Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 9 · Verses 1-6
1 THen Abimelech the ſonne of Ierubbaal went to Sechem vntounto his mothers brethren, and ſpake vntounto them, and to all the famely of the houſe of his mothers father, ſaying.
2 Say, I pray you, in the audiēce of all the men of Sechem, whether is better for you that all the ſonnes of Ierubbaal, whiche are 70. perſons, either that one man reigne ouer you? Remember that I am your bone, and your fleſhe.
3 Then his mothers brethren ſpake of him in the audience of al the men of Sechem all theſe wordes: and their hartes were moued to follow Abimelech: for ſayd they, He is our brother.
4 And they gaue him .70. peces of ſiluer out of ye houſe of Baal berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vayne and light fellowes whiche followed him.
5 And he went vntounto his fathers houſe in Ophra, and ſlew his brethren the ſonnes of Ierubbaal, ſeuenty perſons vponupon one ſtone. Yet Iothan ye yongeſt ſonne of Ierubbaal was lefte, for he hid himſelfe.
6 And all the men of Sechem gathered together, with al the houſe of Millowe, and came and made Abimelech king, by the playne of the image whiche was in Sechem.
The deſtruction of the houſe of Gideon is declared, & the deteſtable vſurpation of tyranny. Abimelech went, as I ſuppoſe from his fathers houſe: for he vnderſtoode that he could not there eaſely go about that whiche in his minde he purpoſed. He was minded to bring into Iſraell the power of a king, and being otherwiſe a priuate man, went about to alter the ſtate of the publique wealth. Which thing was vtterly vnlawfull. For that forme of gouernement, whiche the Hebrues then vſed, was inſtituted & allowed by God, euen as it is written in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Wherby is alſo gathered, that if at any time the people would hauehave a king, he ought to be created, whom the Lord appointed. Farther, if they ſhould hauehave appointed a kyng by humane reaſon, ſo great a dignity pertayned not vntounto him, whiche was borne of a concubine. It ſemeth that it ſhould rather hauehave bene geuen vntounto the other ſonnes of Gideon, and to the firſt begotten, before the reſt.
It is good to marke by what guile he worketh. He accuſeth his brethren,Abimelech accuſeth his brethren vniuſtly. as though they affected the kingdome. VVhether (ſaith he) is it better, that I or they reigne? As though he would ſay, one of theſe two thinges muſt nedes come to paſſe, and except I obteyne the kyngdome, they will clayme it vntounto themſelues: which was vtterly falſe. For they wēt about no ſuch matter, yea it is rather to be thought but they followed their fathers ſteppes: who when ye kingdome was offred him, refuſed it. Therfore it is very likely that they as legitimate children would follow the example of their father. He goeth to thoſe men chiefly whom he hoped would ſoone be wonne to come vntounto him, namely vntounto the kinſfolkes of his mothers.
He vſeth glorious reaſōs. Firſt he declareth yt the rule of one alone is better thē ye dominon of many. And yt is moſt eaſy to perſuade humane reaſon. Wherfore Homere ſayth: It is not good ye many raigne, let there be one Lord.Homerus. Ariſtotle. Whether a kingdome be better then …riſtocratia, or no. Which verſe Ariſtotle bringeth in his Metaphiſikes. Whiche thing in dede might be graūted as touching the inſtitution & perfection of the nature of man. For in a kingdome occaſions in deliberatyng are not ouerpaſſed and corrupted: and the execution of things decreed, is not delayed and ſlacked, as we ſee often happeneth where many beare rule. But in this corruption of nature it ſemeth to be otherwiſe, for as much as in it hangeth a daunger & that moſt grieuous, le…ſt the kingdome ſhould fall into the hands of a wicked man. Wherfore it is better to retayne Ariſtocratia, that is, the gouernaūce of many good men. Abimelech vrgeth not wi…h the other argument, as he did before, namely the publique vtility, but the proper cō modity of his kinſfolkes. I am (ſayth he) your fleſhe, and your bone. As though he would hauehave ſayd: When I am created kyng, I will chiefly hauehave a regard vntounto you. I will increaſe you with riches, dignity and power. Wherfore it is better for you to choſe me for your king being your kinſeman, rather then a ſtraunger. He ſayth that he is their fleſh and bone, when as yet he was more fleſhe and bone of his brethren, and of his father whiche was dead. For children pertayne more vntounto the father, then to the mother. But this fellow lieth in all things, and ſpeaketh to get fauor,What to be fleſhe & bloude of any mā, ſignifieth. and yt guilfully. It is an Hebrew phraſe, to be ye bone and fleſh of any man. Laban ſpake ſo vntounto Iacob, when he required of hym Rachel for a wife. This ſayd the Iſraelites alſo vntounto Dauid, when they created hym kyng. And Paul to the Epheſians ſayeth, that we are the members of Chriſte, fleſhe of his fleſhe, and bones of hys bones: for as much as he is our head and the head of the Churche, as the huſband is ioyned vntounto the wyfe. In ſumme, it is a ſpeeche whereby is declared the greateſt coniunction that may be.
The reaſons of Abimelech are confuted.Abimelech offendeth moſt grieuouſly in theſe reaſons. Firſt, in that he affirmeth, that it is better that one do rule, and that the gouernement of many is to be auoyded: here I ſay he deceaueth and is deceaued: bycauſe this thing was not to be weighed by the nature thereof, but by the worde of God: for we muſt not obey humane reaſon, but the commaundementes of God. Farther, he deceaueth the Sichemites, whē as he ſayth: Ye are my fleſhe and my bone, for althoughe we muſt hauehave a reſpect vntounto our kinſfolkes, yet that muſt be done without any preiudice of the publique wealth, or breach of the cōmaundementes of God. Wherunto thou mayſt adde, yt in electing Magiſtrates, a regard muſt be had to the commō cōmodity, & not to a proper profit. But the people is moueable, eſpecially to ſedicions & tumults: therfore the Sichemites ar cōtent with the reaſons of Abimelech, and gaue him money, whiche they would not willingly hauehave done for lawfull vſes.Why the money was in the Temple. The money was in the Temple, either bycauſe it was gathered of oblations, and therfore as holy there kept, or els bycauſe it was then the manner (as in the olde tyme it was at Rome) that the common money ſhould be kept in the Temple of Saturne, whiche was the threaſory.
Seuenty peeces of Siluer. Some interprete it a pounde of Siluer, & other ſome, Siluer peeces of money. But whatſoeuer it was, this ſumme we can not know preciſely and exactly. But this is certayne if they were peeces of money, we muſt thinke they were of a great deale more weight, then are ours: for an hoſte could not be hired for ſo ſmall a price.What manner of men Abimelech adioyned vntounto him. And the men with got them to this warre, are ſet forth by two wordes of very great ſignification: Rikim that is vayne, poore: Pechizim, that is light, and hedlonge. And as R. Dauid affirmeth in libro Radicum, theſe men are vnderſtande to be light, chiefly in ſcience or knowledge: in whiche ſignification the ſame worde is read in the Prophete Zophonia the 3. chapiter. Euen at this daye alſo ſuche men are ready to go on warfarre, namely beggerly fellowes, whiche hauehave waſted and conſumed their goods, and whiche are light hedded, yea hedlong to take vponupon them, and to do any wicked acte. And that commeth hereof, bycauſe they are lyght in ſcience or knowledge, that is, they want iudgement and ryght reaſon.Warre maye ſometimes iuſt be made. Vndoubtedly warfarre is a thyng lawfull and iuſt, if a man vſe it ryghtly. For, for as muche as the holy Scriptures doo teache, that the Magiſtrate beareth the ſwoorde to reuenge wicked actes, and to defend the good, it followeth that he may arme ſouldiers, and call together his Citezins to a iuſt warre. Wherfore Chriſtian men in the old time went on warfarre, when they were compelled to take wages euen of Ethnike princes. For the army of the Thebeians was holy: for they were al in a maner ſlayne for Chriſtes ſake, and Chriſtian ſouldiers ſometymes when the hoſt was almoſt deſtroyed with thyrſte, by prayers thorough Chriſt obteyned water of GOD. But amonge theſe holy ſouldiers,Hyred ſouldiers are not cō mendable. are not thoſe hired warriers woorthy to be numbred, whiche for three crownes a month ſticke not to put theyr lyfe to ſale, & ſtrayghtwaye offer themſelues, and runne vntounto euerye one that calleth them, when they heare a Trompet or a Dromme, and addicte themſelues to hym that offreth them moſt, hauyng no regard at all vntounto the cauſe whiche they defend.
The Sechemites, if they had bene wiſe, ought,The ſinnes of ye Sechemites when they had heard the accuſation agaynſte the children of Gideon, to hauehave enquired whether the thyng were ſo or no, and when they had founde it ſo, they ought to hauehave brought them to the Senadrim, that they might by theyr iudgement hauehave bene puniſhed.Senadrim was an aſſembly of 70. Elders. But if they had founde it otherwiſe, it was their parte to hauehave chaſtned and kept vnderunder Abimelech as a falſe accuſer. But they did otherwiſe, they conſented to the coniuration, and gaue the common money vntounto Abimelech. At the leaſt they ſhould hauehave remembred this, that to them (whiche were but certayne members of that publique wealth) it pertayned not to create a kyng.Examples of murtherers of kinſfolkes. At the length he procedeth to the murther of his brethren, vndoubtedly a heynous crime, whiche (as it ſhalbe declared) ſprange of a very great ambition. An accuſtomed example both in the holy Scriptures, and alſo in the Ethnike hiſtories. Cain ſlewe Abel. Ioſeph was ſolde of his brethren. Ioram the ſonne of Iehoſaphat (as it is in Paralip. the 21. chap.) ſlewe all his brethren. Abſolom alſo an vngodly ſonne ſpared not euen hys own father. Romulus among the Ethnikes ſlewe hys brother Remus, and Domitianus ſlewe Titus, Baſsianus Caracalla alſo ſlewe Geta. And vndoubtedly tyme woulde not ſerue me, if I ſhould rehearſe all the examples of lyke ſorte.
I am not ignoraunt that theſe manquellers pretended ſome excuſes for theyr wicked acte, but they were but vayne. Firſte,Pretences of murtherers of their kinſfolks they pretended that they for the publique wealthes ſake deſtroyed their brethren and kynſfolkes whiche were all deſirous to be kynges, bycauſe the kyngly power,An aunſwere of Alexander the great. Cicero. whiche one pertayneth onelyonly vntounto one, can not be very commodiouſly diſtributed vntounto many. So Alexander the Macedonian aunſwered vntounto Darius, that the worlde could not holde two Sunnes, as though one ſhuld hinder ye other in gouerning. Neither was Cicero ignoraunt of this reaſon, who in his .3. booke de Officiis ſayth, that Remus ſlewe Romulus vponupon a certayne ſhewe of vtility, as though he ſaw that the kingdome ſhould better be gouerned by one, then by two. Whom yet he confeſſeth to hauehave offended, beyng deceaued with this ſhewe of vtility, and that he put of all humanity and piety. The other thing whiche they pretended is, that therfore they ſlewe theyr brethren or kynſfolkes, bycauſe they had conſpired agaynſt them. But when (I praye you) complayne they of conſpiracies? euen then when they had ſlayne thoſe, whom they complayned of, & they could not defend thēſelues.
He ſlewe 70. brethren, excepte one namely Iotham, of whome ſhall mention be made afterwarde. The Hyſtorye writeth that there were 70. ſlayne, either bycauſe Abimelech ſo willed and commaunded, or elles bicauſe onelyonly one wanted of that ſumme:The maner of the ſcripture in reckenyng of numbers. whiche thyng we may ſee oftentymes vſed in the holy Scriptures, that ſome certayne number is mentioned as a full number, from whiche yet ſome may be taken away.
He ſlewe them vponupon one ſtone. It is thought to hauehave bene ſome notable ſtone which was appoynted for a place of execution. Abimelech therfore is by a greate and deteſtable murther of hys brethren, conſecrated kynge. Kynges were appointed to profit men, and to defend them: but he begynneth his kyngdome with murther. Wherfore he ought rather to be called a Tyranne, then a king. The place where he was created, is ſetforth: wherfore we muſt vnderſtand that this worde Alon, ſignifieth a plant, whiche R. Dauid in libro Radicum ſuppoſeth to be a pine tree: Ionathan maketh it a cheſtnut tree: and Ierome turneth it alwayes an oke. Sometimes it ſignifieth a plaine: and the Chaldey paraphraſt interpreteth it Miſchar, that is, a playne field, thether aſſembled the Sechemites to create a kyng. There was an image or piller ſet vp (as ſome thinke) to a ſuperſtitious woorſhippyng: whiche thyng althoughe it be not agaynſt the wicked manners of thys people and impiety of Abimelech, yet it is not of neceſſity that we ſhould ſo thinke: for we rede many tymes in the Scriptures, that images were erected, not for diuine worſhippynges, but for other cauſes. In the booke of Geneſis the 31. chap. a heape of ſtones was ſet vp in mount Gilead as a border and monument vntounto the poſterity of Iacob and Laban: and in the 35. chap. of the ſame booke, a piller was erected by the tombe of Rachel. Yea and Abſalon adorned his tombe with an image.
The famely of Millo.The famely of the mother of Abimelech was not noble, when as ſhe tooke her name of the towne. Millo is the name of her houſe. That worde ſignifieth other wiſe a gulfe filled, whiche Salomon built by the City of Ieruſalem. The Sechemites created a king, the other tribes neither were at it, neither wer they called. So was there a ſchiſme among the Iſraelites, whiche is wont oftentymes to happen when the worſhipping of god is viciated. Theſe thynges hauehave I briefly noted as concernyng the Hyſtory.
Now let vsus more nighly looke vponupon the wicked and flagicious actes, by which this man came vntounto his tyranny. Firſt he was very ambitious, he deceatefully and falſely accuſeth his brethren, vſeth the corruption of bribery to worke treaſon, is a robber of the commō threaſory, he wrought by open violence, and at the laſt committed murther of his brethren, called Parricidium.