Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:6
And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that [was] in Shechem.
6. and all the house of Millo ] Follow marg. and all Beth-millo, the name of a place not of a family Jdg 9:20, cf. 2Ki 12:20, in the neighbourhood of Shechem, but not the tower of S. mentioned in Jdg 9:46-49. The name suggests that the place was called after the temple which stood there, bth = ‘temple’ as in Jdg 9:4; millo = ‘filling up,’ so an artificial mound or terrace (in Assyrian mul, taml). The Millo at Jerusalem was some part of the fortifications of the old Jebusite city, 2Sa 5:9, 1Ki 11:27 (LXX ), Jdg 9:15; Jdg 9:24; or possibly, as Winckler considers, the original site of the sanctuary ( Gesch. Isr. ii. 252, KAT, 239).
by the oak of the pillar ] A sacred terebinth (cf. on Jdg 6:11) at or near Shechem is mentioned in the stories of Abraham Gen 12:6 J and Jacob Gen 35:4 E, and in Jos 24:26 E (‘in Jehovah’s sanctuary’); in the last passage Joshua is said to have set up a stone beneath the oak. The stone is here called a ‘pillar,’ reading mabh for mub (which does not make sense); the pillar marked a holy place among both Hebrews (Exo 24:4 E, Hos 3:4; Hos 10:1, Isa 19:19) and Canaanites (Exo 23:24 E, Exo 34:13 J etc.). Abimelech was made king at the sanctuary, as Saul at Gilgal, 1Sa 11:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Millo must have been a fortified place close to, but separate from, Shechem, and perhaps the same as the tower of Shechem mentioned in Jdg 9:46-47. The building or enlarging of the better-known Millo, at Jerusalem was one of Solomons great works 1Ki 9:15, 1Ki 9:24. The population dwelling in Millo though perhaps numerically small, had great weight from possessing the stronghold. Their giving Abimelech the title of king indicates the strong Canaanite influence at Shechem. All the Canaanite chiefs were called kings, but it was a title hitherto unknown in Israel. This title had not been named by those Israelites who offered to make Gideon their hereditary ruler Jdg 8:22-23.
The plain of the pillar … – Rather the oak of the garrison which is in Shechem. The oak in question was probably called the garrison oak, from a garrison being stationed near it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. And all the house of Millo] If Millo be the name of a place, it is nowhere else mentioned in the sacred writings. But it is probably the name of a person of note and influence in the city of Shechem – the men of Shechem and the family of Millo.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of Millo; of a place or person so called; some eminent and potent family living in Shechem, or near to it; either the family of Abimelechs mother, or some other: or, and all Beth-millo; so Beth is not a house, but a part of the name of the place.
Made Abimelech king, to wit, over all Israel, Jdg 9:22, which was a strange presumption for the inhabitants of one city to undertake; but they had many advantages and encouragements for it; as the eager, and general, and constant inclination of the Israelites to kingly government; Abimelechs being the son of Gideon, to whom and to his sons they offered the kingdom, Jdg 8:22; and though the father could and did refuse it for himself, yet they might imagine that he could not give away his sons right, conveyed to them by the Israelites, in their offer; the universal defection of the Israelites from God to Baal, whose great patron and champion Abimelech pretended to be; the power and prevalency of the tribe of Ephraim, in which Shechem was, Jos 20:7, whose proud and imperious spirit, manifested Jdg 8:1; 12:1, would make them readily close with a king of their own brethren; and Abimelechs getting the start of all others, having the crown actually put upon his head, and an army already raised to maintain his tyranny. By
the plain of the pillar, or, by the oak of the pillar, i.e. by the oak, where Joshua erected a pillar as a witness of the covenant renewed between God and Israel, Jos 24:26. This place they chose, to signify that they still owned God, and their covenant with him; and did not worship Baal in opposition to God, but in conjunction with him, or in subordination to him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. all the men of Shechem . . ., andall the house of Millothat is, a mound or rampart, so that themeaning is, all the men in the house or temple; namely, the priestsof Baal.
made Abimelech king, by theplain of the pillarrather, “by the oak near a raisedmound”so that the ceremony of coronation might be conspicuousto a crowd.
Jud9:7-21. JOTHAM BY APARABLE REPROACHESTHEM.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And all the men of Shechem gathered together,…. Upon the return of Abimelech, after he with his banditti had committed the execrable murder of his brethren:
and all the house of Millo; which was either the men of a place near to Shechem, or of his brother’s family, or of some grand leading family in Shechem; or it may mean the town hall, where the principal inhabitants met in full house, as Millo signifies, on this occasion:
and went and made Abimelech king; which was a most bold and daring action; being done without asking counsel of God, without which no king was to be set over Israel, and by a single city, without the knowledge, advice, and consent of the body of the people of Israel: by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem; the place where they met together, and did this business in voting Abimelech to be king, was near a place where a pillar was set in Shechem; or by the oak of the pillar in Shechem, and so may mean the stone under an oak, which Joshua placed there as a testimony between God and the people, Jos 24:25 and here, in the same place where Joshua convened the people of Israel, and made his last speech to them, was this business done.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) The house of Millo.It cannot be determined whether Beth Millo is here a proper name, or whether Beth means the family or inhabitants of Millo. The Chaldee renders Millo by a rampart; and if this be correct, the house of the rampart was perhaps the same as the tower of Shechem (Jdg. 9:46-49). There was a Millo on Mount Zion (2Sa. 5:9), which was also called a Beth Millo (2Ki. 12:21).
