The Reign of Abimelech

91 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's relatives , and spoke to them and to the whole clan of the household of his mother's father , saying , 2 "Speak , now , in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem , 'Which is better for you, that seventy men , all the sons of Jerubbaal , rule over you, or that one man rule over you?' Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh ." 3 And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem ; and they were inclined to follow Abimelech , for they said , "He is our relative ." 4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows , and they followed e him. 5 Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal , seventy men , on one stone . But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left , for he hid himself. 6 All the men of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king , by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem .

7 Now when they told Jotham , he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim , and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, "Listen to me, O men of Shechem , that God may listen to you. 8 "Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree , 'Reign over us!' 9 "But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored , and go to wave over the trees ?' 10 "Then the trees said to the fig tree , 'You come , reign over us!' 11 "But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit , and go to wave over the trees ?' 12 "Then the trees said to the vine , 'You come , reign over us!' 13 "But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my new wine , which cheers God and men , and go to wave over the trees ?' 14 "Finally all the trees said to the bramble , 'You come , reign over us!' 15 "The bramble said to the trees , 'If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade ; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon .' 16 "Now therefore, if you have dealt in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king , and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house , and have dealt with him as he deserved e - 17 for my father fought for you and risked e his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian ; 18 but you have risen against my father's house today and have killed his sons , seventy men , on one stone , and have made Abimelech , the son of his maidservant , king over the men of Shechem , because he is your relative - 19 if then you have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day , rejoice in Abimelech , and let him also rejoice in you. 20 "But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo ; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo , and consume Abimelech ." 21 Then Jotham escaped and fled , and went to Beer and remained there because e of Abimelech his brother .

22 Now Abimelech ruled over Israel three years . 23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem ; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech , 24 so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come , and their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother , who killed them, and on the men of Shechem , who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers . 25 The men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains , and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road ; and it was told to Abimelech . 26 Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives , and crossed over into Shechem ; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. 27 They went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them, and held a festival ; and they went into the house of their god , and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech . 28 Then Gaal the son of Ebed said , "Who is Abimelech , and who is Shechem , that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal , and is Zebul not his lieutenant ? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem ; but why should we serve him? 29 " Would e , therefore, that this people were under my authority ! Then I would remove Abimelech ." And he said to Abimelech , "Increase your army and come out." 30 When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed , his anger burned . 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully , saying , "Behold , Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem ; and behold , they are stirring up the city against you. 32 "Now therefore, arise by night , you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field . 33 "In the morning , as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush upon the city ; and behold , when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can." 34 So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies . 35 Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate ; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush . 36 When Gaal saw the people , he said to Zebul , "Look , people are coming down from the tops of the mountains ." But Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men ." 37 Gaal spoke again e and said , "Behold , people are coming down from the highest part of the land , and one company comes by the way of the diviners' oak ." 38 Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your boasting now with which you said , 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Is this not the people whom you despised ? Go out now and fight with them!" 39 So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech . 40 Abimelech chased him, and he fled before e him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate . 41 Then Abimelech remained at Arumah , but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem . 42 Now it came about the next day , that the people went out to the field , and it was told to Abimelech . 43 So he took his people and divided them into three companies , and lay in wait in the field ; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city , he arose against them and slew them. 44 Then Abimelech and the company who was with him dashed forward and stood in the entrance of the city gate ; the other two companies then dashed against all who were in the field and slew them. 45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day , and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he razed the city and sowed it with salt . 46 When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith e . 47 It was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon , he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees , and lifted it and laid it on his shoulder . Then he said to the people who were with him, "What you have seen me do , hurry and do likewise ." 49 All the people also cut down each one his branch and followed e Abimelech , and put them on the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem also died , about a thousand men and women .

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez , and he camped against Thebez and captured it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the center of the city , and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower . 52 So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire . 53 But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head , crushing his skull . 54 Then he called quickly to the young man , his armor bearer , and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, 'A woman slew him.' " So the young man pierced him through , and he died . 55 When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead , each departed to his home . 56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech , which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers . 57 Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads , and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Tola and Jair Judge Israel

101 Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah , the son of Dodo , a man of Issachar , arose to save Israel ; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim . 2 He judged Israel twenty-three e years . Then he died and was buried in Shamir . 3 After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two e years . 4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys , and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair to this day . 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon .

Jephthah Delivers Israel from the Ammonites

6 Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord , served the Baals and the Ashtaroth , the gods of Aram , the gods of Sidon , the gods of Moab , the gods of the sons of Ammon , and the gods of the Philistines ; thus they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. 7 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel , and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon . 8 They afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel that year ; for eighteen e years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in Gilead in the land of the Amorites . 9 The sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah , Benjamin , and the house of Ephraim , so that Israel was greatly distressed .

10 Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord , saying , "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals ." 11 The Lord said to the sons of Israel , "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians , the Amorites , the sons of Ammon , and the Philistines ? 12 "Also when the Sidonians , the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands . 13 "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods ; therefore I will no longer deliver you. 14 " Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen ; let them deliver you in the time of your distress ." 15 The sons of Israel said to the Lord , "We have sinned , do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day ." 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord ; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer . 17 Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead . And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah . 18 The people , the leaders of Gilead , said to one another , "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon ? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead ."

Jesus Heals a Palsied Man

17 One day He was teaching ; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem ; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing . 18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed ; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd , they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher , into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus . 20 Seeing their faith , He said , "Friend , your sins are forgiven you." 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason , saying , " Who is this man who speaks blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins , but God alone ?" 22 But Jesus , aware of their reasonings , answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts ? 23 "Which is easier , to say , 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say , 'Get up and walk '? 24 "But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ,"-He said to the paralytic -"I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home ." 25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God . 26 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God ; and they were filled with fear , saying , "We have seen remarkable things today ."

The Call of Levi

27 After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth , and He said to him, "Follow Me." 28 And he left everything behind , and got up and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house ; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples , saying , "Why e do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners ?" 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, " It is not those who are well who need a physician , but those who are sick . 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance ."

The Question about Fasting

33 And they said to Him, " The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers , the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same , but Yours eat and drink ." 34 And Jesus said to them, "You cannot e make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while e the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 " But the days will come ; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days ." 36 And He was also telling them a parable : "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment ; otherwise he will both tear the new , and the piece from the new will not match the old . 37 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins ; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined . 38 "But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins . 39 "And no one , after drinking old wine wishes for new ; for he says , 'The old is good enough.' "

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 5:17-39

Commentary on Luke 5:17-26

(Read Luke 5:17-26)

How many are there in our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, who do not sit under the word, but sit by! It is to them as a tale that is told them, not as a message that is sent to them. Observe the duties taught and recommended to us by the history of the paralytic. In applying to Christ, we must be very pressing and urgent; that is an evidence of faith, and is very pleasing to Christ, and prevailing with him. Give us, Lord, the same kind of faith with respect to thy ability and willingness to heal our souls. Give us to desire the pardon of sin more than any earthly blessing, or life itself. Enable us to believe thy power to forgive sins; then will our souls cheerfully arise and go where thou pleasest.

Commentary on Luke 5:27-39

(Read Luke 5:27-39)

It was a wonder of Christ's grace, that he would call a publican to be his disciple and follower. It was a wonder of his grace, that the call was made so effectual. It was a wonder of his grace, that he came to call sinners to repentance, and to assure them of pardon. It was a wonder of his grace, that he so patiently bore the contradiction of sinners against himself and his disciples. It was a wonder of his grace, that he fixed the services of his disciples according to their strength and standing. The Lord trains up his people gradually for the trials allotted them; we should copy his example in dealing with the weak in faith, or the tempted believer.