Judges 9:45
ContextNET © | Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled 1 the city and spread salt over it. 2 |
NIV © | All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it. |
NASB © | Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he razed the city and sowed it with salt. |
NLT © | The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground. |
MSG © | Abimelech fought at the city all that day. He captured the city and massacred everyone in it. He leveled the city to the ground, then sowed it with salt. |
BBE © | And all that day Abimelech was fighting against the town; and he took it, and put to death the people who were in it, and had the town pulled down and covered with salt. |
NRSV © | Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city, and killed the people that were in it; and he razed the city and sowed it with salt. |
NKJV © | So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. |
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NET © [draft] ITL | |
NET © | Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled 1 the city and spread salt over it. 2 |
NET © Notes |
1 tn Or “destroyed.” 2 tn Heb “sowed it with salt.” sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment. |