Judges 9:34

34 Abimelech and all his troops started out at night. He used four companies to set ambushes around Shechem.

Judges 9:34 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:34

And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him,
by night
According to the advice of Zebul:

and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies;
he divided his army into four parts, which he placed on the four sides of the city, at some distance from it, to act as they should have opportunity, to find ways and means of getting into it on either quarter.

Judges 9:34 In-Context

32 You and your men must start out tonight. Set an ambush [for them] in the fields [around Shechem].

33 In the morning, when the sun rises, get up quickly and raid the city. When Gaal and his men come out to attack you, do whatever you want to him."

34 Abimelech and all his troops started out at night. He used four companies to set ambushes around Shechem.

35 Gaal (son of Ebed) went out and stood at the entrance to the city. Then Abimelech and his troops rose from their ambush.

36 When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, "Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!" Zebul replied, "The shadows of the mountains look like men to you."