to rise (in various applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
night
לַ֔יְלָהLay.lah
H3915
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
people
וְהָעָ֣םve.ha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wait
וֶאֱרֹ֖בve.'e.Ro
H693
to lurk · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
field
בַּשָּׂדֶֽהba.sa.Deh
H7704
a field (as flat) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine 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).
Cross-references
Proverbs 1:11-16 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Proverbs 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Job 24:14-17 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
Psalms 36:4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
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:…
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 9:32
Now therefore up by night,.... The night following, that no time might be lost:
and the people that is with thee; the troops he had with him; not only such he had for his own guards, but what he had been raising, having intelligence before this of the revolt of the Shechemites from him:
and lie in wait in the fields; he thought it most advisable for him to march with the forces he had, from the place where he was in the night, and less liable to be discovered, and remain in the fields of Shechem till morning, and then come upon Shechemites before they were aware, and surprise them.
Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 9:32-33
At the same time he called upon Abimelech to draw near, with the people that he had with him, during the night, and to lie in wait in the field (ארב, to place one's self in ambush), and the next morning to spread out with his army against the town; and when Gaal went out with his followers, he was to do to him "as his hand should find," i.e., to deal with him as he best could and would under the circumstances. (On this formula, see at Sa1 10:7; Sa1 25:8.)
The Church Fathers
The message he sent to the messengers of Abimelech Zebul, governor of the city of Shechem, also contains the following: And now get up at night, you and the people who are with you, and put an ambush in the field. And it will happen that tomorrow, when the sun rises, you will hurry and launch yourself against the city. What some Latin translators translate for "you will hurry" (maturabis), others translate it for "madrugarás" (manicabis). The Greek has a word that should be translated by two terms: you will get up at dawn (elucidate surges). Perhaps it has been said here "you will hurry" (maturabis), thinking about the time of the morning, although this is also often said of any other time, when it comes to accelerating the realization of a thing. As for the word manicabis, I must say that I do not know that I am Latina. But it is strange that after saying: when the sun rises, add: you will get up at dawn, when the dawn (diluculum), which in Greek corresponds to orzros, means the time before sunrise, an expression commonly used when it begins to lighten. Therefore, the word mane (of tomorrow), which appears in the text, must be understood from the dawn itself (diluculum). Well, it is added: when the sun rises, to say that it is not necessary to do it when the sun has already risen, but when the sun shines at birth. Well, at dawn it does not begin to get brighter than when the sunlight, which comes back, begins to touch the part of the sky that we see from the east. From this it follows that in the Gospel, too, one evangelist says that it was made at dawn, when the sky was still dark, (Cf Jn 20,1) and another says that it happened when the sun came out, (Cf Mc 16,2) because the dawn light itself, however small, it came, evidently, from the sun that began to appear, that is, when the sun came towards the exit and cast its radiance from the closeness of its presence. Some fools do not believe that light is the light of the sun, but it is that light, created at the beginning, before God made the sun on the fourth day.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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).
Field — (Heb. sadeh), a cultivated field, but unenclosed. It is applied to any cultivated ground or pasture (Gen. 29:2; 31:4; 34:7), or tillage (Gen. 37:7; 47:24). It is also applied to woodland (Ps. 132:6)…
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;…
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
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).
Rashi on Judges 9:31
Clandestinely. As in "cunningly,"12Bereishis, 27:35. "in deceit,"13Yirmiyahu, 8:5. meaning secretively, stealthily.
