Judges 9:36
And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
Abimelech was Gideon's son, who had his brothers, Gideon's sons, put to death and gathered vain and light followers about him in his effort to become ruler of Israel, and in that effort he destroyed Shechem. Judges 9:36 belongs to the account of Jotham's parable of the trees, which exposed the folly of the men of Shechem in choosing Abimelech as ruler after these deeds. In the verse itself, during Abimelech's conflict with the people of Shechem and the neighboring city, Gaal sees people coming down from the top of the mountains, and Zebul deceives him by telling him that what he sees as men is only the shadow of the mountains.
The surrounding events fulfill Jotham's words, as Abimelech and the Shechemites turn against one another and divine retribution brings their violent rule to an end. The account teaches that those doing the most valuable work in the Lord's cause do not seek to rule their brethren, and ambition to be exalted over others shows a lack of fitness to rule.