Judges 9:2

2. All the men of Shechem Literally, all the lords of Shechem, that is, all the prominent citizens, whether Israelitish or Canaanitish. Comp. Judges 9:28. Abimelech’s usurpation was shrewdly planned and most skillfully executed. His address to the citizens of his native place was well adapted to win their hearts. The name of Jerubbaal, the Baal-fighter, was alone calculated to rouse the animosity of the Shechemites, who were devoted to the worship of Baal, and had a house erected to his honour. Judges 9:4. Then, the notion of being ruled by seventy kings instead of one would be anything but agreeable; and though there may have been no evidence that the seventy sons of Jerubbaal aspired to reign, it might have been thought wise to provide against such a contingency. But what most swayed their minds was Abimelech’s significant reminder, I am your bone and your flesh. His mother’s family stood high in Shechem, and her son seemed, therefore, to be a brother of them all.