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Judges 9:37

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 9:37 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim.
Judges 9:37 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
34And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from the ambushment.
36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
37And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim.
38Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them.
39And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even unto the entrance of the gate.
← Judges 9:36Judges 9:38 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Gaal spake again, and said, etc.] Looking towards the mountains, and taking another view of what he before saw, for further satisfaction: see, there come people down by the middle of the land; either in the valley between the two mountains; or rather those he first saw on the top of the mountains were now come down about the middle of them, called in the Hebrew text the navel, from the prominence of the mountains thereabout, or because the navel is in the middle of the body, as this part of them was the middle on which he saw them. R. Isaiah interprets it, between the two cities: and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim; of which we read nowhere else. Montanus renders it,…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The plain of Meonenim - Translate “the oak of the soothsayers” (see the margin). Some well-known oak, so called, but which is not mentioned elsewhere. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“middle: Heb. navel Meonenim: or, the regarders of the times, Deu 18:14 Judges 9:38”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“But Gaal said again, "Behold, people come down from the navel of the land," i.e., from the highest point of the surrounding country, "and a crowd comes by the way of the wizard's terebinths," - a place in the neighbourhood of Shechem that is not mentioned anywhere else, and therefore is not more precisely known. Judges 9:38”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification