Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: Some notes on Judges 9, the aim of which is to flag up certain points of interest.

Ch. 9 describes another unusual weapon which YHWH employs to defeat his enemies (cp. previous threads), namely, YHWH’s enemies themselves. To put the point another way, ch. 9 recounts an example of how man’s kingdoms inevitably tend towards division and self-destruction.

Abi-Melech (presumably a worshipper of Baal) turns against ‘the Baals of Shechem’ (בַּעֲלֵי שְׁכֶם), torches Baal’s temple (9.46-49), and is ultimately torched himself (9.20).

Shechem’s fall, however, is not the result of bad luck or a lack of organisation; it is be the result of God’s judgment, proclaimed in the form of a parable by Jotham, Gideon’s son.

As ch. 9’s story begins, we find Shechem in Canaanite hands. The Israelites not long ago renewed their covenant with their Lord at Shechem (Josh. 24), yet Shechem now has a new lord--Baal Berith (בעל ברית), ‘lord of the covenant’.

Our author describes Abi-Melech’s rise and fall in typically ironic--and at times lex-talionis-esque--fashion (cp. 9.23-24).

Abi-Melech executes each of Gideon’s sons in turn on a single stone (9.4), yet is ultimately slain by a single stone (thrown from the top of a tower).

Abi-Melech commends himself to the Shechemites on the basis of his singleness of mind: it is better, he claims, for the Shechemites to be ruled by ‘one man’ (אִישׁ אֶחָד) rather than by many men,...

...yet Abi-Melech ultimately behaves in a double-minded manner towards the Shechemites, and his rulership is undone by ‘one woman’ (אִשָּׁה אַחַת cp. 9.54).

And Abi-Melech slays many Shechemites when he sets fire to the roof of a tower’s inner chamber, yet is ultimately slain at the foot of a tower by *Shechem’s* fire (cp. 9.20)--or, to be precise, is slain by a stone thrown from a tower’s roof (9.51-53).

Also of interest is the way in which Abi-Melech’s attacks against Shechem contrast--or perhaps parody--Gideon’s attack against the Midianites.

While Gideon chooses out an army of men who volunteer their services, Abi-Melech buys an army of mercenaries. While Gideon attacks the Midianites armed with ‘empty pitchers’ (כַּדִּים רֵקִים), Abi-Melech attacks Shechem armed with a band of ‘empty men’ (אֲנָשִׁים רֵיקִים).

While Gideon attacks at the dead of night, Abi-Melech attacks Shechem at the break of day. And, while Gideon wants his men to seem more numerous than they are, Abi-Melech wants his men to seem fewer than they are (and even to be mistaken for shadows).

As such, Abi-Melech’s attack against Shechem is portrayed as a continuation of Gideon’s war against Baal. Baal, it seems, has still not managed to contend with Jerub-Baal, and God, it seems, still wants to subdue Baal, even through Gideon’s legacy.

As usual, names and wordplay are important in ch. 9.

Abi-Melech (אבימלך) can be rendered as ‘My father is King’, yet Abi-Melech was not in fact a legitimate son of Gideon, who was not a legitimate king (מלך) anyway.

The name ‘Jotham’ (יותם) can be rendered as ‘YHWH is loyal’ (from יהוה + the root תמם), and loyalty is, of course, the very quality absent from the men of Shechem lack.

Jotham twice points out how the Shechemites have failed to show any ‘loyalty’ (תמים) to Gideon, who is, after all, the person who saved them from Midian (9.16-19). Note: Outside of Judg. 9, the word תמים does not occur.

Also of interest is Abi-Melech’s choice of words when he convinces the Shechemites to instate him as king. ‘What is better?’, he asks. ‘A reign (משל) of one man or of seventy men?’.

The word משל is slightly unexpected. מלך would be more natural, especially since it is the root employed to describe Abi-Melech’s instatement in 9.6 (and in Jotham’s parable). But the consonants משל embody a further example of wordplay...

...since Abi-Melech’s question (‘What is better?’) is answered by Jotham’s משל = ‘parable’. It would have been far better for the Shechemites to stick with Gideon’s seventy sons.

As for the particular parable told by Jotham, its form is noteworthy. A similar literary device (where trees discuss their merits with one another) is employed in a 2nd mill. Babylonian piece of wisdom lit., & the association of ‘trees’ and ‘authority’ is v. relevant to ch. 9.

Deborah presided over Israel from beneath a tall palm tree (ch. 4); Abi-Melech has just been instated as king beside an oak tree (ch. 9); and, in five judges’ time, Israel will be ruled by a man named Elon (אלון) = ‘oak tree’.

