Judges 9:31

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So he secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Beware! Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.

Hebrew Names Version
He sent messengers to Avimelekh craftily, saying, Behold, Ga`al the son of `Eved and his brothers are come to Shekhem; and, behold, they constrain the city [to take part] against you.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
and he sent messengers to Abimelech in Tormah, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives are coming to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.

English Standard Version
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.

New Century Version
He sent secret messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal's brothers have come to Shechem, and they are turning the city against you!

New English Translation
He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, reporting, "Beware! Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.

Amplified Bible
He sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and they are stirring up the city against you.

New American Standard Bible
So using deception, he successfully sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore he sent messengers vnto Abimelech priuily, saying, Beholde, Gaal the sonne of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem, and beholde, they fortifie the citie against thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
en listig boodskappers na Abiméleg gestuur om te sê: Kyk, Gaäl, die seun van Ebed, met sy broers, het in Sigem gekom, en kyk, hulle maak die stad teen u op.

Contemporary English Version
And so he sent some messengers to Abimelech. But they had to pretend to be doing something else, or they would not have been allowed to leave Shechem. Zebul told the messengers to say: Gaal the son of Ebed has come to Shechem along with his brothers, and they have persuaded the people to let Gaal rule Shechem instead of you.

Complete Jewish Bible
He sent messengers to Avimelekh in Tormah with this message: "Ga‘al the son of a slave and his brothers have come to Sh'khem, and they're inciting the city against you.

Darby Translation
and he sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem, and behold, they shut up the city against thee;

Easy-to-Read Version
Zebul sent messengers to Abimelech in the city of Arumah. This is the message: "Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal's brothers have come to the city of Shechem. They are making trouble for you. Gaal is turning the whole city against you.

George Lamsa Translation
And he sent messengers to Abimeleck deceitfully, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Epar and his brothers have come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against you.

Good News Translation
He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city.

Literal Translation
And craftily he sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem. And, behold, they are fortifying the city against you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and sente message secretly to Abimelech, and caused to saye vnto him: Beholde, Gaal the sonne of Ebed and his brethren are come to Sichem, and make the cite to be agaynst the.

American Standard Version
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city to take part against thee.

Bible in Basic English
And he sent to Abimelech at Arumah, saying, See, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are working up the town against you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And sent messengers vnto Abimelech priuyly, saying: Behold, Gaal the sonne of Obed and his brethren be come to Sichem, and beholde they fortifie the citie agaynst thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech in Tormah, saying: 'Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they will incite the city against thee.

King James Version (1611)
And he sent messengers vnto Abimelech priuily, saying, Behold, Gaal the sonne of Ebed, and his brethren, be come to Shechem, and behold, they fortifie the citie against thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Jobel and his brethren are come to Sychem; and behold, they have besieged the city against thee.

English Revised Version
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city to take part against thee.

Berean Standard Bible
So he covertly sent messengers to Abimelech to say, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he sente priueli messangeris to Abymelech, and seide, Lo! Gaal, sone of Obed, cam in to Siccymam, with hise britheren, and he excitith the citee to fiyte ayens thee;

Young's Literal Translation
and he sendeth messengers unto Abimelech deceitfully, saying, `Lo, Gaal son of Ebed and his brethren are coming into Shechem, and lo, they are fortifying the city against thee;

Update Bible Version
And he sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, Look, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are coming to Shechem; and, see, they are inciting the city against you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he sent messengers to Abimelech privately, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed, and his brethren, are come to Shechem; and behold, they fortify the city against thee.

World English Bible
He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city [to take part] against you.

New King James Version
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, "Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you.

New Living Translation
He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah, telling him, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you.

New Life Bible
He sent men to bring news to Abimelech in secret. They said, "See, Gaal the son of Ebed has come to Shechem with his family. They are turning the city against you.

