Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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?
28. who is Shechem? ] i.e. what is Abimelech’s kingdom, that we should be bound to obey him? does it belong to him of right?
is not serve ye ] As it stands the text does not make sense; read the imperat. serve ye as a perf., they served, and translate Did not the son of J. and Z. his officer serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? why then should we serve him? Gaal works upon the Shechemites’ national pride: ‘this chief of yours and his lieutenant were once the servants of the ancient race which sprang from Hamor (the traditional founder of Shechem, cf. Genesis 34); are we, the freemen of Shechem, to become the servants of this usurping half-breed?’ The emphasis is on we, in antithesis to ‘the son of J.’ etc.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 28. Zebul his officer] pekido, his overseer; probably governor of Shechem in his absence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Who is Abimelech? what is he but a base-born person, an ambitious, imperious, and cruel tyrant, and one every way unfit and unworthy to govern you?
Who is Shechem? Shechem is here the name, either,
1. Of the place or city of Shechem; and so the Hebrew particle mi, who, is put for mah, what, as it is Jdg 13:17; and then the sense of the place is this: Consider how obscure and unworthy a person Abimelech is, and what a potent and honourable city Shechem is; and judge you whether it be fit that such a city should be subject to such a person. Or rather,
2. Of a person, even of Abimelech, named in the foregoing words, and described in those which follow;
the son of Jerubbaal, between which Shechem is hemmed in, and therefore cannot conveniently belong to any other. He is called Shechem for the Shechemite, by a metonymy of the subject, whereby the place is put for the person contained in it, and belonging to it; as Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba, Judea, Macedonia, and Achaia, &c., are put for the people of those countries Job 1:15; 6:19; Psa 68:31; 105:38; Isa 43:3; Mat 3:5; Rom 15:26. Thus mi is taken properly, and the sense is, Who is this Shechemite? for so he was by the mothers side, born of a woman of your city, and she but his concubine and servant; why should you submit to one so basely descended?
The son of Jerubbaal, i.e. of Gideon; a person obscure by his on n confession, Jdg 6:15, and famous only by his boldness and fierceness against that Baal which you justly honour and reverence, whose altar he overthrew, and whose worship he endeavoured to abolish.
And Zebul his officer; and you are so unworthy and mean-spirited, that you do not only submit to him, but suffer his very servants to bear rule over you, and enslave you; and particularly this noble and hateful person Zebul. Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: if you love bondage, call in the old master and lord of the place; choose not an upstart, as Abimelech is; but rather take one of the old stock, one descended from Hamor, Gen 34:2, who did not carry himself like a tyrant, as Abimelech did, but like a father of his city of Shechem. This he might speak, either,
1. Sincerely, as being himself a Canaanite and a Shechemite, and possibly come from one of those little ones whom Simeon and Levi spared when they slew all the grown males, Gen 34:29. And it may be that he was one of the royal blood, a descendant of Hamor, who hereby sought to insinuate himself into their minds and government, as it follows, Jdg 9:29, Would to God this people were under my hand! which he might judge the people more likely to do, both because they were now united with the Canaanites in religion, and because their present distress might oblige them to put themselves under him, who seemed or pretended to be a valiant and expert commander. Or,
2. In way of derision, he being an Israelite: If you are so servile, serve some of the children of Hamor; which because you rightly judge to be absurd and dishonourable, do not now submit to a far baser person; but cast off his yoke, and recover your lost liberties.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28-45. would to God this people wereunder my handHe seems to have been a boastful, impudent, andcowardly person, totally unfit to be a leader in a revolutionarycrisis. The consequence was that he allowed himself to be drawn intoan ambush, was defeated, the city of Shechem destroyed and strewnwith salt. The people took refuge in the stronghold, which was set onfire, and all in it perished.
Jud9:50-57. ABIMELECHSLAIN.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 as an officer over you under him, and thus you are like to be governed in a tyrannical manner, and oppressed:
serve the men of Hamor–for why should we serve him? that is, rather serve them than him; which was speaking very contemptuously of his government, preferring the descendants of Hamor, the old Canaanitish prince, that ruled in this place, to Abimelech; and if Gaal was a descendant of his, he spoke in good earnest, and thought this a proper opportunity to get the government of the city restored to him and his family, since their old religion and idolatry were established among them; and if they had received the one, why not the other?
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(28) Who is Abimelech?This is obviously contemptuous, like Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? in 1Sa. 25:10.
Who is Shechem?The meaning of this clause is very obscure. It can hardly be a contrast between the insignificance of Abimelech and the grandeur of Shechem (Vulg., qu est Shechem?). Some say that Shechem means Abimelech; but there is no trace of kings assuming the name of the place over which they rule, nor does the LXX. mend matters much by interpolating the words, who is the son of Shechem?
The son of Jerubbaal?And, therefore, on the fathers side, disconnected both with Ephraimites and Canaanites; and the Baal-fighters son has no claim on Baal-worshippers.
And Zebul his officer?We are not even under the rule of Abimelech, but of his underling.
