Judges 9:35

35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him got up from their ambush.

Judges 9:35 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:35

And Gaul the son or Ebed went out
He rose up early that morning, being a man of vigilance and activity, and perhaps had some intelligence of the preparations of Abimelech, his design against the city, though he did not expect he was so near at hand:

and stood in the entering of the gate of the city;
to see whether the guards were on their duty within, and whether he could observe any thing without, any approaching danger:

and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in
wait;
came out of their ambush, and appeared just as Gaul was at the gate.

Judges 9:35 In-Context

33 Then get up early and at sunrise, charge the city. When he and the people who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can."

34 So Abimelech and all the people with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four units.

35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him got up from their ambush.

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

37 Then Gaal spoke again: "Look, people are coming down from the central part of the land, and one unit is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak."