Judges 9:46-48

Expanded Bible

The Tower of Shechem Burns

⁴⁶ When the ·leaders [leading citizens; lords] who were in the Tower of Shechem [^Ceither a nearby town or a structure within Shechem; v. 6] heard what had happened to Shechem, they gathered in the ·safest room [stronghold; inner chamber] of the temple of El Berith [9:4]. ⁴⁷ Abimelech heard that all the ·leaders [leading citizens; lords] of the Tower of Shechem had gathered there. ⁴⁸ So he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon [^Cnear Shechem]. Abimelech took an ax and cut some ·branches [brushwood] and put them on his shoulders. He said to all those with him, “Hurry! Do what I have done!”