Bible Strands
Judges 9:27
And after they had gone out into the fields, gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trodden them, they held a festival and went into the house of their god; and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Shechemite leaders and Gaal’s followers act in the fields and vineyards following the grape harvest, moving from agricultural work into a temple gathering.
The words — The verbs וַ/יִּבְצְר֤וּ (va/i.yiv.tze.Ru) and וַֽ/יִּדְרְכ֔וּ (va/i.yid.re.Khu) record the sequential gathering and treading of grapes, while הִלּוּלִ֑ים (hi.lu.Lim) names the rejoicing or festival they initiate.
The thread — The transition from harvest work to temple revelry mirrors the sequence in Exodus 32:6, and the public dismissal of authority directly precedes Gaal’s speech in Judges 9:28.
Why it lands — The text states that a harvest celebration inside a god’s house ends with the participants cursing Abimelech, showing how communal feasting can serve as cover for organized opposition.
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 they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
Cross-references
- Judges 9:4 So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.
- Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Exodus 32:6 So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
- Exodus 32:19 As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- Leviticus 24:11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)
- Judges 8:33 And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
- Judges 9:46 On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
- Judges 16:23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
- 1 Samuel 17:43 “Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- Psalms 109:17 The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.