Hakim-hakim 9:30-38

9:30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious. ¹  9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ²  reporting, “Beware! ³  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ⁴  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ⁵  9:32 Now, come up ⁶  at night with your men ⁷  and set an ambush in the field outside the city. ⁸  9:33 In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.” ⁹ 

9:34 So Abimelech and all his men came up ¹⁰  at night and set an ambush outside Shechem – they divided into ¹¹  four units. 9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places. 9:36 Gaal saw the men ¹²  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ¹³  9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ¹⁴  of the land. A unit ¹⁵  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ¹⁶  9:38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, ¹⁷  ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men ¹⁸  you insulted? ¹⁹  Go out now and fight them!”

[9:30]  ¹ tn Heb “his anger burned.”

[9:31]  ² tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ³ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ⁴ tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ⁵ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[9:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “arise.”

[9:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “you and the people who are with you.”

[9:32]  ⁸ tn The words “outside the city” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”

[9:34]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the people who were with him arose.”

[9:34]  ¹¹ tn Heb “four heads.” The words “they divided into” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:36]  ¹² tn Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.

[9:36]  ¹³ tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”

[9:37]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.

[9:37]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “head.”

[9:37]  ¹⁶ tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.

[9:38]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is your mouth that says.”

[9:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the people.”

[9:38]  ¹⁹ tn Or “despised.”