Judges 9:38

38 Then Zebul said to Gaal, "Where is your big talk now? You said, 'Who is Abimelech? Why should we be under his rule?' Aren't these the people you looked down on? Go out and fight against 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 Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, "Look! People are coming down from the tops of the mountains!" Zebul replied, "You are wrong. Those aren't people. They are just the shadows of the mountains."

37 But Gaal spoke up again. He said, "Look! People are coming down from the center of the land. Another company is coming from the direction of the fortune tellers' tree."

38 Then Zebul said to Gaal, "Where is your big talk now? You said, 'Who is Abimelech? Why should we be under his rule?' Aren't these the people you looked down on? Go out and fight against them!"

39 So Gaal led the citizens out of Shechem. They fought against Abimelech.

40 He chased Gaal from the field of battle. Many men were wounded as they ran away. Abimelech chased them all the way to the entrance of the city gate.