Bible Strands
Judges 9:47
And when Abimelech was told that all the leaders in the tower of Shechem were gathered there,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abimelech receives a report while his forces are mobilizing against the rebels in Shechem. The intelligence arrives at the moment the tower's occupants have consolidated their position inside the temple stronghold.
The words — וַיֻּגַד (wayyuggad) conveys a passive reporting action, literally "it was told," while הִתְקַבְּצוּ (hitkabbetzu) uses a reflexive stem to denote "they gathered themselves together."
The thread — This verse bridges the rebellion's consolidation in Judges 9:46 with Abimelech's retaliatory march to Mount Zalmon in Judges 9:48. The narrative thread tracks how localized unrest in Shechem escalates into coordinated military action.
Why it lands — The reader must note that passive reporting initiates the next phase of conflict, requiring attention to how intelligence directly triggers tactical movement rather than diplomatic resolution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.