And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant who had Gideon's sons, his own brothers, slain in order to make himself ruler of Israel, and he ruled over Shechem, which he utterly destroyed. At Thebez he came close to a tower with the intent to burn it with the people inside it, when a certain woman cast down a piece of a millstone that struck his head and broke his skull, inflicting a mortal wound.
The phrase all to is an obsolete adverbial expression meaning entirely, so that the breaking of his skull is declared as entirely accomplished. It states the result produced by the woman's act of casting the stone, not her purpose or intention in casting it. That fatal wound brought his career of violence to an end in retribution, fulfilling the words spoken by Jotham and showing that sin does not go unpunished.
In connection with Jotham's parable of the trees, the account teaches that to choose such a man as ruler was folly, and that ambition to rule over others shows lack of qualification for leadership. His urgent desire not to be remembered as slain by a woman provides a comparison for one who ends a discussion abruptly in order to avoid an unfavorable conclusion.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant who had Gideon's sons, his own brothers, slain in order to make himself ruler of Israel, and he ruled over Shechem, which he utterly destroyed. At Thebez he came close to a tower with the intent to burn it with the people inside it, when a certain woman cast down a piece of a millstone that struck his head and broke his skull, inflicting a mortal wound.
The phrase all to is an obsolete adverbial expression meaning entirely, so that the breaking of his skull is declared as entirely accomplished. It states the result produced by the woman's act of casting the stone, not her purpose or intention in casting it. That fatal wound brought his career of violence to an end in retribution, fulfilling the words spoken by Jotham and showing that sin does not go unpunished.
In connection with Jotham's parable of the trees, the account teaches that to choose such a man as ruler was folly, and that ambition to rule over others shows lack of qualification for leadership. His urgent desire not to be remembered as slain by a woman provides a comparison for one who ends a discussion abruptly in order to avoid an unfavorable conclusion.