Branches on Abimelech’s Shoulder (Judges 9)
When Abimelech goes up the mountain and gets a branch, he puts it on his shoulder (shikmo). That’s one of those little details that we wonder about sometimes (“Why did the Spirit think it was important to mention that he carried it on his shoulder? Why ‘waste’ the space to tell us that?”).
But it strikes me that the consonants are the same as those of the city he’s about to burn: Shechem (Hebrew: Shekem). I don’t quite know what to make of that. Is there some sort of parallel between the branch on his shoulder and the branches piled up at the stronghold of Shechem? Do the branches parallel Abimelech, while the shoulder parallels Shechem under Abimelech’s “shade” (cf. 9:15)? Or is it just a coincidence?
I don’t know. But it’s worth pondering.