If only this people were under my authority, I would remove Abimelech; I would say to him, ‘Muster your army and come out!’”
Parallel translations
- WEB I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army, and come out!”
- KJV And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
- NKJV If only this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”
- NASB If only this people were under my authority! Then I would do away with Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Enlarge your army and come out!”
- NLT If I were in charge here, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get some soldiers, and come out and fight!’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Gaal boasts he would remove Abimelech if he had command, and taunts him to come fight.
Overview
His bravado escalates the conflict into open challenge. The boast reveals reckless ambition matching that of Abimelech himself. This provocation sets the stage for the battle in which the curse is fulfilled.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Sam 15:4And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
- 2 Kgs 18:23Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
- 1 Kgs 20:11And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
- 2 Sam 2:14–17Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
- Isa 36:8–9Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
- Ps 10:3For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- 2 Kgs 14:8Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.
- Rom 1:30–31slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 9:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.