Judges 9:38

38 Then said Zevul to him, Where is now your mouth, that you said, Who is Avimelekh, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them.

Judges 9:38 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:38

Then said Zebul unto him
Not being able to put him off any longer, and willing to take the opportunity to upbraid him with what he had said:

where is now thy mouth, [wherewith] thou saidst, who is Abimelech, that
we should serve him?
darest thou say the same thou hast done, and utter the contemptuous language concerning Abimelech, asking who he was, that he should be served? Here he is, speak to his face; what are become of those boasts and brags, and great swelling words, what thou wouldest do if thou hadst the command of this city?

is not this the people thou hast despised?
as small and insignificant, bidding Abimelech increase his army, and come out and fight:

go out, I pray thee, now, and fight with them;
and show thyself to be a man of courage, and not a mere blusterer, a man that can use his sword as well as his tongue.

Judges 9:38 In-Context

36 When Ga`al saw the people, he said to Zevul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. Zevul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

37 Ga`al spoke again and said, Behold, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Me`onenim.

38 Then said Zevul to him, Where is now your mouth, that you said, Who is Avimelekh, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them.

39 Ga`al went out before the men of Shekhem, and fought with Avimelekh.

40 Avimelekh chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate.