Judges 9:5

Then Abimelech (sometimes spelled Abimelek), the son of Gideon—here referred to by his other name Jerubbaal—seized power for himself, eliminating competition by ruthless violence. Although Judges 9:5 only mentions Jotham’s escape, the background of the passage reveals that Abimelech’s motivation was to secure sole authority in Shechem, leaving no rival among Gideon’s seventy sons. Gideon (Jerubbaal) had lived during the latter part of the fifteenth century through the middle of the fourteenth century BC, near Ophrah in the tribal area of Manasseh. By the time of Abimelech’s actions, the land of Israel was in a post-Gideon period of unrest, where the leadership vacuum allowed such an ambitious and cruel act. Judges 9 records that *“Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself”* (v.5 NASB-95). With this brutal purge, Abimelech wiped out his kin except for one who escaped to become a voice of judgment against him. This kind of widespread execution on a single stone hints at purposeful, ritualistic elimination, ensuring that no one would challenge Abimelech’s claim to rule.

The location specified is Ophrah, the hometown of Gideon. Ophrah was a site in the northern reaches of the territory of Manasseh, used by Gideon for threshing wheat (Judges 6:11). Although there is not enough archaeological detail in biblical sources to pinpoint Ophrah’s exact coordinates with certainty, it was sufficiently central to Gideon’s extended family that all his sons would be there together. Jotham, the lone survivor, fled to Mount Gerizim, where he dramatized a parable directing God’s cursing upon Abimelech and Shechem (Judges 9:7-21). Ultimately, Abimelech’s rule was short-lived; his betrayal and cruelty were eventually answered by divine reckoning (Judges 9:56-57).

By murdering his own brothers, Abimelech set up a tyranny rather than an authentic judgeship. The stark contrast between Gideon’s earlier humility and faith (Judges 6–8) and Abimelech’s ambition highlights the continuous pattern in the Book of Judges: A generation rises that fails to follow the Lord faithfully, and the people of Israel suffer the consequences. This story underscores the destructive power of selfish leadership and foreshadows the many oppressive regimes to come before Israel’s eventual demand for a centralized monarchy in the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 8:5).

It shows how quickly God’s people, left to their own devices, can fall into chaos and oppression when they forget the source of their blessings (Judges 8:33-35).

This is the story of how Abimelech murdered Gideon’s sons, sparing only Jotham, to gain power.

Short one-sentence brief of the summary: Abimelech slaughtered nearly all his half-brothers in Ophrah, leaving only Jotham alive to bear witness to his ruthless seizure of power.