Bible Strands
Judges 9:21
Then Jotham ran away, escaping to Beer, and he lived there for fear of his brother Abimelech.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jotham addresses the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo immediately after recounting his parable and pronouncing a curse on Abimelech. He delivers this warning to the assembled city officials before fleeing to avoid retaliation.
The words — The Hebrew verbs יָנַס (ya.nas) and בָּרַח (ba.rach) both denote fleeing or escaping, underscoring Jotham’s urgent departure. The phrase מִפְּנֵי (mi.ppenei) literally means “from before,” specifying that he dwelt in Beer to remove himself from Abimelech’s reach.
The thread — Beer appears in Numbers 21:16 as a well where God instructed Moses to gather the people for water, and in Joshua 19:8 as a boundary marker within Simeon’s tribal inheritance. The name functions as a geographic reference point across Israel’s historical and territorial records.
Why it lands — The text records Jotham’s physical withdrawal as a direct response to Abimelech’s violent rise to power. It requires the reader to recognize that prophetic warning does not guarantee immediate safety, and that fleeing a tyrant is a documented historical reality rather than a spiritual failure.
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
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
Cross-references
- Numbers 21:16 From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”
- Joshua 19:8 and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Simeon.
- 2 Samuel 20:14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel-beth-maacah and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him.