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 ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 9:48
Commentary on Judges 9:30-49
(Read Judges 9:30-49)
Abimelech intended to punish the Schechemites for slighting him now, but God punished them for their serving him formerly in the murder of Gideon's sons. When God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing, and they another. That, which they hoped would have been for their welfare, proved a snare and a trap, as those will certainly find, who run to idols for shelter; such will prove a refuge of lies.