And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
All the people ... followed Abimelech ... and set the hold on fire upon them. Since this tower or fortress was so strong, and there was no hope of its being taken by storm, Abimelech resolved to set it on fire, being a wooden edifice. With this view he went up to mount Zalmon, which, in the opinion of Dr. Robinson ('Physical Geography of Palestine,' p. 36), 'could only be some part of Gerizim or Ebal, then covered with wood, since there is no other mountain near to Shechem.' There having cut down a branch, he lifted it on his shoulder, and bade all the people around do the same. A large quantity of fuel was thus brought down from the mountain, and laid in the lease round the tower. This being ignited, the flames, communicating with the tower, began to act on its wooden walls, so that all who had taken refuge in it were suffocated by the smoke or perished in the conflagration. The application of fire was a common expedient in sieges (see Layard, 'Nineveh and its Remains,' 2: p. 373). The assailants, creeping stealthily to the gates, applied torches to them, while they screened themselves from observation and from danger by o'ercanopying their heads with their uplifted shields (cf. Homer, 'Iliad,' 2:, 464; 15:; AEschylus, 'Supplicants,' 76).