Note: Jotham’s parable is announced from Mt. Gerizim, which is where YHWH’s *blessings* were announced from in Moses’s day (cp. Deut. 28). Jotham’s hearers might, therefore, have expected good news--and had they acted to it, it *would* have been--, but...

...Jotham’s parable actually meant bad news for the men of Shechem (hence its ‘curse’ is referred to in 9.57), all of which reflects the ironic nature of ch. 9:

What God intended for good would turn out badly for the Shechemites, and what *they* intended for bad (9.23) was superintended for good in God’s sovereign purposes (9.24).

Some lessons: Violence, mercilessness, and lies spread rapidly. Gideon introduces the notions of ‘thorns’ in Israel in ch. 8. A ‘bramble’ tree then arises in ch. 9, which ushers in a time of great cruelty in Shechem.

The name Shechem (שכם) can potentially be rendered as ‘thorn’ (cp. Ugar. /ŠKM/). And Israel’s very next judge (Tola) dies in a placed name Shamir (שָׁמִיר) = ‘thorn’. In other words, Gideon’s cruelty appears to have taken root in Israel.

The image of fire furthers these notions.

Thorns are often associated with fire in Scripture, in part because they are very easily ignited (Exod. 22.6, Psa. 118.12, Isa. 9.18, 10.17, 33.12; note in particular Psa. 58.9, where the word ‘fire’ is generally supplied in order to make sense of the text).

Why? Because, like thorns and violence, fire spreads very easily. Hence, Gideon’s violence against his fellow men is met with a backlash against his sons; Abi-Melech’s violence against Gideon is met with a backlash against Abi-Melech; ...

...Gaal’s ambush of Abi-Melech is met with an ambush against Abi-Melech (9.25, 35); and so it continues.

And yet, sadly, when we encounter violence in the present world, we often assume it must be met with violence. Many people, it seems, who dismiss Scripture as irrelevant to their lives could learn a great deal from a careful study of it.

In summary, then: thorny trees (i.e., self-promoted leaders) and fiery environments (i.e., those affected by violence and anger) do not mix, especially when you add wine and festivals into the equation (9.27).

Gideon initiated a spiral of vengeance and violence when he would have done better to leave vengeance in the hands of his God (9.56-57 cp. Deut. 32.35, Rom. 12.17-19).

A final note: An accurate view of Scripture requires time to converge towards, as does a proper view of world history, since YHWH’s guidance of world history is not always immediately apparent.

The reference to ‘an evil spirit’ in 9.23-24 (‘God sent/put an evil spirit between Abi-Melech & the Shechemites’) could simply be viewed as ‘a bad temper’ which developed (at God’s instigation) between the relevant parties (cp. 8.3, where ‘spirit’ = the Midianites’ temperament).

But it can also (and *should* also) be viewed as a ref. to God’s active intervention in the affairs of man. Just as God moves the story of Judges along when he sends his Spirit on men like Gideon, so too he moves the story on by means of an evil spirit which stirs up trouble.

The subtly of YHWH’s work in history may even be hinted at in our text.

Thus far in the book of Judges, the name YHWH has occurred 103 times, yet it does not occur even once in ch. 9 (cp. its absence in Esther)--a statement which is not true of any other chapter in the book of Judges. Meanwhile, ‘Baal’ occurs 26 times (בעלי שכם | ירבעל | בעל ברית).

Apparently, then, YHWH has abandoned Israel and left Baal, Abi-Melech, and Gaal to run the show. Or at least so it might be thought. But a closer consideration of these numbers reveal the handiwork of YHWH.

The 26 occurrences of ‘Baal’ are actually an indicator of the work of YHWH, since 26 is YHWH’s number; that is to say, the gematrial value of the name YHWH is 26. (Note how the employment of the name ‘El-Berith’ in place of ‘Baal-Berith’ in 9.46 preserves the count of 26.)

The names ‘Abi-Melech’ (אבימלך) and ‘Gaal’ (געל) tell a similar story, since both of them have the same gematrial value--viz. 103--, which is the exact number of occurrences of YHWH thus far in the book of Judges.

Yahweh, then, may seem to be absent from the text, but his agency is reflected in it in deeper and more subtle ways. It is he who is the ultimate agent behind the rise of Baal, Abi-Melech, and Gaal, and who is the ultimate judge of the men of Shechem.

Note: In ch. 9’s final verse, which describes God’s repayment of the men of Shechem for their wickedness, the text refers to ‘the men of Shechem’ as a whole (i.e., אנשי שכם) rather than just to ‘the leaders of Shechem’ (בעלי שכם).

And, as it happens, אנשי שכם has a gematrial value of 721 = 103 x 7. By the close of the chapter, judgment has been meted out on Shechem, and the work of YHWH is complete.

Next up ch. 10, though probably not for a bit now.

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