New Revised Standard
He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his kinsfolk have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech, by deceit, saying, - Lo! Gaal son of Ebed, and his brethren, are coming into Shechem; and lo! are fortifying the city against thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold, Gaal, the son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his brethren, and endeavoureth to set the city against thee.

Revised Standard Version
And he sent messengers to Abim'elech at Aru'mah, saying, "Behold, Ga'al the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you.

Contextual Overview

²²Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. Then God brought bad blood between Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who now worked treacherously behind his back. Violence boomeranged: The murderous violence that killed the seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, was now loose among Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who had supported the violence. ²⁵ To undermine Abimelech, Shechem's leaders put men in ambush on the mountain passes who robbed travelers on those roads. And Abimelech was told. ²⁶At that time Gaal son of Ebed arrived with his relatives and moved into Shechem. The leaders of Shechem trusted him. One day they went out into the fields, gathered grapes in the vineyards, and trod them in the winepress. Then they held a celebration in their god's temple, a feast, eating and drinking. And then they started putting down Abimelech. ²⁸Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is this Abimelech? And who are we Shechemites to take orders from him? Isn't he the son of Jerub-Baal, and isn't this his henchman Zebul? We belong to the race of Hamor and bear the noble name of Shechem. Why should we be toadies of Abimelech? If I were in charge of this people, the first thing I'd do is get rid of Abimelech! I'd say, ‘Show me your stuff, Abimelech—let's see who's boss here!'" ³⁰Zebul, governor of the city, heard what Gaal son of Ebed was saying and got angry. Secretly he sent messengers to Abimelech with the message, "Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem and are stirring up trouble against you. Here's what you do: Tonight bring your troops and wait in ambush in the field. In the morning, as soon as the sun breaks, get moving and charge the city. Gaal and his troops will come out to you, and you'll know what to do next." ³⁴Abimelech and his troops, four companies of them, went up that night and waited in ambush approaching Shechem. Gaal son of Ebed had gotten up and was standing in the city gate. Abimelech and his troops left their cover. When Gaal saw them he said to Zebul, "Look at that, people coming down from the tops of the mountains!" Zebul said, "That's nothing but mountain shadows; they just look like men." Gaal kept chattering away. ³⁷ Then he said again, "Look at the troops coming down off Tabbur-erez (the Navel of the World)—and one company coming straight from the Oracle Oak." ³⁸ Zebul said, "Where is that big mouth of yours now? You who said, ‘And who is Abimelech that we should take orders from him?' Well, there he is with the troops you ridiculed. Here's your chance. Fight away!" ³⁹Gaal went out, backed by the leaders of Shechem, and did battle with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and Gaal turned tail and ran. Many fell wounded, right up to the city gate. ⁴¹ Abimelech set up his field headquarters at Arumah while Zebul kept Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

privily: Heb. craftily, or, to Tormah

they fortify: Under pretence of repairing the walls and towers, they were actually putting the place in a state of defence, intending to seize on the government as soon as they found Abimelech coming against them. Judges 9:31

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 Canaanites, he would easily perceive their design:

and, behold, they fortify the city against thee; by repairing its fortifications, or adding new works; or "besiege" i it, which, as that is done by placing an army around it without, that none can come out of it, so by setting a watch within, and upon the walls, and at the gates of it, that none can come in, which is here meant; though some interpret it of their design to besiege the city Thormah, where Abimelech was, of which he gives him notice; or rather they set the city against thee, make the inhabitants thine enemies.

i צרים "obsident", Pagninus, Munster, Drusius; "obsidere cogitant", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Privily - See the margin. The word is probably the name of a place in “Tormah”, some think the same as “Arumah” Judges 9:41. Zebul was faithful to Abimelech, but dissembled his sentiments, from being too weak to oppose Gaal, until Abimelech came with his army Judges 9:38.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 31. They fortify the city against thee. — Under pretence of repairing the walls and towers, they were actually putting the place in a state of defence, intending to seize on the government as soon as they should find Abimelech coming against them. Fortifying the city may mean seducing the inhabitants from their loyalty to Abimelech.