‘ And all the wickedness of the chief men of Shechem, did God requite upon their heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.'
“On them”, that is on both Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Thus was the curse of Jotham, Gideon's representative, fulfilled. Those who had plotted and had their part in the killing of Gideon's sons now found that their deed had come on their own heads.
It is very significant that from Gideon onwards it is said of all the judges that they died, and the place of their burial is described. But of Abimelech nothing is said about his burial. He was as it were left where he was (Judges 9:55). He was not considered acceptable.
But what were the lessons of this very full account? One was certainly to show God's faithfulness to Gideon and His abhorrence of what Abimelech had done to his heirs. But that could have been dealt with in a sentence or two. The fact is that the total lack of mention of the name Yahweh and the fact that God is only mentioned in respect of vengeance, except by Jotham, demonstrates more than this. It demonstrates the total failure of kingship, which now fades out and is not heard of again. God was not in it.
In some ways Gideon had brought what happened on his own head. He had multiplied wives; he had had a concubine, thus producing a son who was not a son, and was outside his direct control and was connected with another city and another class of society and a syncretised religion; he had localised, at first unintentionally, the means of obtaining Yahweh's guidance; and this that followed was the result. It revealed to Israel something of what kingship involved, and that what that was, God rejected - multiple wives, problems of accession, civil war resulting from discontent with the king, dictatorial attitudes, and the upholding of one man's honour and position, all resulting from one man's princedom or kingship. And to us it is a reminder that what a man sows, so shall he also reap.