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.
Ver. 45. He took the city, and slew the people.] There was, as at Athens when taken by Sulla, ανελεης σφαγη, a merciless massacre, the streets running down with blood. a
And beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.] Milan was so served by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, A.D. 1162, but rebuilt not long after, b as was likewise Shechem by Jeroboam. 1Ki 12:25 But here the bramble, or thistle, made good his motto, Nemo me impune lacessit. He dealt most barbarously with his native country, turning the place of his birth into a place of "nettles and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation," Zep 2:9 as far as in him lay.
a Appian.
b Sigon. Naucler.