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Abimelech, the judge

Abimelech, the judge, was the son of Gideon and became the fifth Judge of Israel, but it was not by God's power. He was Gideon's son by a concubine from Shechem.

He tried to become king, and he did reign over Israel for three years (Judges 9:22). Abimelech was one of 70 sons of Gideon's many wives. With a great desire to lead Israel, and with the help of his mothers clan in Shechem, he assassinated all his brothers but one.

Only his youngest brother, Jotham, escaped. The people of Shechem got tired of their king once he moved his residence south to Arumah, and they turned to Gaal son of Ebed, who stirred up a rebellion against Abimelech. Abimelech retaliated with a strike at Shechem, and razed the city. He then fought the rebels at Thebez.

There was a strong tower in the middle of the city, in which all the men and women of Thebez fled and shut themselves in, going up to the roof of the tower. Abimelech came right up to the door of the tower to set it on fire. But a certain woman dropped part of a millstone down on Abimelech's head, and it fractured his skull.

He immediately called his armor bearer and said to him, 'Draw your sword and dispatch me, lest they say of me that a women killed me.' So his attendant ran him through and he died. When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all left for their homes. Thus did God requite the evil Abimelech had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. (Judges 9:50-56)

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