Judges 9:31

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
sent	וַיִּשְׁלַ֧ח vai.yish.Lach	H7971	to send away · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
messengers	מַלְאָכִ֛ים mal.'a.Khim	H4397	a messenger · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Abimelech	אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ 'a.vi.Me.lekh	H40	Abimelek · proper noun, a man's name
privily	בְּתָרְמָ֣ה be.ta.re.Mah	H8649	fraud · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֑ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Gaal	גַ֨עַל 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	עֶ֤בֶד 'E.ved	H5651	Ebed · proper noun, a man's name
brethren	וְאֶחָיו֙ ve.'e.Chav	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
come	בָּאִ֣ים ba.'Im	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Shechem	שְׁכֶ֔מָה she.Khe.mah	H7927	Shekem · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
fortify	צָרִ֥ים tza.Rim	H6696	to cramp · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
city	הָעִ֖יר ha.'Ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

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).

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 9:31

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily,.... In a secret manner, unknown to Gaal and the men of Shechem; or "craftily", as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, still dissembling, notwithstanding his anger, to be in the interest of Gaal, and the men of Shechem, as appears indeed afterwards by a show of friendliness with Gaal, Judges 9:36 though, according to Joseph Kimchi and Ben Gersom, Thormah is the name of the place where Abimelech was, the same with Arumah, Judges 9:41 and the sense is, that he sent messengers to Abimelech at Thormah or Arumah: saying, Gaal the son of Ebal, and his brethren, be come to Shechem; a family that Abimelech well knew, and if they were of the race of the old…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:30-31

Dictionary and topics

Ambush — Joshua at the capture of Ai lay in ambush, and so deceived the inhabitants that he gained an easy victory (Josh. 8:4-26). Shechem was taken in this manner (Judg. 9:30-45. Comp. Jer. 51:12).
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;…
Tormah — occurs only in the margin of (Judges 9:31) By a few commentators it has been conjectured that the word was originally the same with Arumah in ver. 41.
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
Fortresses · Places used as: Cities — Places used as: Cities
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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:22-49

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:28

John Gill on Judges 9:31

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:30-31

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 9:22-49

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 9:28

John Gill on Judges 9:31

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:30-31

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 9:31