⁵³ but as he came near, a woman dropped a ·grinding stone [^Lupper millstone; ^Cthe smaller stone (about 10 inches long) that was rolled by hand over the top of the larger lower millstone; Deut. 24:6] on his head, crushing his skull.

⁵⁴ He quickly called to the officer who carried his armor and said, “Draw your sword and kill me. I don’t want people to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech [^Ca humiliation for a warrior; 4:17–24; 1 Sam. 31:4].’” So ·the officer [his servant; or the young man] stabbed Abimelech, and he died. ⁵⁵ When the people of Israel saw Abimelech was dead, they all returned ·home [^Leach man to his place].