Judges 9:37

Jdg 9:37 And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.

Ver. 37. By the plain of Meonenim.] Or, Of the soothsayers. It may be rendered, By the oak of the oraculous diviners. The oak was consecrated to Jupiter: and of the Dodonaean oak much is spoken by the poets: but what meant such places or such doings among the people of Israel, who were flatly forbidden them? {Deu 18:9-14}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, charmers.

Hebrew, by the navel.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 37. By the plain of Meonenim.] Some translate, by the way of the oaks, or oaken groves; others, by the way of the magicians, or regarders of the times, as in our margin. Probably it was a place in which augurs and soothsayers dwelt.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(37) By the middle of the land.—Literally, by the navel of the land. Probably the expression means some gently-swelling hill, but it perplexed the translators. The Chaldee renders it “the strength,” and the Svriac “the fortification of the land.” In Eze_38:12 it is rendered “in the midst of the land.” The LXX. here have the strangely blundering addition, “by sea.”

Another company.—Literally, one head (Vulg., cuneus unus).

By the plain of Meonenim.—Rather, from the way to the Enchanters’ Terebinth (LXX., “of the oak of those that look away;” Vulg., “which looks toward the oak;” Luther, more correctly, “zur Zaubereiche”). Meonen in Lev_19:28 is rendered “enchantment,” and means especially the kind of “enchantment” which affects the eye (the “evil eye,” &c.), and therefore implies the use of amulets, &c. Hence, though the terebinth is nowhere else mentioned by this particular name, it is at least a probable conjecture that it may be the ancient tree under which Jacob’s family had buried their idolatrous amulets (Gen_35:4).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. the middle of the land] the Navel of the land; this is the traditional meaning of the word, Talm., LXX ὀμφαλός, Vulgate umbilicus. The word only occurs again in Eze_38:12 of the mountains of Israel, apparently as central and prominent in the earth. Some hill near Shechem was called the Navel, perhaps because it was supposed to be midway between the sea and the Jordan (cf. the navel of Italy, Sicily, Greece, in Latin authors).

the oak of Meonenim] the augurs’ terebinth (marg.), the seat of a Canaanite tree-oracle, administered by priests here called augurs or soothsayers, cf. Deu_18:10, Mic_5:12; the omens were taken, it seems, from the rustling leaves or waving boughs (2Sa_5:24), or by the “ordinary processes of divination performed in the presence of the sacred object” (R. Smith, Rel. of Sem., p. 178). The allusions to a sacred terebinth at or near Shechem (Jdg_9:6, Gen_12:6; Gen_35:4, Deu_11:30, Jos_24:26) need not all refer to the same tree. See further on Jdg_9:6 and Jdg_6:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said Zebul unto him,.... Not being able to put him off any longer, and willing to take the opportunity to upbraid him with what he had said:

where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? darest thou say the same thou hast done, and utter the contemptuous language concerning Abimelech, asking who he was, that he should be served? Here he is, speak to his face; what are become of those boasts and brags, and great swelling words, what thou wouldest do if thou hadst the command of this city?

is not this the people thou hast despised? as small and insignificant, bidding Abimelech increase his army, and come out and fight:

go out, I pray thee, now, and fight with them; and show thyself to be a man of courage, and not a mere blusterer, a man that can use his sword as well as his tongue.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The plain of Meonenim - Translate “the oak of the soothsayers” (see the margin). Some well-known oak, so called, but which is not mentioned elsewhere.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Midst. Hebrew Tabur, here signifies "a little hill, or the navel," which title is given to places which are elevated and in the centre of the country, Ezechiel xxxviii. 12. (Josephus, Jewish Wars iii. 2.) Varro mentions the lake of Cutilia, as the navel of Italy. The wood of Enna and Etolia are styled the navel of Sicily and of Greece, by Cicero and Livy. (Bonfrere; Calmet) --- Oak, which is probably mentioned, ver. 6. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "another company comes by the oak or plain of Mehonenim," which may signify, "of the augurs." Septuagint, "of those who make observations," apobleponton. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By the middle of the land, Heb. by the navel of the land. So he calls either, first, The middle of it, as the middle part of Greece and of Sicily are called the navel of them by the Roman writers, because the navel is in the midst of man’s body; or, secondly, The higher part of it, called the mountains, Jdg 9:36, and here the navel, because it was raised above the other ground, as the navel is above the rest of the body.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

37. Middle of the land — Rather, height of the land, some neighbouring summit.

The plain of Meonenim — Rather, By the way of the oak of the magicians, a place (no longer known) in the vicinity of Shechem, that was probably noted as a favourite haunt of diviners and soothsayers.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gaal spake again, etc. Of course, as the men got nearer, it was impossible to mistake them for anything but men. Gaal could see two bands distinctly, one coming down the hill-side, the other marching by the road of the soothsayers" oak. The middle of the land. The word rendered middle only occurs again in Eze_38:12, "the midst of the land," A.V It is so rendered from the notion of the old interpreters that it was connected with a word meaning the navel. " It is usually explained now to mean the height. There may have been some particular height in the ridge called Tabbur ha-aretz. The plain of Meonenim. Rather, the oak (or terebinth tree) of the soothsayers , some large terebinth or turpentine tree under which the soothsayers used to take their auguries. Dean Stanley would identify it with the oak of the pillar in ver. 6, where see note.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But Gaal said again, "Behold, people come down from the navel of the land," i.e., from the highest point of the surrounding country, "and a crowd comes by the way of the wizard's terebinths," - a place in the neighbourhood of Shechem that is not mentioned anywhere else, and therefore is not more precisely known.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

From the promontory of the land. "From the pre-eminence of the land." From the highest summit of all.

Elon Meonenim. The plain of Meonenim

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.