Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 9:26

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

26 41. Gaal stirs up the Shechemites: Abimelech defeats them

26 . Gaal the son of Ebed ] i.e. of a slave; but pronounce throughout Obed, with LXX. cod. B ( for ) and Vulgate; a common name. Gaal is described as a new-comer, whether an Israelite or a Canaanite is not clear. Jdg 9:26-33 seem to be parallel to Jdg 9:22-25; both narrate the rise of treason in Shechem, and both lead up to parallel accounts of Abimelech’s retaliation.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

It does not appear who Gaal, son of Ebed, was; he may have been an officer sent by Abimelech with a force to bring the men of Shechem back to their allegiance, but who tried to turn the rebellion to his own account. He got into Shechem with a band of men, his brethren, unopposed by Zebul, Abimelechs officer, and soon gained the confidence of the Shechemites,

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 26. Gaal the son of Ebed] Of this person we know no more than is here told. He was probably one of the descendants of the Canaanites, who hoped from the state of the public mind, and their disaffection to Abimelech, to cause a revolution, and thus to restore the ancient government as it was under Hamor, the father of Shechem.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

It is not known who or of what tribe

Gaal was; but it is evident that he was a man very considerable for wealth, and strength, and counsel, and interest, and ill-pleased with Abimelechs power.

Went over to Shechem, by his presence and counsel to animate and assist them against Abimelech.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

26. Gaal . . . came with hisbrethren . . ., and the men of Shechem put their confidence in himAninsurrection of the original Canaanites, headed by this man, at lastbroke out in Shechem.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Gaal the son or Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem,…. Who this Gaal was, and who his brethren, and from whence he came, and the place he went over, are all uncertain. Jarchi thinks he was a Gentile, and it looks, by some speeches of his afterwards, as if he was a descendant of Hamor, prince of Shechem, in the times of Jacob, who, since the expulsion of the Canaanites, his family had retired to some distant parts; but hearing of a difference between Abimelech and the Shechemites, Gaal, with some of the family, came over, perhaps over Jordan, to make what advantage he could of it:

and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him; freely told him their mind, the ill opinion they had of Abimelech, and what was their design against him; and he assuring them he would take their part, and defend them to the uttermost, they depended on him, and therefore very securely went about their business in the fields, as follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(26) Gaal the son of Ebed.We are not told any further who he was; but the context leads us to infer that he was one of these freebooters, and probably belonged to the Canaanite population. His brethren may have formed the nucleus of a marauding band. Josephus says he was a certain chief, with his soldiers and kinsmen. For Ebed some MSS. and versions read Eber, and some Jobel. Gaal Ben-Ebed (loathing son of a slave ) sounds like some contemptuous distortion of his real name.

Went over to Shechem.Possibly he had been practising brigandage on the other side of the Jordan.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

26. Put their confidence in him Entrusted him with the command of the rebellion, which he was but too ready to accept. Gaal seems to have been, as Keil expresses it, a sort of “knight-errant, who went about the country with his brethren, that is, as captain of a company of freebooters, and was welcomed in Shechem, because the Shechemites, who were dissatisfied with the rule of Abimelech, hoped to find in him a man who would be able to render them good service in their revolt from Abimelech.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.’

Many of the chief men of Shechem were now aware that Abimelech was planning to interfere with their secret activities, and information concerning this seems to have been carried to a man called Gael, who was the son of Ebed (‘servant’), who possibly carried on similar activities further down the trail. He was also possibly a Habiru. So he came over to Shechem with ‘his brothers’ to discuss this new state of affairs and in discussions won the confidence of the chief men of Shechem. Gaal was possibly descended from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, in whose day disaster came on Shechem through Simeon and Levi (Jdg 9:28 compare Genesis 34). If he was he would thus have another reason for wanting to be in Shechem

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 9:26. And Gaal the son of Ebed It is very uncertain who this man was. It has been rationally conjectured by some, that he was a Gentile, and desirous to see the authority of the Canaanites restored. His whole speech and proceeding shew him to have been an insidious demagogue, desirous to obtain popularity, that by it he might climb up to dominion.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Jdg 9:26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

Ver. 26. And Gaal the son of Ebed. ] This thrasonical fellow, no less ambitious, subtle, and seditious than Abimelech, offereth to head the Shechemites, whom he saw to be at this time in a disorder, and to lead them against Abimelech.

Put their confidence in him. ] As before they had done in Abimelech, Jdg 9:15 and were now grown no whit wiser by what they had suffered, but ripened apace for utter ruin.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

brethren: Gen 13:8, Gen 19:7

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jdg 9:26. Gaal It is not known who he was; but it is evident he was a man very considerable for wealth, and strength, and interest, and that he was ill pleased with Abimelechs power. Went to Shechem By his presence and counsel to animate and assist them against Abimelech.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments