Zebul compounds Gaal’s humiliation by identifying the approaching army as the very forces Gaal had scorned, eliminating any excuse for retreat and demanding he face the consequences of his contempt.

Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech, but was driven back in defeat and fled, with many wounded falling at the entrance of the gate (Judges 9:39-40).

This second question builds on the first by eliminating Gaal’s potential escape routes. The demonstrative ‘these’ (הַזֶּה, hazzeh) forces Gaal to acknowledge the physical presence of forces he had verbally dismissed. By using ‘despised’ rather than a neutral term like ‘mentioned’ or ‘discussed,’ Zebul emphasizes the contemptuous nature of Gaal’s earlier dismissal, making retreat now equivalent to admitting cowardice. The interrogative form functions rhetorically to declare an undeniable fact while demanding Gaal’s acknowledgment, a technique that multiplies shame more effectively than simple accusation. This verbal entrapment serves the larger narrative pattern of divine justice, as God orchestrates mutual destruction between those who conspired to murder Gideon’s seventy sons.