Shechem was in the mountainous region on the border between Ephraim and Manasseh. Evidently Abimelech and his men had been hiding in the mountains surrounding the town.

And when Gaal saw the men, he said to Zebul: For some readers or listeners, the story may be somewhat hard to follow at this point, since Gaal speaks to Zebul, the governor of Shechem appointed by Abimelech, while Abimelech and his men come to attack the city. In some languages it will be necessary to begin this verse with “Now Gaal was together in the city with Zebul, and when he saw the men….” Gaal sees Abimelech’s men coming down the mountains, but he does not recognize who they are. This is the first time in this episode that Gaal is not referred to by his full name. Said might be is better rendered “cried out” in this context.

Look, men are coming down from the mountain tops!: Look renders the Hebrew word hinneh. Here it expresses surprise. If Gaal thinks these men are attackers, then there would be fear and dismay in his voice as well. Translators should try to find a way to express the surprise and fear Gaal is feeling here. Men is literally “people” in this sentence and the previous one (see verse 9.32). Here it could mean that Gaal has not yet understood that these men have come to attack the city. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this clause as “That’s an army marching down from the hilltops,” but this rendering may be too specific. It takes Gaal a few minutes to realize what is happening (see verse 9.37). As is often the case, hinneh is followed by a Hebrew participle, rendered coming down (yarad). Here this verb seems to refer to physical movement downward, but also to a military attack (see verse 1.9). The mountain tops is literally “the heads of the mountains” (see verse 9.25). In some languages it will be more natural to render coming down from the mountain tops as “coming down the mountains.”

And Zebul said to him: Zebul, who helped plan Abimelech’s attack (verse 9.30-33), pretends that he knows nothing about what is happening, and even tries to divert Gaal’s attention.

You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men: Zebul tells Gaal that his eyes are playing tricks on him. The Hebrew is literally “The shadow of the mountains, you see as men.” A shadow is a natural phenomenon, so it should not pose a problem for translation. The Hebrew word for shadow is singular, but in many languages a plural form may be needed. Some languages may prefer to say “the shadows on/in the mountains.” Men does not render the Hebrew word for “people” as above, but the generic word for “men.” This sentence conveys the idea that Gaal is mistaken into thinking what he sees are men, so we might say “Come on, you think those are men, but they are just shadows in the mountains” or “No, they aren’t men at all. You’re just seeing shadows on the mountains.”

Contemporary English Version provides a good model for the last half of this verse:

• “No,” Zebul answered, “it’s just the shadows of the mountains. It only looks like people moving.”

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 .