Judges 9:23 kjv
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
Judges 9:23 nkjv
God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
Judges 9:23 niv
God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek.
Judges 9:23 esv
And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
Judges 9:23 nlt
God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.
Judges 9 23 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 16:14 | "Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him." | God sends adverse spirits for discipline. |
| 1 Kgs 22:23 | "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets." | God's sovereign use of deceptive spirits. |
| 2 Chr 18:22 | "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets..." | God orchestrates circumstances. |
| Ps 78:49 | "He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, a company of destroying angels." | God's instruments of wrath. |
| Prov 16:4 | "The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." | God's sovereignty over all creation and events. |
| Amos 3:6 | "...Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it?" | God's ultimate control over calamities. |
| Lam 3:38 | "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?" | God as the ultimate source of all. |
| Isa 19:2 | "And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight..." | God stirring up internal conflict for judgment. |
| Rom 9:17-18 | "...I raised you up for this very purpose... So then, he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whom he wills." | God's sovereign will and purpose for men. |
| Gen 45:5-8 | "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves... God sent me before you to preserve life." | God's use of human evil for good ends. |
| Judges 9:56 | "Thus God repaid the evil of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers." | Explicit statement of divine retribution. |
| Judges 9:57 | "And all the evil of the men of Shechem God repaid on their own heads..." | Divine judgment on the Shechemites. |
| Judges 9:20 | "Let fire come out from Abimelech... and devour the leaders of Shechem..." | Jotham's curse fulfilled. |
| Judges 9:24 | "that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be avenged." | Connects the evil spirit to avenging earlier crime. |
| Prov 22:8 | "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity..." | The principle of sowing and reaping. |
| Gal 6:7 | "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." | Reinforces divine recompense. |
| Jer 2:19 | "Your own evil will discipline you, and your apostasy will reprove you." | Sin bringing its own punishment. |
| Hos 8:7 | "For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." | Inevitable destructive consequences of evil actions. |
| Job 4:8 | "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." | Iniquity returning upon the perpetrator. |
| Prov 11:3 | "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them." | The outcome of treachery. |
| Isa 24:16 | "From the ends of the earth we hear songs, 'Glory to the Righteous One!' But I say, 'I pine away; I pine away. Woe to me! For the traitors deal treacherously; the traitors deal very treacherously.'" | Treachery as a cause of woe. |
| Mal 2:10 | "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another?" | Rebuke of faithlessness/treachery. |
| Deut 28:20 | "The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do..." | God's curses causing internal discord/failure. |
Judges 9 verses
Judges 9 23 Meaning
Judges 9:23 declares that God initiated a profound disruption between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, the very people who had helped him ascend to power through violent treachery. This disruption manifested as a "spirit of evil" or "discord," causing the Shechemites to act faithlessly towards Abimelech. It signals the beginning of the end for Abimelech's tyrannical rule and serves as the divine instrument for fulfilling Jotham's curse and enacting justice upon both Abimelech and his confederates in Shechem for their previous wicked deeds, particularly the massacre of Gideon's sons.
Judges 9 23 Context
Judges chapter 9 recounts the violent aftermath of Gideon's life and the attempted establishment of a monarchy by his ambitious, ruthless son, Abimelech. After Gideon's death, Abimelech conspired with his mother's relatives in Shechem and Beth Millo, convincing the citizens to make him king by asserting his blood kinship over Gideon's 70 other sons. To secure his rule, Abimelech murdered all but one of his half-brothers on one stone (Jdg 9:5). The lone survivor, Jotham, then delivered a scathing parable and curse against Abimelech and the men of Shechem (Jdg 9:7-21). Jotham prophesied that "fire" (referring to conflict and destruction) would come from Abimelech to consume the men of Shechem, and fire would come from Shechem to consume Abimelech (Jdg 9:15, 9:20). Verse 23 marks a turning point, indicating that three years after Abimelech ruled, God directly intervened to instigate the conflict that would ultimately lead to the fulfillment of Jotham's curse and bring about divine retribution. It initiates the unraveling of the unholy alliance built on bloodshed.
