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?
And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, 'Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he just the son of Jerubbaal? And isn't Zebul just his officer? We should serve the descendants of Hamor, who was Shechem's founder. Why should we serve Abimelech?'
Gaal is stirring up rebellion against King Abimelech by questioning his authority and arguing that the people of Shechem should serve their own local leaders instead of this outsider.
📚 Historical Context
In the Book of Judges, Israel was in a turbulent period of cycles where the people turned away from God, faced oppression from enemies, and were delivered by judges raised up by God. Abimelech, the son of Gideon, had seized power in the city of Shechem through violence, including killing his own brothers, but his rule was met with growing unrest. Gaal son of Ebed challenged Abimelech's authority by appealing to the people's pride in their ancestor Hamor, the founder of Shechem, and questioned why they should serve a foreign ruler instead of their own.
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