Made Abimelech king.He was the first Israelite who ever bore that name. It does not appear that this royalty was recognised beyond the limits of Ephraim. Gideon had not only refused the title of king (melek), but even the title of ruler (Jdg. 8:23).
By the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.Rather, near the terebinth of the monument which is in Shechem. The word rendered by is im, which properly means with, but may mean near, as in Gen. 25:11. The word rendered the pillar is mutsabh, which the Syriac and Arabic versions take for a proper name, and the Chaldee renders the corn-field or statue. Luther renders it the lofty oak, and the Vulg. follows another reading. The LXX. take it to mean a garrison (LXX., stasis), which is the meaning it has in Isa. 29:3; but as the terebinth is doubtless that under which Joshua had raised his stone of witness (Jos. 24:26), the mutsabh is perhaps a name for this stone. If so, the neighbourhood of that pledge of faithfulness would add audacity to his acts. There can be little doubt that the terebinth was the celebrated tree under which Jacob had made his family bury their idolatrous earrings and amulets (Gen. 35:4), and the terebinth (E.V., plain) of Moreh, near Shechem, under which Abraham had spread his tent and where he had built an altar (Gen. 12:6). Possibly, too, it may be the terebinth of the enchanters mentioned in Jdg. 9:37. The veneration attached to old trees lasted from generation to generation in Palestine, and the terebinth of Mamre was celebrated for a thousand years.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. House of Millo It seems best to understand Millo here, as in 2Sa 5:9, as the name of the principal fortress of the city, and identical with the tower of Shechem, mentioned Jdg 9:46-47; Jdg 9:49. It was, perhaps, situated on Mount Gerizim, where it would command the city of Shechem. On the summit of Gerizim, Robinson found the remains of an ancient fortress. The word Millo ( ) comes from , to fill, and naturally designates a rampart filled in with earth or stones. The company or family of armed men who held possession of this citadel were a most important part of the population, and it would not be wise to inaugurate a new king without their presence and co-operation.
Plain of the pillar Rather, oak of the pillar, probably the famous oak under which Joshua set up the great stone for a witness in Israel. Jos 24:26. The word , translated pillar, literally means, any thing placed or set up, and might designate either a monument or a military station. We may as well adhere to the English version, pillar. This oak was distinguished by a monumental pillar under it or near to it, and might itself have been a monumental tree that had, as we have suggested above, been standing there since the days of Joshua. It would have been a most natural spot to convene such an assembly as that which gathered to make Abimelech king.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.’
The rivals now being satisfactorily removed, the instigators of the activity, the chief men of Shechem, assembled for a coronation at a sacred place.
“All the house of Millo”. Beth-millo means ‘the filled-up place’ (compare a similar place in Jerusalem – 2Sa 5:9; 1Ki 11:27; 2Ki 12:20). This was probably the fortified tower and temple (verse 46), built on top of a previously levelled building or a filled in indentation. Thus the priests of Baal-berith were involved in the ceremony (Jdg 8:33). They made Abimelech ‘king’ in their own fashion, but note that even here, as regards the section of Israel over whom he ruled he was ‘made prince’ (Jdg 9:22). What the Shechemites saw as a king Israel saw as a prince.
“By the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.” Compare Jos 24:26-27. This was the place where they had originally entered into the tribal covenant. They did not want this to be seen as an attempt to break from the covenant but as in their own way a confirmation of it. Ironically this ‘standing stone’ was originally intended to be the witness to them lest they denied Yahweh (Jos 24:27 with Jos 24:24) which was precisely what they were doing, although they may not have thought so.
It should be noted that Abimelech is not rated as a judge and that throughout the whole narrative Yahweh is not mentioned. The few references, and they are sparse, are to ‘God’. It is the disastrous tale of failed kingship, displeasing to God, a warning of what kingship involves.
There is a great indirect stress on Baalism in this section, although no direct reference to the worship of Baal (however see Jdg 8:33 – but the people may well have seen themselves as worshipping Yahweh under the name of Baal-berith. God saw them as worshipping Baal). For example, the chief men are called ‘baals’, those from the ‘the house of Millo’, the Baal-berith temple, are involved in the coronation, Gideon is only referred to as ‘Jerubbaal’, the sons are probably seen as offered as human sacrifices, bought as it were, with money from the house of Baal-berith.
