Gaal’s Call To Rebellion Series

Chapter 41

Gaal’s Call to Rebellion [Judges 9.26-9.29]

Scripture: Judges 9:26-29 (KJV)

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.

27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is the men of Shechem, 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?

29 And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.

Commentary

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.--Judges 9:26 (KJV)

26 Then Gaal (son of Ebed) and his brothers moved into Shechem. Citizens of Shechem trusted him.–Judges 9:26 (GW)

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem…

Who this Gaal was, and who his brethren were, and where they came from, are all uncertain; but there are three schools of thought presented for your consideration:

1. Jarchi thinks he was a Gentile, and it looks, by some speeches he made afterward, that he was a descendant of Hamor, the founder-prince of Shechem, during the times of Jacob. His family had moved far away from Shechem when the Canaanites were expelled from Canaan; but when he heard about the dispute (created by God), between Abimelech and the Shechemites, Gaal along with some of his family and his personal army of bandits, went there to take advantage of the situation, if he could. Gaal knew about the state of public opinion, and their disaffection with Abimelech, and he hoped to cause a revolution that would bring down Abemilech and restore the ancient government as it was under Hamor. This man Gaal is said to be the son of Ebed, whose name means “a servant”, which perhaps is significant; implying that Gall was born to a poor family. In the same way, as Abimelech was on his mother's side of his family, so was Gaal on his father's side; they were both the son of a servant. However, at this point, he must be rich and powerful, with a considerable following. We have reason to suspect that this Gaal was a native Canaanite because he soon cultivates a favorable rapport with the Shechemites who place themselves in subjection to the men of Hamor, who was the ancient lord of this city in Jacob's time. Gaal was a bold ambitious man, and he served their purpose admirably well when they were of a mind to quarrel with Abimelech, and they also served his purpose as well; so he went to Shechem to court their backing in his scheme to lead a successful revolution against Abimelech’s regime, and they put their confidence in him.

2. There is another idea about who this Gaal was and it is quite interesting and may be correct. He may have been an officer sent by Abimelech and accompanied with a force sufficient to bring the men of Shechem back into allegiance to Abimelech, but once there he tried to turn the rebellion to his own advantage. He got into Shechem with a band of men, "his brethren," unopposed by Zebul, Abimelech's officer, and soon gained the confidence of the Shechemites.

3. Gaal, the son of Ebed (the Syriac and Arabic, read "son of Eber," instead of "son of Ebed."), came to Shechem with his brethren. Judging from his appearance in Shechem, he was a knight-errant, who went about the country with his brethren, i.e., as captain of a company of bandits, 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. This may be gathered from the words "and the lords of Shechem trusted in him."

and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him;...

The men of Shechem freely told him of the harsh opinion they had of Abimelech, and they confided in him what their strategy was against him, and he assured them he would take their part, and defend them to the utmost; therefore, they depended on him, and they felt secure and went about their business.

This is a reflection upon the foolishness of the men of Shechem. What an incredible lapse of ordinary intelligence it was which prompted the lords of Shechem to trust this itinerant marauder whose only purpose was to exploit other people in order to further his own interests. Perhaps that `evil spirit' had blinded them for the purpose of their destruction.