Jotham

"God is perfect." The youngest of Gideon's seventy sons. He escaped when the rest were put to death by the order of Abimelech.1 When "the citizens of Shechem and the whole house of Millo" were gathered together "by the plain of the pillar" (i.e., the stone set up by Joshua2) "that was in Shechem, to make Abimelech king," from one of the heights of Mount Gerizim he protested against their doing so in the earliest parable, that of the bramble-king. His words then spoken were prophetic. There came a recoil in the feelings of the people toward Abimelech, and then a terrible revenge, in which many were slain and the city of Shechem was destroyed by Abimelech.3 Having delivered his warning, Jotham fled to Beer from the vengeance of Abimelech.4

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References

Notes

  1. Judg. 9:5.
  2. 24:26; comp. Gen. 35:4.
  3. Judg. 9:45.
  4. 9:7–21.

Source

  • Easton, M.G. (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This article incorporates text from Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) by M.G. Easton, which is in the public domain.