Speaking to the Men of Shechem - Judges 9:3

In the book of Judges we learned how, “Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all he family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.…” and in chapter nine and verse three of Judges, we learn how, “his mother’s brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem” where we read,

And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

The verse reads, “And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words:” The writer began with the words, “and his mother’s brethren spoke of him” which means “and his, Abimelech’s, brothers and family of his female progenitor made utterance speech, declaration and proclamation pertaining to him, Abimelech” “in the ears” or “within the physical ears for hearing” “of all the men” which means “pertaining to each, every and the whole of the male human beings” “of Shechem” or “belonging to Shechem whose name means ‘back or shoulder’ and was a city in Manasseh; located in a valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, 34 miles (54 km) north of Jerusalem and 7 miles (10.5 km) southeast of Samaria”, “all these words” which means “each, every and the whole of the utterances, declarations and sayings spoken by Abimelech”. The writer shared how the brothers and family of “Abimelech’s” mother complied with his request and made utterance according to his words within the physical “ears” of each and every one of the male human beings within “Shechem”. 

The verse goes on to say, “and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.” The writer continued with the words, “and their hearts” which means “and their, the men of Shechem’s, souls, minds and wills” “inclined to follow Abimelech” which means “stretched, extended and bent toward Abimelech whose name means "Melek is father" or "my father is king”: “for they said” or “because, since and on account that they uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “he is our brother” which means “he, Abimelech, exists as our male sibling”. The writer shared how the souls and minds of the people of “Shechem” were bent toward “Ahimelech” because he was their family and male sibling. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how “Abimelech’s” brothers talked about him with the other people within “Shechem”, and because their souls and minds were bent toward him and he was their relative, they extended themselves toward him. All of this happened because Israel once again turned away from Jehovah God, and God doesn’t want this for any of us. God loves us, and He proved His love toward us when He sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. Jesus rose from the dead after three days, and when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and help us to keep Him first in our live so scenarios like this one with “Abimelech” never need to happen to us. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Matthew 6:33)

Next time learn how, “they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".