“And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,”
My Notes
What Does Judges 9:1 Mean?
Abimelech—Gideon's son by a concubine from Shechem—goes to his mother's family to build political support for a power grab. The approach is deliberate: he starts with his maternal relatives, leveraging family connection to build a power base. The political campaign begins not with a divine calling but with a networking trip to the in-laws.
The contrast with his father is stark: Gideon was called by an angel, clothed by the Spirit, and confirmed by dreams. Abimelech calls himself, clothes himself with family connections, and confirms himself through political maneuvering. Gideon's leadership began at a winepress with God. Abimelech's begins at Shechem with his relatives. The source determines the character of the leadership: divine commission produces servant leadership. Self-appointment produces tyranny.
Abimelech's campaign will result in the murder of sixty-nine of his seventy brothers (verse 5)—killing the competition to secure the throne. The networking trip that begins in verse 1 ends in mass fratricide by verse 5. The political campaign that started with family lobbying concludes with family slaughter. Self-appointed leadership that bypasses God's calling inevitably produces violence against the very people the leader should be serving.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is your leadership divinely commissioned or self-appointed? How can you tell the difference?
- 2.Abimelech leveraged family connections instead of seeking God. Where are you building influence through networking rather than calling?
- 3.Self-appointed leadership tends toward violence against competitors. Where has ambition in your sphere produced harm to the people who should have been served?
- 4.Gideon was reluctant. Abimelech was eager. Which posture more characterizes your pursuit of leadership?
Devotional
Abimelech goes to his mother's family. Not to God. To his relatives. He builds a political base through family connections rather than divine commission. His father Gideon was called by an angel. Abimelech calls himself through a networking trip.
The contrast defines two kinds of leadership: Gideon's was Spirit-clothed, divinely commissioned, reluctantly accepted. Abimelech's is self-initiated, family-leveraged, aggressively pursued. One began with God seeking a man. The other begins with a man seeking power. One produces a deliverer. The other produces a tyrant.
The networking trip ends in massacre: Abimelech kills sixty-nine of his seventy brothers to eliminate the competition. The family connections that launched his campaign become the family connections he severs—permanently, violently, with a hired executioner's sword. The political ambition that started with 'communing with his mother's brethren' concludes with slaughtering his father's sons.
Self-appointed leadership that bypasses God's calling always tends toward violence. When the authority isn't given by God, it must be seized from people. When the commission isn't divine, the competition is human—and human competitors are eliminated through human means. Gideon's divine calling meant he didn't need to kill anyone to claim leadership. Abimelech's self-appointment meant he needed to kill nearly everyone. The source of the authority determines the methods of the authority. Divine calling produces servants. Self-calling produces killers.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, unto his mother's brethren,.... It seems that though the mother of…
We are not told how soon after the death of Gideon these events happened. There must have been time for the apostacy and…
We are here told by what arts Abimelech got into authority, and made himself great. His mother perhaps had instilled…
Shechem now Nâblus (the Roman Flavia Neapolis), 30 miles N. of Jerusalem, 5 miles S.E. of Samaria, situated in a narrow,…
Cross References
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