They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
Parallel Translations
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They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
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And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
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And they went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod the grapes, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Judges 9:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 9:4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and reckless fellows who followed him.
- Luke 17:26-29 As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky and destroyed them all.
- Exodus 32:6 They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
- Exodus 32:19 As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
- Leviticus 24:11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
- Judges 8:33 As soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again and played the prostitute following the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god.
- Judges 9:46 When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith.
- Judges 16:23 The lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.”
- 1 Samuel 17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- Psalms 109:17 Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
- Isaiah 16:9-10 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen. Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop.
- Isaiah 22:12-14 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 24:7-9 The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases. They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.
- Jeremiah 25:30 “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and tell them, “ ‘Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He will mightily roar against his fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
- Daniel 5:1-4 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded that the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem be brought to him; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of God’s house which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
- Daniel 5:23 but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, or hear, or know; and you have not glorified the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways.
- Amos 6:3-6 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall; who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
- Luke 12:19-20 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Before they were afraid of Abimelech’s power, and durst…
Before they were afraid of Abimelech’s power, and durst not go out of the city.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 9:27 And they went out into the fields,…
Jdg 9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode [the grapes], and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
Ver. 27. And they went out into their vineyards.] Which till Gaal came they durst not do, belike, for fear of Abimelech, who was Hannibal ad portas.
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And made merry.] Or, Made songs. See Isa 16:10. The Septuagint renders it εποιησαν χορους, they danced; little thinking how soon that merry dance would end in a miserable downfall The Hebrew is, praises: for at first God was thereby praised.
And cursed Abimelech.] Which they ought not to have done, since they had made him ruler of the people. {Exo 22:28} So Dr Story cursed Queen Elizabeth in his daily grace before eating, and was worthily executed at Tyburn: Sanders railed bitterly against her, calling her Lupam Anglicanam, &c., and had his mouth stopped with famine in Ireland.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain They went out into the fields, which, till his…
They went out into the fields, which, till his coming, they durst not do, for fear of Abimelech; but now took confidence to do so, in contempt of him.
Made merry; partly from the custom of rejoicing and singing songs in vintage time, Lev 19:24; Isa 16:10; Jer 25:30; and partly for the hopes of their redemption from Abimelech’s tyranny.
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The house of their god, Baal-berith, Jdg 9:4; either to beg his help against Abimelech, or to give him thanks, either for the fruits of the earth now received, or for the hopes of recovering their former and lost liberty.
Did eat and drink, to the honour of their idols, and out of the oblations made to them, as they used to do to the honour of Jehovah, and out of his sacrifices.
Cursed Abimelech; either by reviling and reproaching him after their manner; or rather in a more solemn and religious manner, cursing him by their god, as Goliath did David, 1Sa 17:43; or calling upon their god to ratify their curses pronounced against him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Gaal the son of Ebed said,.... As they…
And Gaal the son of Ebed said,.... As they were then making merry, drinking and carousing:
who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? who is this Abimelech the Shechemite? or who is he more than Shechem, the old prince of this place, long ago dispossessed of it? the one is no better than the other, nor has a better title to rule and government than the other, that we should serve him; nay, of the two, the descendants of the old Shechem have the best title:
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is not he the son of Jerubbaal? that pleaded against Baal, and threw down his altar, the god you now serve:
and Zebul his officer? has he not set him over you? not content to rule you himself, he has set up another as an officer over you under him, and thus you are like to be governed in a tyrannical manner, and oppressed:
serve the men of Hamor--for why should we serve him? that is, rather serve them than him; which was speaking very contemptuously of his government, preferring the descendants of Hamor, the old Canaanitish prince, that ruled in this place, to Abimelech; and if Gaal was a descendant of his, he spoke in good earnest, and thought this a proper opportunity to get the government of the city restored to him and his family, since their old religion and idolatry were established among them; and if they had received the one, why not the other?