Serve the men of Hamor.Here the LXX., Vulg., and other versions adopt a different punctuation and a different reading. But there is no reason to alter the text. The Canaanites were powerful; the Ephraimites had apostatised to their religion; even Abimelech bears a Canaanite name (Gen. 26:1), and owed his power to his Hivite blood. Gaal says in effect. Why should we serve this son of an upstart alien when we might return to the allegiance of the descendants of our old native prince Hamor, whose son Shechem was the hero eponymos of the city? (Gen. 33:19; Jos. 24:32).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Who is Abimelech A most contemptuous question, implying that Abimelech was unworthy of respect. Compare 1Sa 25:10.
Who is Shechem Shechem is not here opposed to Abimelech, as many commentators have supposed that is, How contemptible is Abimelech on the one hand, and how noble is Shechem on the other! for both words have the same grammatical and logical construction; but Shechem is to be understood of that part of the citizens of the place who were loyal to the king, and obedient to the authority of Zebul, the governor of the city. Among these were probably many of Abimelech’s kindred, for “the house of his mother’s father” had evidently no little influence in Shechem, (note, Jdg 9:1,) and they would naturally be opposed to this insurrection against the rule of their brother. Jdg 9:3. Zebul, the governor, was opposed to the rebellion, for his anger was kindled when he heard of what Gaal had said and done, (Jdg 9:30,) and with him, doubtless, many of the Shechemites sympathized. So to the question, Who is Abimelech? corresponds the answer, Son of Jerubbaal; and to Who is Shechem? corresponds, Zebul his officer, involving, of course, all the Shechemites who sympathized with Zebul and were loyal to Abimelech. The antithesis is between Abimelech and this part of the Shechemites on the one hand, and the we, with whom Gaal identifies himself, on the other. These latter are called the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, that is, descendants of that ancient and noble prince who had founded the city, and called it Shechem, after the name of his son. Gen 33:19. It is altogether probable that a remnant of that ancient Hivite family still abode in Shechem, and might, with much plausibility, assume to be patricians of that capital of their fathers. Why should the descendants of such a family serve the son of the hated Baal-fighter, the destroyer of their idols?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech? And who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. But why should we serve him?” ’
Gaal challenged them about their loyalty to Abimelech. He cleverly used the same argument that Abimelech had used against his brothers. He accused him of not being related to the true ancient occupants of Shechem. Note that he now included himself as one of them – ‘we’.
“Who is Abimelech? And who is Shechem, that we should serve him?” He contrasted Abimelech with the people of Shechem. Who was Abimelech to be served by them? Was he not the son of an Israelite prince who destroyed the altar of Baal and the Asherah, and had he not placed there his officer Zebul to keep watch over them? He was an outsider. And who were the Shechemites (spoken of as ‘Shechem’) that they should serve him? Should they really be serving an Israelite? Should they not be serving the true rulers of Shechem, the descendants of Hamor?
“Is not Zebul his officer?” Zebul means ‘exalted one, prince’. Zebul may thus have been a title demonstrating his position. This foreigner Zebul was there as Abimelech’s officer to keep an eye on them as his appointee. He may even have been sent to discover who was responsible for the highway robbery. That is at least probably what Gaal wanted them to suspect. Possibly at this stage he revealed that in fact, by coincidence, he himself was such an ancestor of Hamor and Shechem.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 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?
Ver. 28. Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem? ] Or, Who is Shechem? q.d., Is it so contemptible a city, that so base a fellow as Abimelech should have the sovereignty over it?
Is not he the son of Jerubbaal?
And Zebul his officer?
Serve the men of Hamor the father Shechem.
a Cicer., Epist., lib. xii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shechem. Some codices, with Septuagint, read “the son of Shechem”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Who is Abimelech: 1Sa 25:10, 2Sa 20:1, 1Ki 12:16
Hamor: Gen 34:2, Gen 34:6
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:38 – General Jdg 9:41 – Zebul Psa 78:9 – turned
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 9:28. Who is Abimelech What is he but a base-born person, a cruel tyrant, and one every way unworthy to govern you? Who is Shechem That is, Abimelech, named in the foregoing words, and described in those which follow. He is called Shechem for the Shechemite. The sense is, Who is this Shechemite? For so he was by the mothers side, born of a woman of your city, and she but his concubine and servant; why should you submit to one so basely descended? Of Jerubbaal Of Gideon, a person famous only by his fierceness against that Baal which you justly honour and reverence, whose altar he overthrew, and whose worship he endeavoured to abolish. And Zebul And you are so mean-spirited, that you do not only submit to him, but suffer his very servants to bear rule over you; and particularly this ignoble and hateful Zebul. Serve the men of Hamor, &c. If you love bondage, call in the old master and lord of the place; choose not an upstart, as Abimelech is; but rather take one of the old stock, one descended from Hamor, (Gen 34:2,) who did not carry himself like a tyrant, as Abimelech did; but like a father of his city. This he might speak sincerely, as being himself a Canaanite and Shechemite, and possibly came from one of those little ones whom Simeon and Levi spared when they slew all the grown males, Gen 34:29. And it may be that he was one of the royal blood, a descendant of Hamor who hereby sought to insinuate himself into the government, as it follows, Jdg 9:29, Would to God that this people were under my hand; which he might judge the people more likely to choose, both because they were now united with the Canaanites in religion, and because their present distress might oblige them to put themselves under him, a vigilant and expert commander.