Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:4
And they gave him threescore and ten [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.
4. the house of Baal-berith ] In Jdg 9:46 El-brth = God of the covenant; see Jdg 8:33 n. Temples in antiquity had their own treasuries into which offerings and fines were paid; they also served the purpose of banks for public and private money, cf. 2Ma 3:10-12.
vain and light fellows ] i.e. disreputable and reckless, cf. Jdg 11:3, 2Ch 13:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 4. Threescore and ten pieces of silver] Probably shekels; and this was the whole of his exchequer. As he was now usurping the government of God, he begins with a contribution from the idol temple. A work begun under the name and influence of the devil is not likely to end to the glory of God, or to the welfare of man.
Hired vain and light persons] anashim reykim uphochazim, worthless and dissolute men; persons who were living on the public, and had nothing to lose. Such was the foundation of his Babel government. By a cunning management of such rascals most revolutions have been brought about.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Threescore and ten, agreeably to the number of his enemies, Gideons seventy sons.
Pieces of silver; not shekels, as some fancy, which were too small a sum for this purpose; but far larger pieces, the exact worth whereof it is neither possible nor needful for us now to know.
Out of the house of Baal-berith; out of his sacred treasury; for even they; who were very parsimonious and base in their expenses about Gods service, were liberal in their contributions to idols; having since Gideons death built this temple, (which he would never have suffered whilst he lived,) and endowed it with considerable revenues.
Vain and light persons; unsettled, idle, and necessitous persons, the most proper instruments for tyranny and cruelty.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. the house of Baal-beritheitherthe temple, or the place where this idol was worshipped; Baal-berith,”god of the covenant,” by invocation of whom the league ofcities was formed.
Abimelech hired vain andlight persons, which followed himidle, worthless vagabonds,the scum of society, who had nothing to lose, but much to gain fromthe success of a revolutionary movement.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baalbirith,…. The temple of their idol; of this name
[See comments on Jud 8:33], out of the money which had been dedicated to his service by freewill offering, or out of a bank which they deposited there for greater safety, and perhaps out of a superstitious notion of its being more prosperous and successful: of what value these pieces were is not certain; by pieces of silver, commonly shekels are meant; but these are thought to be of too little value to be given to a man to raise an army with, or carry on a scheme to advance himself to the throne; and talents are judged to be too large a sum for such a city to contribute out of a temple of theirs, and that but lately built, as it must be since the death of Gideon; they are therefore thought to be pounds, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; however, in the number of them there seems to be some reference to the number of Gideon’s sons, who were to be destroyed by bribing men with this sum, which was the scheme concerted between Abimelech and the men of Shechem;
wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him; perhaps seventy of them, giving to each a piece or pound of silver; these were a base scoundrel sort of people, that lived in an idle scandalous manner, a sort of freebooters, that lived upon what they could lay hold on in a way of force and rapine; men of light heads and empty brains, and whose pockets were as light and empty as their heads, and fit to engage in any enterprise, though ever so barbarous, for the sake of a little money.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) Pieces.Rather, shekels, which is the word normally understood in similar phrases (Jdg. 8:26). Neither the citizens of Shechem nor the ignobly-ambitious bastard understood what true monarchy was, and still less what it ought to be in the commonwealth of Jehovah (Ewald, ii. 389).
Out of the house of Baal-berith.Like most temples in ancient days (e.g., that of Venus on Mount Eryx, the Parthenon, and that of Jupiter Latiaris), this served at once as a sanctuary, a fortress, and a bank. Similarly the treasures amassed at Delphi enabled the three Phocian brothers, Phayllus, Phalaekus, and Onomarchus, to support the whole burden of the sacred war (Diodor. xvi. 30; comp. Thuc. i. 121, 2:13). (Comp. also 1Ki. 15:18.)
Vain and light persons.These are exactly analogous to the doruphoroia body-guard of spear-bearers, which an ambitious Greek always hired as the first step to setting up a tyranny (Diog. Laert. 1:49). We find Jephthah (Jdg. 11:3), and David (1Sa. 22:2), and Absalom (2Sa. 15:1), and Rezon (1Ki. 11:24), and Adonijah (1Ki. 1:5), and Jeroboam (2Ch. 13:7) doing exactly the same thing. Who these vain persons were is best defined in 1Sa. 22:2. They were like the condottieri, or free-lances. The word vain (rikm) is from the same root as Raca; it means vauriens. The word for light persons (pochazm) occurs in Gen. 49:4 (applied to Reuben) and Zep. 3:4. It is from a root which means to boil over.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. They gave him As a tribute to royalty, and to enable him to hire a body-guard and provide himself with the emblems of royalty.
Threescore and ten pieces of silver Silver shekels are probably meant, and this number would amount to about forty dollars.
House of Baal-berith The edifice or temple which the Shechemites had built for the worship of this heathen deity. Great treasure was usually laid up in such temples, and not unfrequently applied to political purposes. Compare 1Ki 15:18.
The treasures of Baal were thought to be well appropriated to the use of him who essayed to destroy the sons of Jerubbaal, the Baal-fighter. There was one piece of silver to each of the seventy sons of the Baal-destroyer.
Vain and light persons Loose and desperate characters, who were alike ready for the lowest meanness and the darkest crimes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light persons who followed him.’
The house of Baal-berith may well be the Temple fortress of which the remains have been discovered. This would have a treasure house of gifts given to the Temple and to the god. The ‘seventy’ pieces of silver probably denote a divinely perfect amount (seven intensified), to deal with the seventy sons. Thus he hired ruffians for his purpose. These may well have been Habiru mercenaries.
It is nowhere suggested that the people of Shechem were Canaanites, although like all in the land they were mixed up with Canaanite religion. They appear to have been a mixed population including many ex-Habiru. While they may genuinely have intended to equate Baal-berith with Yahweh and be faithful to His covenant, it was asking too much of them when even true Israelites engaged in such syncretism.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 9:4 And they gave him threescore and ten [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.
Ver. 4. And they gave him threescore and ten pieces. ] Pounds, saith the Vulgate: but more likely, shekels: which though it were a small sum, yet we must know that a little money would go a great way in those days; as also that such soldiers might be hired for small wages, &c.
Hired vain and light persons.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
light = rash.
persons. Hebrew. ‘enosh. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
house: Jdg 9:46-49, Jdg 8:33
vain: etc. Anashim raikim oophochozim, “worthless and dissolute men;” persons who were living on the public, and had nothing to lose. Such was the foundation of his Babel government. By a cunning management of such unprincipled men most revolutions are brought about. Jdg 11:3, 1Sa 22:2, 2Ch 13:7, Job 30:8, Pro 12:11, Act 17:5
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:27 – the house 2Sa 6:20 – vain fellows Pro 28:19 – but Dan 11:24 – he shall scatter 2Co 1:17 – lightness
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 9:4. They gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver To bear the charges which he would be put to in making good his pretensions. It is not said what the value of these pieces was: so many shekels would have been but a small present to make a man a prince, and too little to serve his purposes; and so many talents too much for them to give. Therefore the Vulgate translates it so many pounds weight of silver, which learned men approve. Out of the house of Baal-berith Out of the sacred treasury of that idol-temple, which they had probably built since Gideons death, (for he would never have suffered it while he lived,) and endowed it with considerable revenues. Wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons The word , reekim, which we translate vain, signifies empty; that is, ignorant, inconsiderate, and needy persons. And the other word, , pochazim, means idle, vagabond fellows, that could settle to no business, but wandered about the country, who, being commonly men of loose and profligate lives, were fittest for his purpose.