The Rise of Abimelek

THE NARRATIVE OF Judges 9 presents some of the more intriguing puzzles of the early Deuteronomistic History, largely because it is so comprehensive of its subjecL It stands apart, for a variety of reasons, from the Gideon epic (Judges 6-8) and histories of salvation which precede, and from the list of minor judges (IO:l-5; 12:7-15) and Jephthah cycle (10:6-12:6) which follow. Scholars have long recognized that the chapter is anomalous. Sellin (1922), for example, suggested that it detailed how Shechem became an Israelite city. Others (see, e.g., Mayes, 1977, p. 316; Malamat, 1971, pp. 147-151) have held that the account deals fundamentally with Canaanite, rather than Israelite, concepts and traditions. At the same time, little doubt as to its historicity has been mooted. Richter (1963, pp. 286-292) has even argued that the literary origin of Jotham's fable (9:7-20) is in the earliest period of the Divided Monarchy. Nevertheless, significant questions remain to be answered. While the literary and historical associations of Judges 9 with the Gideon saga have been explored at some length (see especially Richter, 1963, pp. 247-318), it is not clear from what source Judges 9 itself stems. Was it an independent document incorporated with only minor changes into the Deuteronomistic edition of the book? Or was it an integral part of some longer, pre-Deuteronomistic source now present only in an attenuated form? What, in fact, does it reveal about Northern politics of the Judges era? And how does it relate to the historical phase reflected in the preceding narratives?