Judges 9:52

And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Abimelech	אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ 'a.vi.Me.lekh	H40	Abimelek · proper noun, a man's name
came	וַיָּבֹ֤א vai.ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
tower	הַמִּגְדָּ֔ל ha.mig.Dal	H4026	a tower (from its size or height) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fought	וַיִּלָּ֖חֶם vai.yi.La.chem	H3898	to feed on · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hard	וַיִּגַּ֛שׁ vai.yi.Gash	H5066	to be or come (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
door	פֶּ֥תַח Pe.tach	H6607	an opening (literally) · noun, common masculine singular construct
tower	הַמִּגְדָּ֖ל ha.mig.Dal	H4026	a tower (from its size or height) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
burn	לְשָׂרְפ֥וֹ le.sa.re.Fo	H8313	to be (causatively · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fire	בָאֵֽשׁ va.'Esh	H784	fire (literally or figuratively) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Kings 15:16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smot…
Judges 9:48-49 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bo…
2 Kings 14:10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy h…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:50–end

We have seen the ruin of the Shechemites completed by the hand of Abimelech; and now it comes to his turn to be reckoned with who was their leader in villany. Thebez was a small city, probably not far from Shechem, dependent upon it, and in confederacy with it. Now, I. Abimelech attempted the destruction of this city (Jdg 9:50), drove all the inhabitants of the town into the castle, or citadel, Jdg 9:51. When he had them there he did not doubt but he should do the same execution here that he had lately done at the strong-hold of the temple of Baal-berith, not considering that the tower of an idol-temple lay more exposed to divine vengeance than any other tower. He attempted to set fire to th…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:51

all the men and women, . . . gat them up to the top of the tower--The Canaanite forts were generally mountain fastnesses or keeps, and they often had a strong tower which served as a last refuge. The Assyrian bas-reliefs afford counterparts of the scene here described so vivid and exact, that we might almost suppose them to be representations of the same historic events. The besieged city--the strong tower within--the men and women crowding its battlements--the fire applied to the doors, and even the huge fragments of stone dropping from the hands of one of the garrison on the heads of the assailants, are all well represented to the life--just as they are here described in the narrative of i…

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John Gill on Judges 9:52

And Abimelech came unto the tower,.... With his army to besiege it: and fought against it; using all the methods he could to oblige those in it to surrender: and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire; in order to get entrance into it; and perhaps the tower was built of stone, so that no other part could be set fire to; and to do this he drew near to the door himself, for nothing more is meant by the phrase, "went hard", than drawing near in his own person to the door; hazarding his life in the enterprise, being so bent upon it, thinking to do by this tower what he had done to the hold of the temple of Baalberith.

Dictionary and topics

Abimelech — My father a king, or father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian kings. (1.) The Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. 20:1-18). By an…
City — The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Gen. 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12). Next, we have…
Gate — (1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2…
Thebez — Brightness, a place some 11 miles north-east of Shechem, on the road to Scythopolis, the modern Tabas. Abimelech led his army against this place, because of its participation in the conspiracy of the…
Judgments · Upon Abimelech — Upon Abimelech
Thebez · A city, at which Abimelech was killed while besieging — A city, at which Abimelech was killed while besieging

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 9:52

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:50–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:51

John Gill on Judges 9:52

Dictionary and topics

Judges 9:52

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:50–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:51

John Gill on Judges 9:52

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:50–end

Rashi on Judges 9:48