* The Book of Judges separates the altar from the ephod, placing the erection of the former at the time of the vocation of Gideon (vi. 11-31) and that of the ephod after the victory (viii. 24-27).  The sanctuary of Ophrah was possibly in existence before the time of Jerubbaal, and the sanctity of the place may have determined his selection of the spot for placing the altar and ephod there.

     ** Judges viii. 30, 31.

The succession to the throne would naturally have fallen to one of the seventy, but before this could be arranged, Abimelech “went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”  This advice was well received; it flattered the vanity of the people to think that the new king was to be one of themselves; “their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.  And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith (the Lord of the Covenant), wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, which followed him....  He slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone.”  The massacre having been effected, “all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo,* and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar which was in Shechem."** He dwelt at Ophrah, in the residence, and near the sanctuary, of his father, and from thence governed the territories constituting the little kingdom of Manasseh, levying tribute upon the vassal villages, and exacting probably tolls from caravans passing through his domain.

     * The word “Millo” is a generic term, meaning citadel or
     stronghold of the city:  there was a Millo in every important
     town, Jerusalem included.

** The “oak of the pillar” was a sacred tree overshadowing probably a cippus:  it may have been the tree mentioned in Gen. xxxv. 4, under which Jacob buried the strange gods; or that referred to in Josh. xxiv. 26, under which Joshua set up a stone commemorative of the establishment of the law.  Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, escaped the massacre.  As soon as he heard of the election of Abimelech, he ascended Mount Gerizim, and gave out from there the fable of the trees, applying it to the circumstances of the time, and then fled.  Some critics think that this fable—­which is confessedly old—­was inserted in the text at a time when prophetical ideas prevailed and monarchy was not yet accepted.

This condition of things lasted for three years, and then the Shechemites, who had shown themselves so pleased at the idea of having “one of their