God and evil spirits

[Anonymous]

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem;and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

I stumbled on that passage the other day, and I felt I had to ask here.
How can God send an evil spirit? Is there any reasonable explanation for this?

[bizzt]

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem;and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

I stumbled on that passage the other day, and I felt I had to ask here.
How can God send an evil spirit? Is there any reasonable explanation for this?

I believe it is better to say he ALLOWED an Evil Spirit!

[Kurieuo]

It really has the meaning of to "cast", "let loose" an evil spirit. All creatures are subservient to God, and I see nothing wrong with God allowing an evil spirit between them as punishment.

Matthew Henry says this about the passage in his whole Bible commentary:

He sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Jdg_9:23), that is, they grew jealous one of another and ill-affected one to another. He slighted those that set him up, and perhaps countenanced other cities which now began to come into his interests more than he did theirs; and then they grew uneasy at his government, blamed his conduct, and quarrelled at his impositions. This was from God. He permitted the devil, that great mischief-maker, to sow discord between them, and he is an evil spirit, whom God not only keeps under his check, but sometimes serves his own purposes by. Their own lusts were evil spirits; they are devils in men's own hearts; from them come wars and fightings. These God gave them up to, and so might be said to send the evil spirits between them. When men's sin is made their punishment, though God is not the author of the sin, yet the punishment is from him. The quarrel God had with Abimelech and the Shechemites was for the murder of the sons of Gideon (Jdg_9:24): That the cruelty done to them might come and their blood be laid as a burden upon Abimelech that slew them, and the men of Shechem that helped him.

I'd really recommend getting a copy of e-Sword (http://www.e-sword.net), and also installing Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible also available from the site. I only got installed this commentary recently, and have personally found it one of the best.

Kurieuo.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the answers! I've already got E-sword(downloaded it yesterday) and some commentaries, but I'll check out the one you mentioned as well.

[AttentionKMartShoppers]

Why aren't the words in the Bible translated literally from the original? Sending and let loose in English have very different meanings...Sending would make it seem as if God wanted to do something evil through the demon ...instead of just letting man have free will, be tempted, and commit evil if that's what he decides to do?

[Felgar]

Why aren't the words in the Bible translated literally from the original?

To the greatest extent possible they are translated literally. But it's very difficult because 1) an incredible knowledge of the entire bible is necessary in order to properly establish context which affects the meaning of the original words, 2) there's not always a word in English that means the exact same thing as the original word, and 3) society's understanding and use of the English language changes over time.

[AttentionKMartShoppers]

That's why new editions come out....mostly improvements, except the NIV and the newer version that has another letter in front...they're butchering the Bible by making as much gender neutral as possible...where he should be, they put they, and where son is, they put child....OK going off on a tangent stopping here.