Abimelech's rule over Israel appears to have been very small in scope as well as short in duration. He was only the ruler of Shechem and its surrounding territory. He evidently lived in Arumah about five miles to the southeast of Shechem (v. 41).
". . . Abimelech's government was not a monarchical reign, but simply a tyrannical despotism."200
The "evil spirit"that God sent between Abimelech and the men of Shechem (v. 24) was a spirit of discontent that proved to be disastrous. Verse 25 probably means that the men of Shechem conspired to rob Abimelech of the tolls he received from the travelers and traders who passed through Shechem. They did this by ambushing them from Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal, the two mountains between which the road passed near Shechem.201
Gaal was evidently a Canaanite who disliked Abimelech (v. 28) because he was the son of Gideon. He also opposed him because Gideon had both destroyed the altar of Baal in Ophrah and reestablished the worship of Yahweh in Israel (6:27; 8:23). Gaal did not want Abimelech to continue ruling over that part of Canaan nor did he want Shechem to remain under his control.
"Strewing the ruined city with salt [v. 45], which only occurs here, was a symbolical act, signifying that the city was to be turned for ever into a barren salt desert. Salt ground is barren desert (Job xxxix. 6, cvii. 34)."202
