brethren” as sovereign, found it irksome to pay the taxes levied upon them by him, as if they were in no way related to him.  The presence among them of a certain Zebul, the officer and representative of Abimelech, restrained them at first from breaking out into rebellion, but they returned soon to their ancient predatory ways, and demanded ransom for the travellers they might capture even when the latter were in possession of the king’s safe conduct.  This was not only an insult to their lord, but a serious blow to his treasury:  the merchants who found themselves no longer protected by his guarantee employed elsewhere the sums which would have come into his hands.  The king concealed his anger, however; he was not inclined to adopt premature measures, for the place was a strong one, and defeat would seriously weaken his prestige.  The people of Shechem, on their part, did not risk an open rupture for fear of the consequences.  Gaal, son of Ebed,* a soldier of fortune and of Israelitish blood, arrived upon the scene, attended by his followers:  he managed to gain the confidence of the people of Shechem, who celebrated under his protection the feast of the Vintage.

* The name Ebed ("slave,” “servant”) is assumed to have been substituted in the Massorotic text for the original name Jobaal, because of the element Baal in the latter word, which was regarded as that of the strange god, and would thus have the sacrilegious meaning “Jahveh is Baal.”  The term of contempt, Ebed, was, according to this view, thus used to replace it.

On this occasion their merrymaking was disturbed by the presence among them of the officer charged with collecting the tithes, and Gaal did not lose the opportunity of stimulating their ire by his ironical speeches:  “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem:  but why should we serve him?  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.”  Zebul promptly gave information of this to his master, and invited him to come by night and lie in ambush in the vicinity of the town, “that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city:  and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, thou mayest do to them as thou shalt find occasion.”  It turned out as he foresaw; the inhabitants of Shechem went out in order to take part in the gathering in of the vintage, while Gaal posted his men at the entering in of the gate of the city.  As he looked towards the hills he thought he saw an unusual movement among the trees, and, turning round, said to Zebul, who was close by, “Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains.  And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.”  A moment after he looked