What Does Judges 9:24 Mean?
So that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be set upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.THE KEY
The hands that strengthen a killing are counted with the hand that carries it out.
THE MEANING
Violence carries its responsibility beyond the one who kills: those who make the killing possible stand under the same charge. The blood is laid on the killer and on those who strengthen his hands.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A killing’s guilt belongs only to the person who strikes. This verse names those who empower the violence as answerable too.
THE ROOT
חִזְּקוּ אֶת־יָדָיו
chizzequ et-yadav
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
Be strong, make strong, or prevail.
The Hebrew phrase is literally “strengthened his hands.” The root connects strength with taking hold: Shechem’s leaders add force to the violence, so their support is named alongside the killing itself.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Be strong; prevail.
חָזַק
The root’s sense of prevailing shows that those who strengthen Abimelech help his violence gain force.
hecheziq: Hold fast; take hold; strengthen.
הֶחֱזִיק
The sense of taking hold brings the supporters close to the act: they grip and sustain the course of violence, even without striking the blow.
THE PATTERN
Violence implicates the hands that empower it as well as the hand that strikes.
You shall not go after the crowd to do harm. Nor shall you answer in a dispute, turning aside after the crowd, to bend judgment.When you see a thief, you take pleasure in him, and your portion is with adulterers.Who, knowing God's judgment of alignment, that those who do such things weigh as much as death, not only do them, but also take pleasure in those who practice them.THE THREAD
They grip an evil word for themselves; they recount hiding snares, and say, Who sees them?The word translated “encourage” comes from the same root, חזק, as “strengthened” in Judges. One verse shows people strengthening a killer’s hands; the other shows people strengthening themselves in an evil plan.
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