Woman of Thebez (Women of the Bible)

W is for Woman of Thebez.

Scripture Reference:

Judges 9:50-57


⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place.
⁵⁶ Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.


2 Samuel 11:21

Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez?

Name Unknown:

This obscure daughter of Israel who lived in Thebez is not named.

Interesting Facts about the Woman of Thebez:

• She, along with others, fled to a strong tower of Thebez in an attempt to escape bloodthirsty Abimilech who was determined to be king and had killed all his rivals - including his 70 brothers (only one had escaped).
• She was on the roof of the tower when she saw Abimilech rushing towards the tower to burn it and its occupants with fire.
• She found a millstone and threw it at Abimilech's head and crushed his skull. Not wanting it to be known that he had died at the hands of a woman, Abimilech had his armor bearer thrust through him with a sword, and Abimilech died.
• She was an instrument of God used to save her people from death.
• By defeating Abimilech, the woman of Thebez restored the God-given rulership of judges back to Israel.

What We Can Learn from the Woman of Thebez:

• The battle is not always to the strong.
• "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it, and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)

Attribution: https://flic.kr/p/bR8ctv

Thanks so much to Marcy at Ben and Me for hosting this Blogging through the Alphabet challenge! It's hard to believe there are only 3 weeks left in this challenge! I can't wait to show you who I chose for the letter X! Be sure to come back here next week to find out!

You can find all of my posts in this series on my Women of the Bible page.

If you'd like to read what others are #abcblogging about, simply click on the image below. 

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie