Verse 8
Judges 9:8
Bible in Basic English
8
One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us.
Original Language Text
hebrew
הָל֤וֹךְ הָֽלְכוּ֙ הָ/עֵצִ֔ים לִ/מְשֹׁ֥חַ עֲלֵי/הֶ֖ם מֶ֑לֶךְ וַ/יֹּאמְר֥וּ לַ/זַּ֖יִת מלוכ/ה מָלְכָ֥/ה עָלֵֽי/נוּ
English Translation
The trees went to anoint a king over themselves, and they said to the olive tree, "Reign over us."
AI translation from hebrew via gpt-4o-mini
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Chapter 9 Context
1
Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to his mother's family, and said to them and to...
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2
Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seve...
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3
So his mother's family said all this about him in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem: and their...
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4
And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech got...
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5
Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, t...
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6
And all the townsmen of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and went and made Abimelech their k...
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7
Now Jotham, on hearing of it, went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and crying out with a loud voice sai...
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8
One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king o...
9
But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God (...
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10
Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us.
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11
But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over t...
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12
Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us.
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13
But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God (Elohim) and men, to go wav...
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14
Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us.
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15
And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put...
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16
So now, if you have done truly and uprightly in making Abimelech king, and if you have done well to...
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17
(For my father made war for you, and put his life in danger, and made you free from the hands of Mid...
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18
And you have gone against my father's family this day, and have put to death his sons, even seventy...
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19
If then you have done what is true and upright to Jerubbaal and his family this day, may you have jo...
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20
But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech, burning up the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo; and...
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21
Then Jotham straight away went in flight to Beer, and was living there for fear of his brother Abime...
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22
So Abimelech was chief over Israel for three years.
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23
And God (Elohim) sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the townsmen of Shechem; and the townsmen...
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24
So that punishment for the violent attack made on the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and for their blood...
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25
And the townsmen of Shechem put secret watchers on the tops of the mountains, and they made attacks...
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26
Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem...
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27
And they went out into their fields and got in the fruit of their vines, and when the grapes had bee...
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28
And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we are to be his servants...
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29
If only I had authority over this people! I would put Abimelech out of the way, and I would say to A...
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30
Now Zebul, the ruler of the town, hearing what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said, was moved to wrath.
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31
And he sent to Abimelech at Arumah, saying, See, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brothers have come t...
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32
So now, get up by night, you and your people, and keep watch in the field secretly;
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33
And in the morning, when the sun is up, get up early and make a rush on the town; and when he and hi...
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34
So Abimelech and the people with him got up by night, in four bands, to make a surprise attack on Sh...
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35
And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out, and took his place at the doorway into the town; then Abimelech...
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36
And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, See! people are coming down from the tops of the mou...
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37
And Gaal said again, See! people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one band is coming...
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38
Then Zebul said to him, Now where is your loud talk when you said, Who is Abimelech that we are to b...
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39
So Gaal went out at the head of the townsmen of Shechem and made war on Abimelech.
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40
And Abimelech went after him and he went in flight before him; and a great number were falling by th...
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41
Then Abimelech went back to Arumah; and Zebul sent Gaal and his brothers away and would not let them...
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42
Now the day after, the people went out into the fields; and news of it came to Abimelech.
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43
And he took his people, separating them into three bands, and was waiting secretly in the field; and...
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44
And Abimelech with his band made a rush, and took up their position at the doorway into the town; an...
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45
And all that day Abimelech was fighting against the town; and he took it, and put to death the peopl...
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46
Then all the townsmen of the tower of Shechem, hearing of it, went into the inner room of the house...
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47
And word was given to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were there together.
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48
Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, with all his people; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand a...
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49
So all the people got branches, every man cutting down a branch, and they went with Abimelech at the...
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50
Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and put his army in position against Thebez and took it.
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51
But in the middle of the town there was a strong tower, to which all the men and women of the town w...
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52
And Abimelech came to the tower and made an attack on it, and got near to the door of the tower for...
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53
But a certain woman sent a great stone, such as is used for crushing grain, on to the head of Abimel...
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54
Then quickly crying out to his body-servant, he said to him, Take out your sword and put an end to m...
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55
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went away, every man to his place.
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56
In this way Abimelech was rewarded by God (Elohim) for the evil he had done to his father in putting...
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57
And God (Elohim) sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the...
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Verse Information