When Gideon refused to be made king over Israel, the people returned to their homes, and he went back to live again in Ophrah, the place where God first spoke to him. Here the people from every part of the land came to talk with him about their troubles; for he was the judge of Israel.
After Gideon died, one of his sons, named Abimelech, remembered that the Israelites had at one time wanted to make his father the king of their country. But he remembered that his father had refused to he made a king. “Now,” thought Abimelech, “I will become their king.” So he talked with the men who lived in Shechem, a city not far from Ophrah, and they were well pleased with him. They gave him money from the temple of their idol, and with it he hired some wicked men to go with him back to the home of his father’s people.
Now Abimelech feared that his brothers, the sons of Gideon, might not want him to rule over them, so he planned to kill them all. But one of them, the youngest, whose name was Jotham, ran away and hid in the mountains. The others he killed.
After this wicked deed was done, Abimelech went again to Shechem, and the men from that city took him out to a country place and, under an oak-tree, crowned him for their king. Although they knew how cruelly he had treated his brothers—the sons of the great man who once saved their land from their enemies—yet they gave honor to Abimelech.
When Jotham heard that Abimelech had been made king by the men of Shechem, he knew God was not pleased. He knew that Abimelech had sinned again, and that the people of Shechem had also sinned. So he climbed the mountain that stood near Shechem and spoke in a loud voice, that all the people in the valley might hear his words. He told them a parable, or story, about the trees. This is what he said: “The trees went out one day to make for themselves a king. First they asked the olive-tree to rule over them. But the olive-tree replied, “Shall I leave my olive-oil, with which honor is given to God and man, and become merely a ruler of trees?’ And the olive-tree would not be their king.
“Next they asked the fig-tree to rule over them. But the fig-tree replied, “Shall I quit bearing fruit for mankind, and give myself to become only a ruler over the trees?’ And the fig-tree would not be their king.
“Then they asked the vine to rule over them. But the vine also refused to leave the work that God had given to it. So at last they spoke to a bramble-bush, on which sharp thistles grew. And the bram-ble-bush replied, “If you will trust yourselves under my shadow, then I will become your king. But if you will not trust in me, then fire will come out from me and destroy you all, even the beautiful cedar-trees!’ ”
Then Jotham explained the meaning of the story, or parable. He said that the men of Shechem were like the trees that wanted a king to rule over them. And Abimelech was like the bramble-bush, on which sharp thistles grew. Abimelech would bring much sorrow to them, and just as the tire would burn up both the trees and the thorn-bush, too, so the sorrows caused by Abimelech would finally mean death to him as well as to the people of Shechem.
After telling this story and explaining its meaning, Jotham ran away and hid in another part of the land. He knew Abimelech would surely kill him if he could find him.
For three years Abimelech ruled over Israel as king. Then God allowed an evil spirit to trouble Abimelech and the men of Shechem. They no longer felt kind toward each other. Finally the Shechemites planned to kill Abimelech; but when their governor heard about the plan he sent a secret messenger to Abimelech to warn him about the wicked intentions of his people.
Not long after this Abimelech came with an army against Shechem and destroyed the city. Then he went to another city near by and began to fight against it. The people of that city fled into a tower and bolted the door on the inside, and climbed to the topmost part for safety. Abimelech attempted to set the tower on fire; but while he was in the act a Woman on the top of the building threw a stone down upon his head and crushed his skull. Abimelech knew then that he would die, and he did not want to be killed by a woman. Because he was a strong soldier he thought it would be dishonorable to have it said of him that a woman had caused his death. So he commanded the young man who carried his armor to kill him quickly with his sword. And thus it was that Abimelech and all the men of Shechem were killed as cruelly as they had killed the sons of Gideon.
After Abimelech died, the people of Israel were judged for twenty-three years by a man named Tola, who belonged to the tribe of Issachar. Then Jair, a man who lived on the east side of the Jordan River, became the next judge, and for twenty-two years the people came to him to have their disputes settled and their troubles removed.