Discovery BoxJudges 9:4 
Context9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous 1 men as his followers. 2
Judges 9:27
Context9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, 3 squeezed out the juice, 4 and celebrated. They came to the temple 5 of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.
1 tn Heb “empty and reckless.”
2 tn Heb “and they followed him.”
3 tn Heb “vineyards.”
4 tn Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.
5 tn Heb “house.”
