Bible Strands
Judges 9:2
“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abimelech directs his maternal relatives at Shechem to deliver a political proposal to the city’s leaders. He positions himself at the threshold of kingship, using familial ties to solicit their endorsement.
The words — The Hebrew employs דַּבְּרוּ־ (dabberu-) for "speak" and מַה־ טּוֹב (mah tov) for "what is good," structuring the appeal as a direct inquiry about optimal governance. The particle נָא (na) functions as a polite marker, softening the command to his messengers.
The thread — The kinship claim parallels Genesis 29:14, where Laban identifies Jacob as flesh and blood, and 1 Chronicles 11:1, where Israel claims David as their own flesh and blood. The numerical contrast between seventy rulers and one directly references Judges 8:30, which records Gideon’s seventy sons.
Why it lands — The text presents a binary choice between distributed leadership and centralized rule, explicitly linking political legitimacy to biological descent. It requires the reader to observe how familial language is weaponized to consolidate institutional authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 29:14 Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,
- Judges 8:30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
- 1 Chronicles 11:1 Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
- Hebrews 2:14 Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
- 2 Samuel 19:13 And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
- Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of His body.