Judges 9 23 Word analysis
- And God (וְאֱלֹהִים, wĕʾělōhîm): The connective waw ("and") links this divine action to the passage of three years (v. 22), indicating that this is a deliberate and timed act by God. ʾĔlōhîm refers to the one true God, Israel's God. This emphasizes His sovereignty and active involvement in human affairs, directly initiating the conflict as a means of divine justice, rather than merely permitting events to unfold.
- sent (שָׁלַח, shalach): This verb denotes a deliberate act of dispatching or sending forth. It conveys agency and intentionality, emphasizing that God did not merely allow or tolerate the situation; He actively caused it. It portrays God as the orchestrator of history, working through even negative events to bring about His purposes, which here is judgment.
- an evil spirit (רוּחַ רָעָה, ruach ra'ah):
- Ruach can mean wind, breath, or spirit. Here, it signifies an influential, unseen force or disposition.
- Ra'ah means bad, evil, harmful, malignant, or adverse.
- This phrase describes a spirit of intense animosity, rebellion, treachery, and disloyalty that afflicted both Abimelech and the Shechemites. It's often understood not as a personal demonic entity in the New Testament sense but as a divine instrumentality – a severe mental state, mutual suspicion, or hostile inclination – brought about by God to incite strife and fulfill His judgment. Other instances like 1 Sam 16:14 and 1 Kgs 22:23 illustrate God sending such "spirits" to achieve His judicial purposes.
- between Abimelech and the men of Shechem: This specifies the precise parties targeted by the "evil spirit." The conflict is internally directed at the core of the unholy alliance that was formed to usurp power through violence. This shows divine precision in judgment, targeting those involved in the original transgression.
- and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously (וַיִּבְגְּדוּ, wayyiḇgĕḏū): The verb bagad (בָּגַד) means to act faithlessly, to betray, to deal perfidiously, or to play false. This act of treachery by the Shechemites against Abimelech directly mirrors Abimelech's initial treachery against his own family (Gideon's sons) and implicitly the Shechemites' complicity in that treachery. This highlights the concept of poetic justice and divine reciprocity, where betrayal is met with betrayal.
- God sent an evil spirit: This phrase encapsulates divine sovereignty over both blessing and calamity. God's act of "sending" underscores His ultimate control over events and human dispositions. It is a punitive act, specifically tailored to undo the wicked alliance through internal strife.
- between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: This combined action highlights that the instrument of judgment (the "evil spirit") directly led to a breakdown of loyalty and an outbreak of treachery. The very alliance built on treachery now collapses due to treachery, orchestrated by divine decree. This demonstrates how alliances built on evil cannot stand, as God himself causes them to implode.
Judges 9 23 Bonus section
The concept of God "sending" an "evil spirit" challenges human notions of good and evil, emphasizing that God remains sovereign even over the darkest aspects of human experience. It clarifies that God does not become evil but uses adverse circumstances and the wicked dispositions of men to achieve His righteous purposes and bring judgment. This divine action sets in motion a chain of events (Jdg 9:24-57) that meticulously repays the violence and treachery initiated by both Abimelech and the men of Shechem, leading to their mutual destruction and fulfilling the curses pronounced by Jotham.
Judges 9 23 Commentary
Judges 9:23 is the divine pivot point in Abimelech's short, violent reign, illustrating God's unwavering justice. After three years of Abimelech's rule, a consequence of his bloodthirsty rise, God actively intervenes. The "evil spirit" sent by God is not some autonomous malevolent entity, but an instrument of divine judgment – an internally fostered discord, mutual suspicion, and a spirit of treachery among the Shechemites, which causes them to betray Abimelech. This fulfills Jotham's curse (Jdg 9:20), where "fire" was to consume both Abimelech and Shechem. God uses human evil (the Shechemites' inherent faithlessness, parallel to Abimelech's own) to punish evil, orchestrating circumstances to bring about the downfall of those who disregarded His laws and perpetrated horrific violence. The treachery that established Abimelech's power ultimately becomes the means of its destruction, a vivid example of divine poetic justice and the principle that sin carries its own destructive consequences.