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
Abimelech had made himself king over Shechem after killing his seventy brothers, but his rule was becoming unpopular. Gaal was a newcomer to Shechem who began rallying the citizens against Abimelech's authority. Hamor was the original Canaanite ruler of Shechem mentioned in Genesis, and Gaal was appealing to local pride and heritage.
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