Then Zebul said to him: Now that Abimelech’s men are out in full force, Zebul turns to Gaal and mocks him.

Where is your mouth now…? is a literal rendering of the Hebrew. This rhetorical question shows contempt for Gaal and his earlier boast about getting rid of Abimelech. This is clearly an idiomatic expression in Hebrew, but many languages will have a similar idiom. Your mouth figuratively refers to the boastful words that Gaal spoke earlier. In colloquial English this question may be rendered “So much for your big mouth!” or “So much for all your talk!” However, a question could be kept here by saying “What do you have to say for yourself now?” Good News Translation says “Where is all your big talk now?” and Revised English Bible is similar with “Where are your brave words now?”

You who said: These words introduces a quote within a quote. Zebul quotes Gaal word for word in order to mock and deride him. The Hebrew for the beginning of Zebul’s speech is literally “Where now is your mouth that said…?” However, as in Revised Standard Version, in some languages it will be necessary to make the pronoun you the subject of the verb said. Translators should express the mocking tone if possible, for example, “Well now, didn’t you say…?” and “Wasn’t it you, Gaal, who said…?”

Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?: These words repeat what Gaal said in verse 9.28 (see comments there). Translators need to use appropriate punctuation for this quote within a quote. In some languages, however, it may be necessary to change this direct speech into indirect speech, for example, “Weren’t you the one who said that Abimelech is a good-for-nothing and that we should not follow him?”

Are not these the men whom you despised?: Here Zebul continues to mock Gaal by using another rhetorical question. The men (literally “the people”) refers to Abimelech and his men, who were coming down the mountains to attack the city of Shechem. Whom you despised shows that Gaal seriously underestimated Abimelech’s army. Despised may be rendered “ridiculed” (New International Version) or “made fun of” (Contemporary English Version). Many languages will prefer a statement rather than a question here, for example, “There is the army you sneered at” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

Go out now and fight with them: The Hebrew verb rendered Go out (yatsaʾ) is the same one used in previous verses of this episode (verse 9.27, 29, 33, 35). In Hebrew it is followed by the particle naʾ, which is normally used to express politeness. Here it is combined with the word now to express extreme irony. Up till now, Gaal does not know what the reader knows, namely, that Zebul is the one who helped organize the plan to bring him down. Go out now may be rendered “Please, be my guest, go on out there.” Fight with them is literally “fight with him.” The pronoun “him” refers to Abimelech, but Revised Standard Version and many other versions change it to them to include Abimelech’s men. Fight renders the Hebrew verb lacham meaning “battle” or “wage war” (see verse 1.1). We might say “There’s the army you belittled. So now, go on, go out and fight them!” However, some languages may prefer to reverse the clauses, for example, “Ok, be my guest, get out there and fight the people you made so much fun of!”

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 .