Politics of brotherhood
Abimelech gains the support of the Shechemites by emphasizing his kinship through his mother - “I am your bone and your flesh” (Judges 9:2). The Shechemites resonate to the rhetoric: “He is our brother,” they say (9:3).
It’s not a stable partnership. Kinship isn’t a sound foundation for kingship, at least in this case. No doubt that’s partly due to the fact that Abimelech gets his Shechemite “brothers” to finance the slaughter of 70 “brothers,” the sons of Jerubbaal, in Ophrah (9:5). This unbrotherly, Cainite extermination program was enough to give the Shechemites pause.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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