Judges 9:28

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Gaal	גַּ֣עַל Ga.'al	H1603	Gaal · proper noun, a man's name
son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Ebed	עֶ֗בֶד 'E.ved	H5651	Ebed · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Abimelech	אֲבִימֶ֤לֶךְ 'a.vi.Me.lekh	H40	Abimelek · proper noun, a man's name
Shechem	שְׁכֶם֙ she.Khem	H7927	Shekem · proper noun, a place name
serve	נַעַבְדֶ֔נּוּ na.'av.De.nu	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
son	בֶן ven-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jerubbaal	יְרֻבַּ֖עַל ye.ru.Ba.'al	H3378	Jerubbaal · proper noun, a man's name
Zebul	וּזְבֻ֣ל u.ze.Vul	H2083	Zebul · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
officer	פְּקִיד֑וֹ pe.ki.Do	H6496	a superintendent (civil · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
serve	עִבְד֗וּ 'iv.Du	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
men	אַנְשֵׁ֤י 'an.Shei	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Hamor	חֲמוֹר֙ cha.mOr	H2544	Chamor · proper noun, a man's name
father	אֲבִ֣י 'a.Vi	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular construct
Shechem	שְׁכֶ֔ם she.Khem	H7927	Shekem · proper noun, a place name
serve	נַעַבְדֶ֥נּוּ na.'av.De.nu	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
1 Samuel 25:10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away…
Genesis 34:6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
1 Kings 12:16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither h…
2 Samuel 20:1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We ha…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:22-49

Three years Abimelech reigned, after a sort, without any disturbance; it is not said, He judged Israel, or did any service at all to his country, but so long he enjoyed the title and dignity of a king; and not only the Shechemites, but many other places, paid him respect. They must have been fond of a king that could please themselves with such a one as this. But the triumphing of the wicked is short. Within three years, as the years of a hireling, all this glory shall be contemned, and laid in the dust, Isa 16:14. The ruin of these confederates in wickedness was from the righteous hand of the God to whom vengeance belongs. He sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Jdg 9:…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:28

would to God this people were under my hand--He seems to have been a boastful, impudent, and cowardly person, totally unfit to be a leader in a revolutionary crisis. 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.

John Gill on Judges 9:28

And Gaal the son of Ebed said,.... As they were then making merry, drinking and carousing: who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? who is this Abimelech the Shechemite? or who is he more than Shechem, the old prince of this place, long ago dispossessed of it? the one is no better than the other, nor has a better title to rule and government than the other, that we should serve him; nay, of the two, the descendants of the old Shechem have the best title: is not he the son of Jerubbaal? that pleaded against Baal, and threw down his altar, the god you now serve: and Zebul his officer? has he not set him over you? not content to rule you himself, he has set up another…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:25-29

Dictionary and topics

Ebed — Slave, the father of Gaal, in whom the men of Shechem “put confidence” in their conspiracy against Abimelech (Judg. 9:26, 26, 30, 31).
Gaal — Loathing, the son of Ebed, in whom the Shechemites “placed their confidence” when they became discontented with Abimelech. He headed the revolution, and led out the men of Shechem against Abimelech;…
Shechem — Shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts…
Zebul — Habitation, the governor of Shechem under Abimelech (Judg. 9:28, 30, 36). He informed his master of the intention of the people of Shechem to transfer their allegiance to the Hivite tribe of Hamor.…
Conspiracy · .Gaal, against Abimelech — .Gaal, against Abimelech
Ebed · 1. Father of Gaal — 1. Father of Gaal
Hamor · Jacob buys a piece of property from — Jacob buys a piece of property from
Shechem · General references — General references
Zebul · An officer of Abimelech — An officer of Abimelech

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:22-49

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:28

John Gill on Judges 9:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:25-29

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:22-49

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:28

John Gill on Judges 9:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:25-29

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 9:28