And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
Shechem was a very ancient place where Jacob stopped when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan. Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maid and had Gideon's sons slain so that he himself might become ruler of Israel. The verse belongs to the account of Jotham's parable and the folly of the men of Shechem in choosing Abimelech as ruler even though he had caused his brothers to be killed and had surrounded himself with worthless followers.
The verse describes the men of the tower of Shechem entering and taking refuge in the hold or stronghold of the house of the god Berith. Abimelech utterly destroyed Shechem, destroying about a thousand men who had taken refuge in the tower of Shechem. Their refuge in the house of their god did not save them, for this destruction was the punishment of those who had supported Abimelech.
Elsewhere in Judges 9 inanimate trees are personified, represented as holding an election and making speeches and given animation with the sentiments, actions, and language of rational beings, including inviting the fig tree to reign over them. This giving of speech and action to inanimate things as though alive is the same figure by which the dead are portrayed as speaking and acting with reference to the facts of their cases, without implying that the dead are conscious.
Shechem was a very ancient place where Jacob stopped when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan. Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maid and had Gideon's sons slain so that he himself might become ruler of Israel. The verse belongs to the account of Jotham's parable and the folly of the men of Shechem in choosing Abimelech as ruler even though he had caused his brothers to be killed and had surrounded himself with worthless followers.
The verse describes the men of the tower of Shechem entering and taking refuge in the hold or stronghold of the house of the god Berith. Abimelech utterly destroyed Shechem, destroying about a thousand men who had taken refuge in the tower of Shechem. Their refuge in the house of their god did not save them, for this destruction was the punishment of those who had supported Abimelech.
Elsewhere in Judges 9 inanimate trees are personified, represented as holding an election and making speeches and given animation with the sentiments, actions, and language of rational beings, including inviting the fig tree to reign over them. This giving of speech and action to inanimate things as though alive is the same figure by which the dead are portrayed as speaking and acting with reference to the facts of their cases, without implying that the dead are conscious.