[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 1Q6 (1QJudg; < 68 BCE) with extant verses 1–3, 5–6, 28–31, 40–43, 48–49.

[8][9][10] [11] Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[5] Gideon's youngest son of the seventy, Jotham, survived the slaughter and went to the top of Mount Gerizim to deliver a mashal ("parable") to the people about useful trees, which decline rulership as beneath them, allow the useless and prickly bramble to reign over them with disastrous ending.

[19] Jotham's speech was a righteous complaint of a wronged person that would bring about vengeance through divine intervention, as the subsequent story of Abimelech's decline shows.

The Shechemite chieftains soon transferred their affections to a new strongman while attempting to undermine the Abimelech's leadership credentials through the taunts of some drunken louts.

Abimelech and his loyalist, Zebul, succeeded in defeating Gaal, the challenger, and then proceeded to take further vengeance on the people of Shechem (verses 42–49).