Judges 9:39

9:39 So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out ¹  and fought Abimelech.

Judges 9:26

9:26 Gaal son of Ebed ²  came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him. ³ 

Judges 9:30

9:30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious. ⁴ 

Judges 9:41

9:41 Abimelech went back ⁵  to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. ⁶ 

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ⁷  reporting, “Beware! ⁸  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ⁹  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹⁰ 

Judges 9:35

9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.

Judges 9:37

9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ¹¹  of the land. A unit ¹²  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ¹³ 

Judges 9:28

9:28 Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed? ¹⁴  Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech? ¹⁵ 

Judges 9:36

9:36 Gaal saw the men ¹⁶  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ¹⁷ 

[9:39]  ¹ tn Heb “So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem.”

[9:26]  ² sn The name Gaal derives from, or at least sounds like, a Hebrew verb meaning “to abhor, loathe.” His father’s name, Ebed, means “servant.” Perhaps then this could be translated, “loathsome one, son of a servant.” This individual’s very name (which may be the narrator’s nickname for him, not his actual name) seems to hint at his immoral character and lowly social status.

[9:26]  ³ tn Heb “trusted in him.” Here the verb probably describes more than a mental attitude. It is likely that the Shechemites made an alliance with Gaal and were now trusting him for protection in return for their loyalty (and probably tribute).

[9:30]  ³ tn Heb “his anger burned.”

[9:41]  ⁴ tc Heb “stayed.” Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation “and he returned to.” The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.

[9:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “drove…out from dwelling in Shechem.”

[9:31]  ⁵ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ⁷ tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ⁸ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[9:37]  ⁶ tn Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.

[9:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “head.”

[9:37]  ⁸ tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.

[9:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Zebul his appointee.”

[9:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:36]  ⁸ tn Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.

[9:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”