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Went out - Which, 'till his coming they durst…
Went out - Which, 'till his coming they durst not do, for fear of Abimelech. Made merry - Both from the custom of rejoicing, and singing songs in vintage time, and for the hopes of their redemption from Abimelech's tyranny. Their goals-Baal-berith, ver. 4, either to beg his help against Abimelech, or to give him thanks for the hopes of recovering their liberty. Eat and drink - To the honour of their idols, and out of the oblations made to them, as they used to do to the honour of Jehovah, and out of his sacrifices. Cursed - Either by reviling him after their manner, or, rather in a more solemn and religious manner, cursing him by their God, as Goliath did David.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 9:27. They went out into the fields —…
Jdg 9:27. They went out into the fields — Which, till his coming, they durst not do, for fear of Abimelech. Made merry — Both from the custom of rejoicing, and singing songs in vintage time, and for the hopes of their redemption from Abimelech’s tyranny. Went into the house of their god — Baal-berith, (Jdg 9:4,) either to beg his help against Abimelech, or to give him thanks for the hopes of recovering their liberty. And did eat and drink — To the honour of their idol, and out of the oblations made to him, as they used to do to the honour of Jehovah, and out of his sacrifices. And cursed Abimelech — Either by reviling him after their manner, or, rather, in a more solemn and religious manner, cursing him by their god, as Goliah did David.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Seditious and lawless acts Jdg 9:25-26 now broke out…
Seditious and lawless acts Jdg 9:25-26 now broke out into open rebellion. It was at an idolatrous feast in the house of Baal-berith, on occasion of the vintage, and when they were excited with wine, that the rebellion was matured. Those present began to “curse Abimelech,” to speak insultingly of him, and to revile him (compare Lev 20:9; 2Sa 19:21; Isa 8:21). Gaal, the son of Ebed, who was watching the opportunity, immediately incited them to revolt from the dominion of Abimelech, offering himself to be their captain; adding a message of defiance to Abimelech, addressed, probably, to Zebul, who was present but too weak to resent it on the spot.
Jdg 9:27
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Made merry - The word translated “merry” occurs only here and in Lev 19:24. Its etymology gives the sense of “praises”, “thanksgivings”; and its use in these two passages rather indicates that the fruits themselves which were brought to the House of God with songs of praise, and eaten or drunken with religious service, were so called. The thank-offerings would be a portion of the new wine of the vintage which they had just gathered in.
Jdg 9:28
Shechem is another designation of Abimelech. Sheehem means the son and heir of Sheehem, Abimelech’s mother being a Canaanite Jdg 9:18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Cups. Such revellings were common in the days of…
Cups. Such revellings were common in the days of vintage; (Isaias xvi. 10., and Jeremias xlviii. 33,) and they generally accompanied the heathenish sacrifices, chap. xvi. 24. They went to give thanks to their god, for having delivered them, (Calmet) as they thought, from the power of Abimelech. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 27. Went out into the fields — To gather…
27. Went out into the fields — To gather the vintage, as the context shows.
Made merry — Rather, made a thanksgiving festival, as was the common custom at the time of the harvest.
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House of their god — The temple of Baal-berith. Jdg_9:4. They honoured their god with thanksgivings similar to those which the law prescribed for the praise of Jehovah. Lev_19:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. held festival] held a merry-making. The marg. offered…
27. held festival] held a merry-making. The marg. offered a praise offering is based upon the special sense of the word in Lev_19:24; here, more generally, a vintage feast like the one described in Jdg_21:19 ff. Cf. the orgiastic feasts held by the Carthaginians, no doubt in the temples; North-Sem. lnscr., p. 121 f.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) And made merry.—The vintage was the most joyous…
(27) And made merry.—The vintage was the most joyous festival of the year (Isa_16:9-10; Jer_25:30). The word rendered “merry” is hillûlim, and occurs only here and in Lev_19:24, where it is rendered “praise.” Some render it “offered thank-offerings.” The Chaldee renders it “dances,” and the Vulg. “choirs of singers.” The word evidently involves the notion of triumphant songs (LXX., elloulim and chorous).
Of their god.—Baal-berith.
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Did eat and drink.—In some public feast, such as often took place in idol temples (Jdg_16:23; 2Ki_19:37; 1Co_8:10). It is evident that this was a sort of heathen analogue of the Feast of Ingathering. The apostasy would be facilitated by a transference of customs of worship from Elohim to Baal.
Cursed Abimelech.—Rather, abused. This seems to have been the first outburst of rebellion among the general population, and Gaal took advantage of it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And they went out, etc. The next step forward…
And they went out, etc. The next step forward in the rebellion was taken at the time of the vintage, probably when they were inflamed with wine; for, after they had gathered in and trodden the grapes, they kept high festival in the temple of Baal-berith, on occasion of offering to their god the solemn thank offering for the vintage. And then, speaking freely under the influence of wine, they cursed Abimelech. The whole talk of the company was of his misdeeds, and seditious and rebellious words were freely uttered on all sides. Made merry. Rather, offered their thank offerings. The same word is used in Lev_19:24: "In the fourth year all the fruit thereof (i.e. of the vineyard) shall be holy to praise the Lord withal literally, praise offerings to the Lord. These offerings were made by the Shechemites to Baal instead of to God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.