Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

and Zeeb they slew at the Winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

      8And the men of Ephraim said unto him: 'Why hast thou served us thus, that thou didst not call us when thou wentest to fight with Midian?' And they did chide with him sharply. ²And he said unto them: 'What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?' Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

      ⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. ⁵And he said unto the men of Succoth: 'Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.' ⁶And the princes of Succoth said: 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy power, that we should give bread unto thine army?' ⁷And Gideon said: 'Therefore when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.' ⁸And he went up thence to Penuel, and spoke unto them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he spoke also unto the men of Penuel, saying: 'When I come back in peace, I will break down this tower.'

      ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. ¹³And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; and he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy and seven men. ¹⁵And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said: 'Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye did taunt me, saying: Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy power, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?' ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. ¹⁷And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. ¹⁸Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna: 'Where are the men whom ye slew at Tabor?' And they answered: 'As thou art, so were they; of one form with the children of a king.' ¹⁹And he said: 'They were my brethren, the sons of my mother; as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.' ²⁰And he said unto Jether his first-born: 'Up, and slay them.' But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said: 'Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength.' And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

      ²²Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon: 'Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian.' ²³And Gideon said unto them: 'I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.' ²⁴And Gideon said unto them: 'I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil.'—For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites. ²⁵And they answered: 'We will willingly give them.' And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

      ²⁹And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

      ³³And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again went astray after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. ³⁴And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown unto Israel.

      9And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying: ²'Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem: Which is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.' ³And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words; and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said: 'He is our brother.' ⁴And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him. ⁵And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

      ⁶And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all Beth-millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem. ⁷And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them: 'Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. ⁸The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree: Reign thou over us. ⁹But the olive-tree said unto them: Should I leave my fatness, seeing that by me they honour God and man, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁰And the trees said to the fig-tree: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹¹But the fig-tree said unto them: Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruitage, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹²And the trees said unto the vine: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹³And the vine said unto them: Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to hold sway over the trees? ¹⁴Then said all the trees unto the bramble: Come thou, and reign over us. ¹⁵And the bramble said unto the trees: If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. ¹⁶Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands—¹⁷for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ¹⁸and ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother—¹⁹if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰But 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.' ²¹And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

      ²²And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. ²³And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech; ²⁴that the violence done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and