s, while Gedeon presided.

8:29. So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house:

8:30. And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had
many wives.

8:31. And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose
name was Abimelech.

His concubine... She was his servant, but not his harlot: and is called
his concubine, as wives of an inferior degree are commonly called in the
Old Testament, though otherwise lawfully married.

8:32. And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried
in the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri.

8:33. But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again,
and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with
Baal, that he should be their god:

8:34. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out
of the hands of all their enemies round about:

8:35. Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon,
according to all the good things he had done to Israel.

Judges Chapter 9

Abimelech killeth his brethren. Joatham's parable. Gaal conspireth with
the Sichemites against Abimelech, but is overcome. Abimelech destroyeth
Sichem: but is killed at Thebes.

9:1. And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his mother's
brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his mother's
father, saying:

9:2. Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that
seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that one
man should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone, and
your flesh.

9:3. And his mother's brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem,
all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying:
He is our brother:

9:4. And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of
Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and
vagabonds, and they followed him.

Baalberith... That is, Baal of the covenant, so called from the covenant
they had made with Baal, chap. 8.33.

9:5. And he came to his father's house in Ephra, and slew his brethren,
the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained
only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.

9:6. And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the
families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by
the oak that stood in Sichem.

9:7. This be