2 "Ask all the leading men of Shechem, 'What do you think is best, that seventy men rule you - all those sons of Jerub-Baal - or that one man rule? You'll remember that I am your own flesh and blood.'" 3 His mother's relatives reported the proposal to the leaders of Shechem. They were inclined to take Abimelech. "Because," they said, "he is, after all, one of us." 4 They gave him seventy silver pieces from the shrine of Baal-of-the-Covenant. With the money he hired some reckless riff-raff soldiers and they followed along after him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 9:2-4
Commentary on Judges 9:1-6
(Read Judges 9:1-6)
The men of Shechem chose Abimelech king. God was not consulted whether they should have any king, much less who it should be. If parents could see what their children would do, and what they are to suffer, their joy in them often would be turned into sorrow: we may be thankful that we cannot know what shall happen. Above all, we should fear and watch against sin; for our evil conduct may produce fatal effects upon our families, after we are in our graves.