Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:43
And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people [were] come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
43. three companies ] Cf. Jdg 7:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Three companies; whereof he kept one with himself, Jdg 9:44, and put the rest under other commanders.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he took the people,…. That is, the forces he had with him at Arumah:
and divided them into three companies: each having a separate leader, and the command of one of them he had himself:
and laid wait in the field; in the field of Shechem, one company in one part, and one in another part of the field:
and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; he watched them when they did:
and he rose up against them, and smote them; the companies rose up out of their ambush, in different parts, and killed them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(43) Into three companies.Why he only made three companies this time can only be matter of conjecture.
He rose up against them, and smote them.He was evidently a man of ruthlessly vindictive temperament, for these people whom he slew were mere husbandmen, not an armed host.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and he looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city, and he rose up against them, and smote them.’
Gathering that now that Gaal and his brothers had been expelled, the population of Shechem would feel able to move more freely, Abimelech divided his forces into three companies and waited in the countryside outside the city, and when many of the people in the city came out to work in their fields he arose with his men and smote them.
Alternately if we assume that Jdg 9:42 speaks of some people who had already left the city, this tells us that more now left the city, and it was they who were first attacked.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 9:43 And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people [were] come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
Ver. 43. Were come forth out of the city. ] As ambitious of their own destruction. Judgments need not go to find out wicked persons; they run to meet their bane.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reciprocal: 1Sa 11:11 – in three 2Sa 18:2 – a third part
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9:43 And he took the {n} people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people [were] come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
(n) Which were in his company.