H2083 H2083
Zebul; an officer and governor of Shechem under Abimelech, active in the Gaal revolt narrative.
The proper name of a man who served as the ruler or prefect of the city of Shechem under Abimelech, son of Gideon. Zebul appears exclusively in Judges 9, where he plays a crucial role in the conflict between Abimelech and the rebel Gaal son of Ebed. When Gaal stirs up discontent at a feast, Zebul secretly sends word to Abimelech and then mocks Gaal's hesitation as the counterattack approaches. His name may be related to the noun zebul meaning 'lofty dwelling' or 'exalted place,' though BDB treats it simply as a proper name.
Senses
1. Zebul — Zebul, the officer (governor or prefect) of Shechem serving under Abimelech. All six occurrences cluster in Judges 9:28-41, where Zebul acts as Abimelech's loyal agent: he reports Gaal's conspiracy (v. 30), taunts Gaal as the opposing force approaches (v. 36, 38), and remains in the city after the conflict (v. 41). The name may be etymologically linked to zebul ('lofty habitation'), though it functions purely as a personal name. Multilingual glosses uniformly transliterate: English/Spanish/French/German all render 'Zebul.' 6×
AR["زَبُول", "وَ-زَبُول"]·ben["এবং-সবুল", "সবুল", "সবুলের"]·DE["Zebul", "und-Zebul"]·EN["Zebul", "and-Zebul"]·FR["Zebul", "et-Zebul"]·heb["ו-זבול", "זבול"]·HI["और-ज़बुल", "ज़बुल", "ज़बुलने"]·ID["Zebul", "dan-Zebul"]·IT["Zebul", "e-Zebul"]·jav["Zebul", "lan-Zebul"]·KO["그리고-스불", "스불"]·PT["Zevul", "e-Zevul"]·RU["Зевул", "Зевулу", "и-Зевул"]·ES["Zebul", "y-Zebul"]·SW["Zebuli", "na-Zebuli"]·TR["Zevul", "Zevul-a", "ve-Zevul"]·urd["اور-زبُول", "زبُول", "زبُول-نے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† II. זְבֻל n.pr.m. an officer of Abimelech Ju 9:28, 30, 36(×2), 38, 41.