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Judges 9:31

in Judges 9

So he covertly sent messengers to Abimelech to say, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city to take part against thee.

KJV

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.

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This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Privily - See the margin. The word is probably the name of a place in “Tormah”, some think the same as “Arumah” Jdg 9:41. Zebul was faithful to Abimelech, but dissembled his sentiments, from being too weak to oppose Gaal, until Abimelech came with his army Jdg 9:38.

This site's exposition

When Zebul the governor of the city heard

on Judges 9:30-33

Zebul holds the town for Abimelech and sends him word in secret, so the officer Gaal dismissed at verse 28 undoes him. The plan is the ambush of Joshua 8 in small compass: "lie in wait in the fields," rise at sunrise, let the city come out. No one asks God about any of it, and no priest, prophet or word from the LORD appears in the chapter's fifty-seven verses.

This site's exposition

he covertly sent messengers

Albert Barnes notes that the Hebrew word read as covertly may be a place name, Tormah, which some take for the Arumah of verse 41. He also holds that Zebul hid his loyalty only because he was too weak to face Gaal alone. The ruler of the city works for its enemy.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Betrayers are often betrayed by some among themselves, and the cursing of the king is sometimes strangely carried by a bird of the air. He prudently advises him to come against the city immediately, and lose no time,

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The consequence was that he allowed himself to be drawn into an ambush, was defeated, the city of Shechem destroyed and strewn with salt. The people took refuge in the stronghold, which was set on fire, and all in it perished.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

They fortify the city against thee - Under pretense of repairing the walls and towers, they were actually putting the place in a state of defense, intending to seize on the government as soon as they should find Abimelech coming against them. Fortifying the city may mean seducing the inhabitants from their loyalty to Abimelech.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֧חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • מַלְאָכִ֛יםmessengers

    malakhimH4397 →213 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְAbimelech

    ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times

  • בְּתָרְמָ֣הin treachery

    betaremahH8649 →

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הִנֵּה֩here!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • גַ֨עַלGaal

    gaalH1603 →9 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • עֶ֤בֶדEbed

    ʾevedH5651 →6 times

  • וְאֶחָיו֙and brothers his

    veechavH251 →630 times

  • בָּאִ֣ים[are] coming

    baimH935 →2568 times

  • שְׁכֶ֔מָהShechem towards

    shekhemahH7927 →63 times

  • וְהִנָּ֛םand here they

    vehinamH2009 →843 times

  • צָרִ֥ים[are] shutting up

    tzarimH6696 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעִ֖ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • עָלֶֽיךָ׃on you

    ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

About Judges

The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Gideon's Sons — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 9 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 9 →