Bible Strands
Judges 9:20
But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jotham delivers this conditional curse to the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo immediately after stating the terms of their covenant with Abimelech, then flees to Beer to avoid his brother.
The words — אַ֕יִן ('A.yin) translates literally as "not," establishing the negative condition that triggers the judgment, while אֵשׁ֙ ('esh) means "fire," denoting the destructive force that will execute the curse.
The thread — The identical conditional phrasing appears in Judges 9:15 when the thornbush pronounces its own curse, and the reciprocal destruction is later recorded as fulfilled in Judges 9:56.
Why it lands — It demands that a reader acknowledge the inescapable mechanics of covenant treachery, where betrayal guarantees a cycle of violence that consumes both the instigator and the accomplices.
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
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
Cross-references
- Judges 9:15 But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
- Judges 9:56 In this way God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father in murdering his seventy brothers.
- 2 Chronicles 20:22 The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.
- Psalms 28:4 Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- Psalms 140:10 May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again.
- Judges 7:22 And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
- Judges 9:23 God sent a spirit of animosity between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem and caused them to treat Abimelech deceitfully,
- Psalms 21:9 You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.
- Psalms 52:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
- Psalms 120:3 What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?