Judges 9:20

Christian Standard Bible ®

But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
but if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh, and devour the men of Shekhem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shekhem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Avimelekh.

King James Version
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Lexham English Bible
But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and let it devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo; and let a fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-Millo, and let it devour Abimelech."

English Standard Version
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech."

New Century Version
But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech!"

New English Translation
But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!"

Amplified Bible
"But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the people of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the people of Shechem and Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech."

New American Standard Bible
"But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech."

Geneva Bible (1587)
But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech, and consume the men of Shechem and the house of Millo: also let a fire come foorth from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and consume Abimelech.

Legacy Standard Bible
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Contemporary English Version
But if it was wrong to treat Gideon and his family the way you did, then I pray that Abimelech will destroy you with fire, and I pray that you will do the same to him.

Complete Jewish Bible
But if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh and burn up the men of Sh'khem and Beit-Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Sh'khem and Beit-Millo and burn up Avimelekh!"

Darby Translation
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Easy-to-Read Version
But leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo, if you have not acted right, may Abimelech destroy you. And may Abimelech be destroyed too!"

George Lamsa Translation
But if not, let fire come out from Abimeleck, and devour the lords of Shechem and the lords of Millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from the lords of Millo, and devour Abimeleck.

Good News Translation
But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up."

Literal Translation
If not, fire shall come out from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo. And fire shall come out from the leaders of Shechem and from the house of Millo and consume Abimelech.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf no, then go fyre out from Abimelech, and cosume the men of Sichem and the house of Millo: And fyre go out also fro the men of Sichem, and from the house of Millo, and consume Abimelech.

American Standard Version
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Bible in Basic English
But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech, burning up the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo, for the destruction of Abimelech.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But if you haue not dealt truely, then let a fire come out of Abimelech, & consume the men of Sichem, & the house of Mello: and let there come out a fire fro among the men of Sichem, & out of the house of Mello, & consume Abimelech.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.'

King James Version (1611)
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and deuoure the men of Shechem and the house of Millo: and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and deuoure Abimeleeh.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Sicima, and the house of Bethmaalo; and let fire come out from the men of Sicima and from the house of Bethmaalo, and devour Abimelech.

English Revised Version
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Berean Standard Bible
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."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
fier go out `of hym, and waste the dwelleris of Sichem, and the citee of Mello; and fier go out of the men of Sichem, and of the citee of Mello, and deuoure Abymelech.

Young's Literal Translation
and if not -- fire cometh out from Abimelech and devoureth the masters of Shechem and the house of Millo, and fire cometh out from the masters of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devoureth Abimelech.'

Update Bible Version
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Webster's Bible Translation
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

World English Bible
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

New King James Version
But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!"

New Living Translation
But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!"

New Life Bible
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the people of Shechem and Beth-millo. Then let it burn up Abimelech."

New Revised Standard
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the lords of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
but, if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the owners of Shechem, and the house of Millo, - and let fire come out from the owners of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech!

Douay-Rheims Bible
But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech.

Revised Standard Version
but if not, let fire come out from Abim'elech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abim'elech."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech."

Contextual Overview

⁷When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them: ⁸The trees decidedto anoint a king over themselves.They said to the olive tree, “Reign over us.” ⁹But the olive tree said to them,“Should I stop giving my oilthat people use to honor both God and men,and rule over the trees?” ¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree,“Come and reign over us.” ¹¹But the fig tree said to them,“Should I stop givingmy sweetness and my good fruit,and rule over trees?” ¹²Later, the trees said to the grapevine,“Come and reign over us.” ¹³But the grapevine said to them,“Should I stop giving my winethat cheers both God and man,and rule over trees?” ¹⁴Finally, all the trees said to the bramble,“Come and reign over us.” ¹⁵The bramble said to the trees,“If you really are anointing meas king over you,come and find refuge in my shade.But if not,may fire come out from the brambleand consume the cedars of Lebanon.” ¹⁶“Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did—

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

let fire come out: Judges 9:15, Judges 9:23, Judges 9:56, Judges 9:57, Judges 7:22, 2 Chronicles 20:22, 2 Chronicles 20:23, Psalms 21:9, Psalms 21:10, Psalms 28:4, Psalms 52:1-5, Psalms 120:3, Psalms 120:4, Psalms 140:10

Reciprocal: Numbers 21:28 - a fire Judges 9:44 - rushed forward Judges 9:45 - he took Judges 9:49 - put them Judges 9:53 - woman 2 Samuel 5:9 - Millo 1 Kings 9:15 - Millo 2 Kings 2:24 - cursed them 1 Chronicles 11:8 - Millo Psalms 57:4 - set Proverbs 26:1 - so Ecclesiastes 4:16 - they also Song of Solomon 2:3 - I sat Jeremiah 51:35 - The violence Ezekiel 28:18 - therefore Amos 1:4 - I will Amos 6:13 - which

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 4:2
She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

Genesis 5:29
And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

Genesis 9:18
Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

Genesis 9:19
These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

Genesis 9:24
When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

Genesis 9:26
He also said:

Deuteronomy 20:6
Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.

Deuteronomy 28:30
You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit.

Proverbs 10:11
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But if not,.... If it appeared that they had not acted uprightly and sincerely in this matter:

let fire come out of Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; let wrath, rage, and fury, break out from Abimelech like fire, and issue in the destruction of those that made him king, both those of Shechem and of Millo:

and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech; let them be incensed against Abimelech, and seek his ruin, and procure it: the sense is, that he wishes that strife, contention, and quarrels, might arise among them, and they mutually destroy each other; the words are imprecative of evil upon them both, and which had its exact fulfilment.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This fable and that noted in the marginal reference are the only two of the kind found in Scripture. Somewhat different are the parables of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 12:1-4; 2 Samuel 14:5-11; 1 Kings 20:39-40.

Judges 9:9

Honour God and man - Alluding to the constant use of oil in the meat-offerings Leviticus 2:1-16, and in the holy ointment Exodus 30:24-25. In like manner, the allusion in Judges 9:13 is to the drink-offerings of wine. See Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:10.

Judges 9:14

The bramble - Said to be the Rhamnus Paliurus of Linnaeus, otherwise called Spina-Christi, or Christ’s Thorn, a shrub with sharp thorns. The application is obvious. The noble Gideon and his worthy sons had declined the proffered kingdom. The vile, base-born Abimelech had accepted it, and his act would turn out to the mutual ruin of himself and his subjects.

Judges 9:15

If in truth - i. e. consistently with truth, honor, and uprightness, as explained in the interpretation in Judges 9:16, Judges 9:19.

Let fire come out ... - The propriety of the image is strictly preserved, for even the thorns of the worthless bramble might kindle a flame which would burn the stately cedars to the ground. See Psalms 58:9.

Judges 9:16-20

These verses contain the interpretation of the fable. In them Jotham points out the base ingratitude of the people in raising Abimelech upon the ruin of Gideon’s house, and foretells the retribution which would fall upon both parties.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 9:20. Let fire come out from Abimelech — As the thorn or bramble may be the means of kindling other wood, because it may be easily ignited; so shall Abimelech be the cause of kindling a fire of civil discord among you, that shall consume the rulers and great men of your country. A prophetic declaration of what would take place.