Chapter 45 Tower Of Shechem Burned Series

Chapter 45

Tower of Shechem Burned [Judges 9.46-9.49]

Scripture: Judges 9:46-49 (KJV)

46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

Commentary

46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

46 All the citizens of Shechem's Tower heard about it and went into the basement of the temple of El Berith.—Judges 9:46 (GW)

And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that...

The men of the tower of Shechem (probably the same as Beth Millo of verse [1](6) were the leaders of Shechem, except for those who were loyal to Abemilech and supported Zebul; friends and family of Abimelech and Zebul. It appears that the tower of Shechem was not within the city, because it says that they heard about it; if it was inside the city, they would have seen it first-hand. What they heard was this: “…Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt” (Judges 9:45; KJV). That was definitely bad news for these prominent men, and reasons enough for them to flee to the strong-hold of their idol-temple, which was probably close by.

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Article 9.3: TOWER OF SHECHEM

Historical

The tower of Shechem is where the elite of Shechem lived. It was part of the Temple of Baal-berith, and though we don’t know its location relative to the city, we do know that it served as the fortress to which the leaders of Shechem fled from the onslaught of Abimelech. They sought refuge in the inner chamber of the temple called “the hold.” It is the one place they thought they would be safe; partly due to the strength of the place, and partly because it was where the Shechemites worshipped their idol-god. They thought that either their god would protect them there, or that Abimelech would spare them out of pity for that god. Abimelech, however, set the upper parts of the inner chamber on fire, killing all the men and women housed within.

Excavation

The remnants of the tower of Shechem have been found within the ancient town of Shechem at Tell Bala’ta, a short distance northeast of modern Nablus in central Palestine. Modern excavations show that the tower of Shechem was used as a temple and a fortress.

Modern Shechem

The modern town contains about 20,000 inhabitants, the great body of them being Moslems. There are some 700 or 800 Christians, chiefly belonging to the Greek Orthodox church. The Samaritans do not total more than 200. The place is still the market for a wide district, both East and West of Jordan. A considerable trade is done in cotton and wool. Soap is manufactured in large quantities; oil for this purpose being plentifully supplied by the olive groves. Tanning and the manufacture of leather goods are also carried on. In old times the slopes of Ebal were covered with vineyards; but these formed a source of temptation to the "faithful." They were therefore removed by the authority incharge at that time, and their place taken by prickly pears.

W. Ewing

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they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith;...

Since they didn’t think they were safe enough in the tower, they went into the temple of Baalberith, their god, which was a strong fortified place, as temples often were. But this particular temple had the added benefit of a hold (strong-hold), which appears to have been a vault-like structure beneath the temple of Baal-berith. More than a thousand men and women sought refuge on the temple grounds, within the temple and in the hold. They reasoned they would be safe, either because of the great strength of the place, or because of the sacredness of it, and they imagined Abimelech would not destroy it, because this was the same temple that donated silver to support his rise to power: “So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men; and they followed him” (Judges 9:4; NKJV). Baal-Berith was the god that Israel began to openly worship after Gideon died: “So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god” (Judges 8:33; NKJV).