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Judges 9:38

in Judges 9

“Where is your gloating now?” Zebul replied. “You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the people you ridiculed? Go out now and fight them!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them.

KJV

Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

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This verse in Judges 9

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak

on Judges 9:37-39

Meonenim means the soothsayers, so the second company comes past the "Diviners’ Oak," a landmark named for the practice Deuteronomy 18:10 to 14 forbids. Zebul asks, "Where is your gloating now," throws Gaal's own sentence back at him, and pushes him out of the gate to fight. Gaal goes out "before the leaders of Shechem," and the town he talked into rebellion is the only army he has.

This site's exposition

Where is your gloating now?

John Gill reads the taunt as the moment Zebul could no longer keep up the pretence, so he turned to reproach Gaal with his own words. The question of verse 28, Who is Abimelech, is now answered by an army on the hills. Gaal's own words send him out.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): Where is now thy mouth, that foul mouth of thine, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech? Note, Proud and haughty people are often made in a little time to change their note, and to dread those whom they had most despised.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Then said Zebul unto him,.... Not being able to put him off any longer, and willing to take the opportunity to upbraid him with what he had said: where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? darest thou say the same thou hast done, and utter the contemptuous language concerning Abimelech, asking who he was, that he should be served?

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

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.

The words behind it

23 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָ֜יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • זְבֻ֗לZebul

    zevulH2083 →6 times

  • אַיֵּ֨הwhere?

    ʾaiyehH346 →

  • אֵפ֥וֹאthen

    ʾefo'H645 →

  • פִ֙יךָ֙[is] mouth your

    fikhaH6310 →498 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רO [you] who

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תֹּאמַ֔רyou said

    tomarH559 →5305 times

  • מִ֥יwho?

    miH4310 →423 times

  • אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ[is] Abimelech

    ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • נַעַבְדֶ֑נּוּwe will serve him

    naavdenuH5647 →288 times

  • הֲלֹ֨א¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • זֶ֤ה[is] this

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • מָאַ֣סְתָּהyou rejected

    maastahH3988 →

  • בּ֔וֹ<in> <the> it

    bo

  • צֵא־go out

    tze'-H3318 →1067 times

  • נָ֥אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • עַתָּ֖הnow

    ʾatahH6258 →433 times

  • וְהִלָּ֥חֶםand fight

    vehilachemH3898 →177 times

  • בּֽוֹ׃ סagainst <the> him

    bo

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

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 9:28–29Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?4 worksJeremiah 2:28But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.2 works2 Kings 14:8–14Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.2 works2 Samuel 2:26–27Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”2 worksEzekiel 13:12Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’2 worksIsaiah 19:12Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Proverbs 11:12Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks judgment, but a man of understanding remains silent.2 worksPsalms 10:5He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 2:28

    But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 11:13

      Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, O Judah; the altars of shame you have set up—the altars to burn incense to Baal—are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

    • Deuteronomy 32:37

      He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

    • Isaiah 45:20

      Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.

    • Judges 10:14

      Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”

    • Isaiah 46:7

      They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not…

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; 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 9 →