Juízes 9

Juízes 9

Johnson says, is used, ‘as a particle of mere enforcement;’ and so doubtless it is used here; q. d. ‘she entirely or utterly brake his skull.’ Thus in Holland’s Translation of Pliny, (A. D. 1601,) ‘As for him that hath let flie a dart at him, (the lion,) and yet missed his marke and done no hurt, if hee chance to catch him, he all to shaketh, tosseth, and turneth him, lying along at his feet, but doth him no harme at all besides.’ Not understanding this, many copies of the common version, have changed it to indicate intention, by substituting ‘break,’ for ‘brake.’ (Judges 9 Commentary) See Archæology and the Bible - Grinding.—When the grain was cut, threshed, and winnowed, there were no mills to which it could be taken for grinding. This process had to be done in each home, and the labor of doing it fell to the women of the household. (See Exod. 11:5; Matt. 24:41.) Grain was reduced to flour either by rubbing or by pounding. The process of rubbing or grinding was accomplished either by a flat saddle-shaped stone over which another was rubbed (see Figs. 81, 84), or by crushing between two stones, the top one of which was revolved somewhat as a modern millstone (Fig. 82). It required two women, as Jesus said, to grind at such a mill—one to feed it, while the other manipulated the rubbing stone. Such stones were made of hard igneous rock procured from the region east of the Sea of Galilee, and are called “querns.” In the different periods of the history of Palestine they varied in size and shape, becoming round in the Seleucid period (323–63 B. C.). The upper stone was apparently rotated by twisting the wrist. It could be thus turned half-way round and then back again. No round millstones, with the topmost of the pair perforated, as in the modern millstone, were found before the Arabic period, 637 A. D. Pictures of modern Syrian women turning this, perforated type of millstone do not, therefore, really illustrate, as is often assumed, the women of the Bible as they ground at the mill. Probably the millstone which crushed the head of Abimelech at Thebez (Judges 9:53) was the upper stone of a “saddle quern.” The importance of these millstones is recognized in Deut. 24:6, which prohibits the taking of a mill or the upper millstone of a poor man as security, on the ground that that was the same as taking a man’s life as security. The lower millstone was always made of the harder stone. Because of this and of the grinding and pounding to which it was subjected it became a symbol of firmness (Job 41:24). (Archæology and the Bible ) Related Resource: What is a millstone in the Bible? Judges 9:54 Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest it be said of me, 'A woman slew him.'" So the young man pierced him through, and he died. Draw your sword and kill me: 1Sa 31:4,5 Judges 9 Resources Related Passages: 2 Samuel 11:21 (THE NAMELESS WOMAN IS HONORED!) ‘Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’–then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 1 Samuel 16:21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. 1 Samuel 31:4-6 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together. Dore Woodcut of Abimelech's Death ABIMELECH'S DISGRACEFUL DEMISE Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest it be said of me, 'A woman slew him.'" So the young man pierced him through, and he died - Dying at the hand of a woman was considered a disgrace (cf. Jdg 4:17-24). The fact that his armor-bearer (a position of trust, entailing much intimacy) finished the job with a sword didn’t change anything; for centuries later, Abimelech’s shameful death was remembered as being accomplished by a woman (see related passage above). It is interesting to note that a century later, Israel’s other questionable first king, Saul, also died in a disgraceful manner at Mount Gilboa just a few miles away! (1Sa 31:4) McCann: Abimelech's request to be finished off by his armor-bearer is similar to Saul's later request, so as to avoid dishonor (see 1Sa. 31:4). Thus, the careers of Israel's first self-made king, Abimelech, and first divinely designated king, Saul, end in disgrace. Abimelech is an idolater from the beginning, and Saul is rejected by God for disobeying God's explicit command (1 Sam. 15). Stone - Abimelech here anticipates Saul's similar plea, as he also was dying in shame, far from God (1 Sam 31:1-6). The heroic tradition's concern for honor finds sad expression in the plea of the fratricidal usurper not to die at the hands of a woman. The woman, however, remains immortalized, though nameless, in the annals of killers of tyrants, whom the Bible uniformly celebrates. That Abimelech's request failed to secure his honor appears in the later citation of this event as proof of his careless battle tactics, where the woman is credited with killing him after all (2 Sam 11:21). Warren