Judges 9:35-37

9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places. 9:36 Gaal saw the men ¹  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ²  9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ³  of the land. A unit ⁴  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.

² tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”

³ tn Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.

⁴ tn Heb “head.”

⁵ tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.