This verse tells what the leaders of Shechem did once they decided to turn against Abimelech.

And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (New Revised Standard Version) or omitted (Good News Translation). The men of Shechem refers to the leaders of Shechem as in the previous two verses. In many languages the continual repetition of full nouns phrases like this one can show contempt and that may be the case in the Hebrew text here. The Hebrew verb rendered put (sim) is a keyword in the Abimelech story, where it expresses numerous meanings (verse 8.31 [“called”]; verse 8.33 [“made”]; verse 9.24 [“laid”]; verse 9.48-49). Men in ambush renders a Hebrew masculine participle, which is literally “those who ambush.” To ambush is to hide and to await the arrival of someone before attacking that person, in this case, Abimelech. The pronoun him refers to Abimelech. This strategy will be mentioned again later in this book in the description of the civil war between the Benjaminites and the other Israelites (see verse 20.29-46). The ambushers hid on the mountain tops (literally “on the heads of the mountains”), a place from which it would be easy to see movement below and to launch a surprise attack. It is unlikely that the ambushers were stationed on the actual tops of the mountains, where they would be clearly seen, but probably in the trees near the tops. Some scholars suggest that Abimelech and his men were no longer welcome in Shechem, so they lived in those mountains. Contemporary English Version renders this whole clause as “Then they sent some men to hide on the hilltops and watch for Abimelech and his troops.” Another possible model is “The leaders of Shechem stationed men in the mountains to ambush Abimelech.”

And they robbed all who passed by them along that way: The pronoun they refers to the ambushers. While they were waiting for Abimelech to arrive, they robbed anyone who passed by their way. This type of crime is also mentioned in Deborah’s song (verse 5.6). Robbed renders a common Hebrew verb, and translators can use any appropriate verb here, for example, “held up” or “stole from.” All who passed by them along that way refers to the travelers who took the roads through the mountains where the ambushers waited. The use of the word all may be an exaggeration, but it shows to what extent anarchy reigned in that time and place. The pronoun them could refer to the mountains, but it more likely refers to the ambushers.

And it was told Abimelech: Someone tells Abimelech about the ambush. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And is better translated “But” (Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible) here. The ambushers are in place, awaiting the arrival of Abimelech, but he is informed of the trap, and never comes. The pronoun it could refer to both the ambush and the robberies, but the ambush is in focus. It was told Abimelech is a passive expression, which many languages will prefer to render as “someone told Abimelech about the ambush/trap,” “Abimelech heard about what they planned,” or “Abimelech found out about what they were doing.”

This section ends quite abruptly, so readers and hearers may be confused. Translators may wish to make explicit that Abimelech avoided the ambush by saying “and so he was not caught [at that time]” or “so they did not catch him.”

A translation model for this verse is:

• The leaders of Shechem set up an ambush in the mountains to trap Abimelech. They also robbed anyone who passed along the mountain roads. But Abimelech heard about their plans, so they didn’t catch him.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .