302|Judges 8:26
26 The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels,[1] in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.
27 From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
Forty Years of Peace
28 In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon, 29 and he—Jerubbaal [2] son of Joash—returned home and settled down.
30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own,[3] since he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Gideon’s Death
32 Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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.
34 The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.
Abimelech’s Conspiracy
9 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal [4] went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother, 2 “Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”
3 And when his mother’s brothers spoke all these words about him in the presence of all the leaders of Shechem, their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 So they gave him seventy shekels of silver [5] from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him. 5 He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak [6] at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
Jotham’s Parable
7 When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out:
“Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem,
and may God listen to you.
8 One day the trees set out
to anoint a king for themselves.
They said to the olive tree,
‘Reign over us.’
- ↑ 26 1,700 shekels is approximately 42.7 pounds or 19.4 kilograms.
- ↑ 29 Jerubbaal is another name for Gideon and probably means let Baal contend; also in verse 35; see Judges 6:32.
- ↑ 30 Hebrew who came from his own loins
- ↑ 1 Jerubbaal is another name for Gideon and probably means let Baal contend; here and throughout this chapter; see Judges 6:32.
- ↑ 4 70 shekels is approximately 1.76 pounds or 797.8 grams of silver.
- ↑ 6 Or terebinth or great tree
