◄ Judges 9:45 ►
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
Treasury of Scripture

he took

Judges 9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo...

beat

Deuteronomy 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein...

1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelled therein; and went out from there, and built Penuel.

2 Kings 3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it...

Psalm 107:34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

Ezekiel 47:11 But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore as I live, said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah...

James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.

sowed. Salt in small quantities renders land extremely fertile; but too much of it destroys vegetation. Every place, says Pliny, in which salt is found is barren, and produces nothing. Hence the sowing of a place with salt was a custom in different nations to express permanent desolation. Sigonium observes, that when Milan was taken, A.D.

1162, the walls were razed, and it was sown with salt. And Brantome informs us, that it was an ancient custom in France, to sow the house of a man with salt, who had been declared a traitor to his king. Charles IX., king of France, the most base and perfidious of human beings, caused the house of Admiral Coligni (whom he and the Duke of Guise caused to be murdered, with thousands more of Protestants, on the eve of St. Bartholomew,

1572) to be sown with salt!



Context
Abimelech Sows the City with Salt

34And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. 36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 37And Gaal spoke again, and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. 38Then said Zebul to him, Where is now your mouth, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. 39And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even to the entering of the gate. 41And Abimelech dwelled at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them. 44And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran on all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. 45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. 46And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. 47And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48And Abimelech got him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people that were with him, What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. 49And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire on them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
Parallel Verses
American Standard Version
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and killed the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed salt in it.

Darby Bible Translation
And Abim'elech 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.

King James Bible
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

Young's Literal Translation
and Abimelech hath fought against the city all that day, and captureth the city, and the people who are in it he hath slain, and he breaketh down the city, and soweth it with salt.

Judges 9:44
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