the original by a word signifying "despotism," not that which describes the mild and divinely authorized rule of the judge.Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 9:46

• Baal-Berith
• Judge
• Tower

In the dictionaries

• God
• Shechem
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Tower of Shechem
• City
• Deserving
• Gaal
• Incline
• Merry
• Middle

Commentaries on Judges 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary