Bible Strands
Judges 9:56
In this way God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father in murdering his seventy brothers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this statement immediately after Abimelech’s death in battle, before the Israelite army disperses to their homes. The account marks the conclusion of the civil war between Gideon’s sons and the men of Shechem.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּשֶׁב (va.yāšēḇ) literally means “he repaid” or “he returned,” indicating a direct counteraction to prior action. It is paired with רָעָת (rāʿat), “the evil,” specifying the wickedness Abimelech committed against his father.
The thread — This retribution motif echoes Judges 9:24, where the murder of Jerubbaal’s seventy sons is explicitly tied to divine justice. It parallels Psalms 94:23 and Proverbs 5:22, which both describe God bringing a person’s own iniquity back upon them.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that the narrative attributes Abimelech’s death and the Shechemites’ downfall to direct divine retribution. It presents the fulfillment of Jotham’s curse as a historical fact rather than a theological abstraction.
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
Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
Cross-references
- Psalms 94:23 He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Judges 9:24 in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
- Psalms 9:12 For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Psalms 58:10 The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Job 31:3 Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
- Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”