Judges 9 45

Judges 9:45 kjv

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

Judges 9:45 nkjv

So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

Judges 9:45 niv

All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.

Judges 9:45 esv

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

Judges 9:45 nlt

The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.

Judges 9 verses

Judges 9 45 Meaning

Judges 9:45 details the completion of Abimelech's assault on the city of Shechem. It records the total victory of Abimelech over the city, leading to its utter devastation. He captured the city, executed its inhabitants, thoroughly demolished its structures, and performed the highly symbolic act of sowing it with salt. This act was not for agricultural purposes but was a powerful curse meant to render the ground barren and perpetually desolate, symbolizing an irreversible state of ruin and declaring the place unfit for habitation or cultivation ever again. It marks the profound and complete destruction of Shechem.

Judges 9 45 Context

Judges chapter 9 recounts the tragic and violent rise and fall of Abimelech, the illegitimate son of Gideon (Jerubbaal) and his Shechemite concubine. After Gideon's death, Abimelech conspired with his mother's relatives in Shechem to usurp power by murdering all of Gideon's legitimate seventy sons, except for Jotham, the youngest, who escaped. The men of Shechem, motivated by tribal allegiance and a desire for local rule, anointed Abimelech as their king. Jotham, from a mountaintop, delivered a parable (the trees choosing a king, with the thornbush, Abimelech, accepting) that cursed both Abimelech and Shechem, prophesying that fire would consume them both.

Three years later, strife broke out between Abimelech and Shechem. God stirred up an evil spirit between them, fulfilling Jotham's curse, causing the Shechemites to turn against Abimelech. They rebelled, hindering his trade routes and setting up Gaal, son of Ebed, as a rival leader. Abimelech, with his captain Zebul (the city's governor who was loyal to Abimelech), successfully launched a decisive attack against the rebellious Shechem. After capturing and devastating the open country around Shechem, Abimelech laid siege to the city itself. Verse 45 details the culminating act of this siege, depicting the horrific completion of his revenge on the city that first made him king, but then turned against him. This event underscores the chaotic and violent nature of Israel during the period of the Judges, where self-serving ambition and betrayal were rife.

Judges 9 45 Word analysis

• And Abimelech fought against the city all that day;

  • Abimelech (אֲבִימֶלֶךְ - Avimelekh): "My father is king." His name foreshadows his ambition and actions, directly contrary to Gideon's (Jerubbaal's) refusal of kingship.
  • Fought (נִלְחַם - nilham): Reflects ongoing, intense military engagement.
  • The city (הָעִיר - ha-ʿir): Shechem, specifically, a major and ancient Canaanite city within Israelite territory, significant for its historical connection to Abraham (Gen 12:6-7) and Joshua's covenant renewal (Josh 24).
  • All that day: Indicates a full day of sustained and determined combat, highlighting the intensity and culmination of the battle.

• and he took the city, and slew the people who were in it;

  • Took (לָכַד - lakad): Signifies capture, conquest. It marks the successful completion of the siege.
  • Slew (הָרַג - harag): Denotes a massive slaughter. This was not a capture for ransom or enslavement but a genocidal act of extermination, typical of ancient retribution against a rebellious city. It signifies total subjugation and elimination of dissent.

• and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

  • Beat down (הָרַס - haras): Implies a systematic demolition, razing the structures to their foundations. This was beyond mere destruction for plunder; it aimed at the physical obliteration of the city itself.
  • Sowed (זָרַע - zara`): Literally "to sow seed." Here, it's used metaphorically for spreading salt.
  • Salt (מֶלַח - melach): A common, vital substance. In this context, it is not used for food or preservation. This action symbolizes an extreme curse, meant to render the soil infertile, permanently barren, and desolate. It's a statement of permanent abandonment and repudiation. Ancient Near Eastern parallels confirm this as a symbolic act to utterly curse a location, declaring it would never be rebuilt or inhabited again, similar to a perpetual defilement. It underscores the complete and irrevocable destruction intended by Abimelech.

Judges 9 45 Bonus section

The act of "sowing with salt" in ancient times did not refer to a practical method of making agricultural land infertile for extended periods (which would require a vast amount of salt and specific soil conditions to have lasting effect), but was primarily a ritualistic curse. This symbolic gesture ensured the land was seen as unfit for future habitation, development, or even agricultural use, often connected to a formal oath or covenant violation. By this act, Abimelech was attempting to place Shechem under an eternal curse, ensuring no one would consider rebuilding or settling there. This level of total devastation reflected the complete breakdown of order and justice in the land, setting a chilling precedent for the severity of retributive actions during this turbulent period in Israelite history. This episode demonstrates that without faithful adherence to the Lord, human governance could quickly devolve into tyranny, bloodshed, and utter desolation, echoing the consequences of forsaking God found throughout the Scriptures.

Judges 9 45 Commentary

Judges 9:45 records an act of extreme brutality and symbolic cursing, highlighting Abimelech's vengeful nature and the severity of his judgment on Shechem. His actions of taking, slaying, beating down, and especially sowing with salt go beyond typical military conquest. The use of salt was a powerful declaration of absolute desolation, aimed at making the city's ground infertile and thus uninhabitable in perpetuity. This symbolic act was a definitive pronouncement of ruin, a ritualistic curse common in the ancient Near East, ensuring that Shechem would be permanently marked as accursed.

This verse is crucial because it vividly portrays the fulfillment of Jotham's curse from Judges 9:20, "Let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the citizens of Shechem." Though the means are conquest and literal destruction rather than fire, the result is the same: the utter destruction of Shechem. It also foreshadows Abimelech's own demise, for the chapter concludes with God repaying the evil of both Abimelech and the men of Shechem (Judges 9:56-57). The episode serves as a grim example of the spiraling violence and moral decay characteristic of the Judges period, where there was no king in Israel and "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Jdg 21:25), often with tragic consequences driven by selfish ambition and vengeance rather than divine guidance. The extreme measure of sowing salt visually underlines the utter futility of worldly power achieved through bloodshed and betrayal, leading only to further destruction.