Verse Lens · Context pointer

Judges 9:52 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

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Verse 52. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Role in This Section

This verse brings Abimelech to the tower door to repeat his burning tactic.

Read It With

  • Judges 9:50–57

Read Judges 9:50–57 together. This verse brings Abimelech to the tower door to repeat his burning tactic. The siege of Thebez, flight to its tower, Abimelech's attempted repetition of fire, the woman's millstone blow, his armor-bearer's final act, dispersal, and the narrator's twofold retribution close the Abimelech account.

Read Judges 9:50–57 together

Why these verses belong together: The siege of Thebez, flight to its tower, Abimelech's attempted repetition of fire, the woman's millstone blow, his armor-bearer's final act, dispersal, and the narrator's twofold retribution close the Abimelech account.

Verse 50. Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

Verse 51. But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

Verse 52. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

Verse 53. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.

Verse 54. Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

Verse 55. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

Verse 56. Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

Verse 57. And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Judges 9:50–57 — A woman ends Abimelech's violent rule
Sources used for this context pointer

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.

Exact location: Judges 9:50–57, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

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hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 9:50–57

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