But the coronation actually took place at a site seen as sacred to Yahweh. The whole incident brings out the dangers of syncretism, begun when Gideon made the ephod, and continued by his behaving like a king with multiple marriages. It was a tragedy waiting to happen.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 9:6. And all the house of Millo Bertram, in his book de Repub. Jud. is of opinion, that Millo is not a proper name in this place; but that as by the first phrase, all the men of Shechem, are understood all the principal men or elders of the city, so the latter phrase denotes all the citizens, who, in a full assembly, agreed to make Abimelech king. In the plain of the pillar, is rendered by Houbigant and many others, near the oak-grove, &c. See Isa 29:3.
REFLECTIONS.Abimelech resolves, if possible, to secure that crown which Gideon had refused; and, though neither called of God, nor chosen of men, by art and insinuation he thrusts himself into the throne.
1. He makes application secretly to his mother’s friends in Shechem, and they, at his instigation, engage in his interest the leading men of the city. The plea he used to support his solicitation was a lying insinuation of his brethren, as if they intended to lord it over the land, and their number would make the burden of such a government insupportable; though it never appears that they had the least intention of doing so, as it was expressly contrary to their father’s solemn declarations. Note; (1.) They who have a wicked purpose to serve will lie to accomplish it. (2.) They who are conscious of their own bad designs are ready to suspect others of the same ill intentions.
2. His application was as successful as he could wish. The men of Shechem were very well pleased to have one of their brethren a king, and their city a metropolis, expecting, no doubt, their advantage therein; and therefore, to support him in his design, they supply him with money out of the common treasury, which was in the temple of their idol Baal-berith, or, it may be, from the hallowed things they had dedicated to him, imagining there must needs be success from such a support: with this, he raises a band of men, profligate as himself, to perpetrate the crimes that he meditated. Note; (1.) Self is at the bottom of every worldly man’s policy. (2.) They who help the wicked often prepare a rod for themselves.
3. It is often the case, that, where there is a rage to reign, men must wade to a crown through blood. Presuming that his father’s sons would justly object to his advancement, he resolves first to dispatch them; and all but one are slain together on one stone, by himself and his wicked associates. Note; Ambition never hesitates; neither conscience nor natural affection, fear of God nor love of men, can bind those who are under its baleful influence.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 9:6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that [was] in Shechem.
Ver. 6. And all the men of Shechem. ] They might have foreseen by his bloody fratricide what kind of king they should have of him; but they were set upon it, and they soon had enough of it; for as these Shechemites were first in raising Abimelech unjustly to the throne, so they were the first that felt the weight of his sceptre. The foolish bird fouls and smears herself with that which grew from her own excretion. Who wondereth to see the kind peasant stung with his own snake?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
plain = oak.
of the pillar. Genitive of Apposition = that is to say, the pillar made of oak. See Jos 24:26. Compare Gen 28:18, Gen 28:22; Gen 31:13, Gen 31:45; Gen 35:14, Gen 35:20; 2Sa 18:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the house: 2Sa 5:9, 2Ki 12:20
Millo: Probably the name of a person of note in Shechem.
plain: or, oak, Jos 24:26, 1Ki 12:1, 1Ki 12:20, 1Ki 12:25
Reciprocal: Gen 35:4 – the oak Jdg 9:18 – are risen 1Ki 9:15 – Millo 1Ch 11:8 – Millo 2Ch 32:5 – Millo Joh 4:20 – fathers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 9:6. All the men of Shechem That is, the great men, the chief magistrates of the city; and the house of Millo Either some eminent and potent family living in or near Shechem, or the common council, the full house, or house of fulness, as the word signifies; those that met in their court-house or place of general assembly; gathered together Not to prosecute and punish Abimelech for this most barbarous murder, as they ought to have done, he being one of their citizens, but to make him a king. God was not consulted whether they should have any king at all, much less who it should be. They did not advise with the high-priest, or with their brethren of any other city or tribe, though it was designed that he should reign over all Israel, Jdg 9:22; but the Shechemites take upon them to do all of themselves, as if they were the men, and wisdom must die with them. In the mean time the rest of the Israelites were so very stupid and infatuated as to sit by unconcerned. They took no care to give any check to this usurpation, to protect the sons of Gideon, or to avenge their death; but tamely submitted to the bloody tyrant, as men that, with their religion, had lost their reason, and all sense of honour and liberty, justice and gratitude. How vigorously had their fathers appeared to avenge the death of the Levites concubine! and yet so wretchedly degenerate are they now, as not to attempt the revenging of the death of Gideons sons. It is for this that they are charged with ingratitude, (Jdg 8:35,) Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal. By the plain of the pillar The Hebrew word , eelon, here rendered plain, also signifies an oak, and therefore some render the passage, By the oak of the pillar; namely, the oak where Joshua erected a pillar, as a witness of the covenant renewed between God and Israel, Jos 24:26. This place they chose, perhaps, to signify that they still owned Jehovah, and their covenant with him; and did not worship Baal in opposition to, but in conjunction with him, and in subordination to him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of {d} Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that [was] in Shechem.
(d) Which was as the town house, or common hall, which he calls the tower of Shechem in Jud 9:49.