Bible Strands
Judges 9:57
And God also brought all the wickedness of the men of Shechem back upon their own heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator concludes the siege account by declaring that God repaid the men of Shechem for their role in Abimelech’s massacre of Jerubbaal’s sons. This statement follows immediately after Abimelech’s capture and demolition of the city in Judges 9:45.
The words — The Hebrew הֵשִׁ֥יב (he.Shiv) means “he repaid” or “he brought back,” coupled with כָּל־רָעַת (kol-ra'at), “all the evil,” to indicate complete retribution. The phrase בְּרֹאשָׁם (be-rosham), “upon their heads,” specifies that the consequences fell directly on the perpetrators themselves.
The thread — This repayment fulfills the reciprocal warning in Judges 9:20 and parallels the binding nature of covenant curses in Joshua 6:26. The declaration directly closes the narrative arc of the city’s destruction recorded in Judges 9:45.
Why it lands — The text states that God actively turned the men of Shechem’s own wickedness back upon them, causing Jotham’s curse to take effect. A reader must recognize that shared guilt in violence guarantees direct divine retribution rather than exemption from its consequences.
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 all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
Cross-references
- 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.”
- Joshua 6:26 At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
- Judges 9:45 And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
- 1 Kings 16:34 In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.