This verse is clearly the high point of Jotham’s speech, and it constitutes a kind of curse, which predicts what will happen in the rest of the Abimelech story. It also foreshadows the events described at the end of the book (verse 19.1b–21.24) when civil war erupts in Israel. The following expressions and names are repeated here: let fire come out, Abimelech, devour, the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo. The last two sentences are parallel, but the names are structured as a chiasm, underlining the importance of this message and the reciprocity of the actions. They read literally:

let fire come out from Abimelech, and let it devour the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo;
and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and let it devour Abimelech.

But if not: See verse 9.15. There is another ellipsis here, which can be filled in by saying “But if you have not acted in good faith and honor with Jerubbaal and his house” (see verse 9.19 for details on these expressions). Here the underlying assumption is that the people of Shechem did not treat Gideon and his family as they should have.

Let fire come out from Abimelech …: Just as the bramble threatened the trees (verse 9.15), so Jotham threatens Abimelech and the people of Shechem and Beth-millo. Let fire come out renders a Hebrew jussive verb, expressing Jotham’s wish for Abimelech and the people of Shechem and Beth-millo. He wants them to suffer for the way they made his family suffer. Later in the Abimelech story we learn that this curse does come to pass (verse 9.49). Let fire come out is a figurative expression indicating destruction (see comments on verse 9.15). This phrase occurs twice for emphasis, but also to predict a surprising outcome for the anti-hero, Abimelech. In the end, he will destroy the people he pretended to serve, his relatives, the people of Shechem and Beth-millo (verse 9.45). And they, in turn, will turn against him and destroy him. Let fire come out from Abimelech may be awkward in some languages. If so, Abimelech can be made the subject. For example, Contemporary English Version says “I pray that Abimelech will destroy you with fire.”

And devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo: For devour see verse 9.15. In 9.15 the bramble told the fire to devour the cedars of Lebanon. Here human beings are the object. If possible, translators should try to use the same verb as in verse 9.15. For the citizens of Shechem, see verse 9.2. Here this phrase has the broader meaning of “the people of Shechem.” For Beth-millo see verse 9.6. This clause and the previous one may be rendered “then fire should blaze forth from Abimelech and burn up you people of Shechem and Beth-millo.”

And let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech: There is a notion of reciprocity here that translators should try to express. Jotham wishes to see these people destroy each other as punishment for what they did, as is often the outcome for people who come together to plot evil.

A translation model for this verse is:

• But if you have not acted honorably toward Jerubbaal and his family, then I pray that Abimelech will start a fire to destroy you people of Shechem and Beth-millo, and that you will in turn destroy him.”

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 .