What is the meaning of Judges 9:56?

In this way

- The phrase links verse 56 to the entire chapter’s narrative—especially the collapse of Abimelech’s short-lived reign at the hands of his own men and a woman’s millstone (Judges 9:50-55).

- God’s hand is seen weaving through ordinary events to bring about an extraordinary outcome, just as He had done earlier with Sisera’s tent peg (Judges 4:21) and later with Herod’s worms (Acts 12:23).

- It affirms that history is not random; the Lord actively directs it (Proverbs 16:4; Psalm 103:19).

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God repaid

- Scripture underscores that vengeance belongs to the Lord alone (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).

- His repayment is never impulsive but measured, righteous, and perfectly timed (Psalm 9:16).

- The verse reminds believers that sowing and reaping is a divine law that operates without fail (Galatians 6:7-8).

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the wickedness

- Abimelech’s wickedness included:

• Lust for power that drove him to slaughter (1 Timothy 6:10).

• Betrayal of covenant community, violating God’s command against murder (Exodus 20:13).

• Leading Israel into further idolatry and civil strife (Judges 9:4).

- Wickedness never remains hidden; it invites God’s exposure and judgment (Numbers 32:23; Proverbs 11:19).

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that Abimelech had done to his father

- Although Gideon (Jerub-baal) was dead, dishonoring his legacy still broke the fifth commandment to honor one’s parents (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2).

- Abimelech’s rebellion illustrates how sin shatters family ties and ultimately boomerangs on the sinner (Proverbs 15:27).

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in murdering his seventy brothers

- The atrocity (Judges 9:5) magnified Cain’s single act of fratricide (Genesis 4:8) seventyfold.

- It was a wholesale assault on God’s image in man (Genesis 9:6) and on the potential leadership God had raised up through Gideon’s household.

- Scripture consistently shows God avenging innocent blood (Deuteronomy 27:25; Psalm 94:6-7), and Abimelech becomes a living cautionary tale (1 John 3:12).

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summary

Judges 9:56 declares that the Lord personally intervened to settle accounts with Abimelech. The verse teaches that God’s justice is active, precise, and certain: He orchestrates events “in this way” to repay unrepentant wickedness, vindicate His moral law, and protect His covenant purposes. Believers can trust that no evil deed escapes His notice and that righteousness will prevail in God’s perfect timing.