Judges 9:25

25 To undermine Abimelech, Shechem's leaders put men in ambush on the mountain passes who robbed travelers on those roads. And Abimelech was told.

Judges 9:25 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 9:25

And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of
the mountains
Of Ebal and Gerizim, which were near Shechem, by the way of which he passed when he came to that city, and these they set there, either to slay him, or to seize his person, and bring him to them:

and they robbed all that came along that way by them;
that belonged to Abimelech and others also; and this they did to show their contempt of his government, and that they were no longer under it, and every man did what was right in his own eyes, as if they had no governor over them; though some think this was done to draw him thither to secure his subjects from such rapine and violence, that they might have an opportunity to lay hold upon him, or this they did on purpose to begin a civil war:

and it was told Abimelech;
that they lay in wait for him, and so he kept himself from them.

Judges 9:25 In-Context

23 Then God brought bad blood between Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who now worked treacherously behind his back.

24 Violence boomeranged: The murderous violence that killed the seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, was now loose among Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who had supported the violence.

25 To undermine Abimelech, Shechem's leaders put men in ambush on the mountain passes who robbed travelers on those roads. And Abimelech was told.

26 At that time Gaal son of Ebed arrived with his relatives and moved into Shechem. The leaders of Shechem trusted him.

27 One day they went out into the fields, gathered grapes in the vineyards, and trod them in the winepress. Then they held a celebration in their god's temple, a feast, eating and drinking. And then they started putting down Abimelech.