* The Book of Judges separates the altar from the ephod,
placing the erection of the former at the time of the
vocation of Gideon (vi. 11-31) and that of the ephod after
the victory (viii. 24-27). The sanctuary of Ophrah was
possibly in existence before the time of Jerubbaal, and the
sanctity of the place may have determined his selection of
the spot for placing the altar and ephod there.
** Judges viii. 30, 31.
The succession to the throne would naturally have fallen to one of the seventy, but before this could be arranged, Abimelech “went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” This advice was well received; it flattered the vanity of the people to think that the new king was to be one of themselves; “their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith (the Lord of the Covenant), wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, which followed him.... He slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone.” The massacre having been effected, “all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo,* and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem.” ** He dwelt at Ophrah, in the residence, and near the sanctuary, of his father, and from thence governed the territories constituting the little kingdom of Manasseh, levying tribute upon the vassal villages, and exacting probably tolls from caravans passing through his domain.
* The word “Millo” is a generic term, meaning citadel or
stronghold of the city: there was a Millo in every important
town, Jerusalem included.
** The “oak of the pillar” was a sacred tree overshadowing
probably a cippus: it may have been the tree mentioned in
Gen. xxxv. 4, under which Jacob buried the strange gods; or
that referred to in Josh. xxiv. 26, under which Joshua set
up a stone commemorative of the establishment of the law.
Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, escaped the massacre. As
soon as he heard of the election of Abimelech, he ascended
Mount Gerizim, and gave out from there the fable of the
trees, applying it to the circumstances of the time, and
then fled. Some critics think that this fable—which is
confessedly old—was inserted in the text at a time when
prophetical ideas prevailed and monarchy was not yet
accepted.
This condition of things lasted for three years, and then the Shechemites, who had shown themselves so pleased at the idea of having “one of their brethren” as sovereign, found it irksome to pay the taxes levied upon them by him, as if they were in no way related to him. The presence among them of a certain Zebul, the officer and representative of Abimelech, restrained them at first from breaking out into rebellion, but they returned soon to their ancient predatory ways, and demanded ransom for the travellers they might capture even when the latter were in possession of the king’s safe conduct. This was not only an insult to their lord, but a serious blow to his treasury: the merchants who found themselves no longer protected by his guarantee employed elsewhere the sums which would have come into his hands. The king concealed his anger, however; he was not inclined to adopt premature measures, for the place was a strong one, and defeat would seriously weaken his prestige. The people of Shechem, on their part, did not risk an open rupture for fear of the consequences. Gaal, son of Ebed,* a soldier of fortune and of Israelitish blood, arrived upon the scene, attended by his followers: he managed to gain the confidence of the people of Shechem, who celebrated under his protection the feast of the Vintage.
* The name Ebed (“slave,” “servant”) is assumed to have been
substituted in the Massorotic text for the original name
Jobaal, because of the element Baal in the latter word,
which was regarded as that of the strange god, and would
thus have the sacrilegious meaning “Jahveh is Baal.” The term
of contempt, Ebed, was, according to this view, thus used to
replace it.
On this occasion their merrymaking was disturbed by the presence among them of the officer charged with collecting the tithes, and Gaal did not lose the opportunity of stimulating their ire by his ironical speeches: “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: but why should we serve him? And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.” Zebul promptly gave information of this to his master, and invited him to come by night and lie in ambush in the vicinity of the town, “that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, thou mayest do to them as thou shalt find occasion.” It turned out as he foresaw; the inhabitants of Shechem went out in order to take part in the gathering in of the vintage, while Gaal posted his men at the entering in of the gate of the city. As he looked towards the hills he thought he saw an unusual movement among the trees, and, turning round, said to Zebul, who was close by, “Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” A moment after he looked in another direction, “and spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the terebinth of the augurs.” Zebul, seeing the affair turn out so well, threw off the mask, and replied railingly, “Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray, now, and fight with him.” The King of Manasseh had no difficulty in defeating his adversary, but arresting the pursuit at the gates of the city, he withdrew to the neighbouring village of Arumah.*
* This is now el-Ormeh, i.e.Kharbet el-Eurmah, to the south-
west of Nablus.
He trusted that the inhabitants, who had taken no part in the affair, would believe that his wrath had been appeased by the defeat of Gaal; and so, in fact, it turned out: they dismissed their unfortunate champion, and on the morrow returned to their labours as if nothing had occurred.
