Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageBut a certain woman dropped the upper stone of a millstone onto Abimelech's head and shattered his skull.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GBut a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Avimelekh's head and cracked his skull.
KJV
King James VersionAnd a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleBut a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
Footnotes
*Pelach rekhev* — 'a piece/slab of the upper millstone.' The *rekhev* was the upper rotating stone of a hand-mill, which rides on a lower saddle-stone. It was a daily household tool operated by women grinding grain. That Israel's would-be king is brought down by this most domestic of weapons — hurled by an unnamed woman — is devastating narrative irony. The deed becomes proverbial in 2 Sam 11:21, where it is invoked as the paradigmatic case of a hero slain by a woman from a wall. The skull (*gulgolet*) cracked here carries latent resonance: the Aramaic *Gulgalta* (Golgotha, 'the Skull') echoes the same word. FOG renders 'upper millstone'; FOG Message 'the upper stone of a millstone' for clarity.
