And you have risen up against my father’s house this day: Here somewhat surprisingly Jotham directly accuses the people of Shechem for this attack on his family. Abimelech and his hired men made the actual attack, but the people of Shechem were also responsible by supporting him. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered and introduces a contrast here between what Gideon did and what the people of Shechem have done, so it is better translated “but” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). The Hebrew pronoun for you is emphatic and should be rendered as such, for example, “But, as for you, you…” or “But look at what you have done: you….” Have risen up renders the key Hebrew verb qum, which is often used to portray the action of judges “rising” to save Israel from its enemies (see comments on verse 2.10). Here ironically Israelites have risen up against other Israelites, once again a foreshadowing of the horrific civil war to come. Good News Translation says “turned against,” and Contemporary English Version has “attacked.” My father’s house refers primarily to Gideon’s seventy sons, but it also includes his extended family. This day should not be understood to mean that Jotham was speaking to the Shechemites on the very day that Abimelech killed his 70 brothers. The Hebrew word for day often refers to a more general time span, and here covers the recent past. Thus this day may be rendered “now” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) to include both the recent past and the present.
And have slain his sons is literally “and you have killed his sons.” The pronoun “you” refers to the Shechemites again, especially Abimelech and his men. The accusation of Jotham is a powerful indictment against the entire town. If possible the pronoun should be retained. For slain see the comments on verse 8.17. We could also say “massacred,” “slaughtered,” or even “butchered” (Revised English Bible). His sons refers to Gideon’s male children. Jotham does not call them “my brothers.” He does this to keep the emphasis on Gideon, who deserves the respect of those he is addressing. We might say “You massacred his sons!”
Seventy men on one stone: See verse 9.5.
And have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem: This is Jotham’s final accusation against the people of Shechem: they made Abimelech their king. verse 8.31 reveals that Abimelech’s mother was Gideon’s “concubine” or wife of second rank, but here she is called his maidservant, that is, his “female servant” or “slave girl” (Contemporary English Version). This is a further insult to Abimelech, because a slave girl did not even have the status of a concubine. Around the world and still today, insulting someone’s mother is one of the strongest insults possible. Here calling Abimelech’s mother a maidservant insinuates he had no social status and certainly had no right to be the legal successor of Gideon, let alone king of the territory. For the citizens of Shechem, see verse 9.2. There this phrase seems to refer to “the leaders of Shechem,” but here it seems to have a wider meaning, referring to all the inhabitants of Shechem.
Because he is your kinsman is literally “because your brother he [is].” This clause begins with the Hebrew particle ki (because), which introduces the reason the people of Shechem made Abimelech king. They did not support him because they thought he would be a good leader, but rather because they thought they could profit from his being their relative. Here the Hebrew word for “brother” has the wider sense of a relative coming from the same town (see comments on verse 9.3). We might say “because he is related to you” or “because he is your relative” (New Living Translation). In some languages the clauses here can be reversed. For example, Good News Translation says “and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem.”
As noted above, Jotham interrupts his conditional statements in verse 9.16 with additional material in verse 9.17-18. If translators have begun 9.17 with a dash, then they can put a closing dash at the end of this verse.
A translation model for this verse is:
• But now you have turned against my father and his family and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over all the people of Shechem. All this, because he is your relative!
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .