And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). There was probably a short time lapse as Abimelech prepared for and made this journey. The pronoun he may be rendered “they” or “Abimelech and his men,” since it is almost certain that Abimelech took his followers with him. His father’s house was Gideon’s home (see verse 8.29), which can be made explicit: “his father Gideon’s house.” Though Hebrew uses the word for house, here it obviously refers to a compound or set of houses. As is common in many cultures today, Gideon’s seventy sons probably lived with their families nearby or within the compound of their father. The distance Abimelech traveled was not too far since Shechem was at the border between the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, while Ophrah was further north in Manasseh (see comments on verse 6.11). We might say “Then Abimelech and his followers left Shechem and traveled to his father’s house at Ophrah.”

And slew his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, upon one stone: In Hebrew the clauses in this verse come one after the other, almost without comment. Nevertheless, the swiftness and brutality of this act comes as a surprise. Abimelech and his men massacre his half-brothers who lived at home with their father. Translators will have to decide whether or not to present this clause as an independent sentence, and how to link it to those that follow. Once again the numbers seventy and one come to the forefront. The narrator does not give the number of the men accompanying Abimelech on this mission, but they were probably many, since seventy sons could do nothing to prevent this massacre. For the Hebrew verb rendered slew, see the comments on verse 8.17. It may be translated “killed” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation) or “put to death.” However, since Abimelech killed his own brothers, some languages may prefer to use a more emotive verb, such as “murdered” (Contemporary English Version), “butchered” (Revised English Bible), “slaughtered,” or “massacred.” The word brothers, referring to Abimelech’s half-brothers, renders the same Hebrew word (ʾach) used throughout this passage (see verse 9.1, where it is translated “kinsmen”). Even though some languages have ways of speaking of “half-brothers,” it is better to keep the word brothers, a key term in this passage. Whether half-brothers or not, these people are his flesh and blood. This event foreshadows the horrible civil war to come in Israel, in which hundreds of thousands of brothers slaughter each other. The storyteller is careful to underline that these brothers are the sons of Jerubbaal, which is a way to bring the name of the god Baal to the forefront again. This phrase also slows down the flow of the story, and lends some emotion. The three phrases, his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal and seventy men, all refer to the same group, and should all be kept, but translators are free to combine them in ways that are natural in the target language. For example, translators may say “the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, all his brothers” or “all the other sons of Jerubbaal, his seventy brothers.”

Upon one stone is the only detail given of this terrible massacre. All these half-brothers were killed in the same place: on top of a large rock, probably on Gideon’s property. The text does not say if the brothers were killed with a sword or a knife, though killing on a rock suggests a kind of ritual killing, as if on an altar, a detail that evokes pity and sadness, if not horror. The number one echoes the “one” ruler that Abimelech proposed to the people of Shechem (verse 9.2). One stone has the sense of “same stone,” meaning they were all killed at the same place. Stone is better rendered “large rock” (Contemporary English Version). For this whole phrase Revised English Bible proposes “on a single stone block,” which is a good model to follow.

But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left: According to this text, not all of Gideon’s seventy sons died, since one son, Jotham, escaped. But renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces an exception here. Jotham was the name of Gideon’s youngest son, and an appropriate expression can be used here. There is certainly a note of irony here, since it is usually the oldest son who is considered the heir and hero of the family. As in the Joseph story, it is a younger child who shows himself more capable than the older siblings. Jotham’s age is not given here, but later passages make it clear that he was probably a young adult. The name Jerubbaal occurs for the second time in this verse, continuing the repetitive sound of the pagan god’s name. Was left means Jotham was the only son who survived the massacre. We can say he “escaped” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or “survived” (Revised English Bible). The Hebrew root for was left is the same one used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to the “remnant” in Israel, so there may be yet another bit of irony intended here (see also verse 21.7).

For he hid himself states the reason Jotham survived. The Hebrew conjunction ki rendered for can be translated “because” or “since.” He evidently ran away and hid himself somewhere. The Hebrew reflexive verb here can be rendered more simply as “hid” (Good News Translation), “hid out,” or “went into hiding.” This verb evokes the first part of the Gideon cycle when Gideon himself hid from the Midianites (verse 6.11). In some languages it will be necessary to make it explicit that he “ran away and hid.” This explanatory clause and the preceding one can be reversed. For example, Good News Translation says “But Jotham, Gideon’s youngest son, hid and was not killed.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then Abimelech and his men went to Gideon’s home in Ophrah, and there they slaughtered Abimelech’s seventy brothers on a single rock. However, the youngest brother, Jotham, survived the massacre because he ran away and hid.

• Then Abimelech went to Jerubbaal’s house in Ophrah and took the other sons of Jerubbaal, his seventy brothers, and killed them all on the same stone slab. But Jotham, the youngest son, hid and thus escaped.

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 .