Judges (5-6)
Judges 5
1 Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, saying:
2 “Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
— I and Barak, undoubtedly, Deborah was the sole author of the song, as is implied by the singular verb (next verse3); because she was the foundation of the work, the chief person in it, both in the direction of the war and in the composition of this song.
3 “Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes. I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
— Hear, O ye kings; under the era of Judges, the Lord God of Israel was the King, or maybe the King of kings or princes in Israel;
— no time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his kindness for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a sincere heart.
4 “Lord, when Thou wentest out of Seir, when Thou marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
— the earth trembled; the books of Moses, indeed, do not mention any earthquake as happening during their march from Seir in Edom, to war against Sihon and Og, and take possession of their land; but it is highly probable, that this is prophetic, as Deborah was to live up to her name as a prophetess.
5 The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai, from before the Lord God of Israel.
— even that Sinai; rather, even Sinai, as though Deborah actually saw the sacred mountain before her; again, this is likely prophetic as Deborah was to live up to her name as a prophetess.
6 “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways.
— in the days of Jael; the wife of Heber the Kenite, spoken of in the preceding chapter, who appears to be a woman of great spirit, and endeavoured to do what good she could to Israel.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, I arose a mother in Israel.
— a mother, that is, to be to them as a mother, to instruct, and rule, and protect them, which duties a mother oweth to her children as far as she is able.
8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
— they chose new gods; that is, Israel,this they did after the death of Joshua; it refers to their first idolatry, begun by Micah, Judges 17:1 they chose other gods than the true God; Baalim and Ashtaroth they are said to serve, Judges 2:11.
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.
— bless ye the Lord; for giving them such spirits, to engage so willingly in this service, and for giving them success in it.
10 “Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment and walk by the way.
— ye that ride on white asses; that is, nobles and wealthy (Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14).
11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of His villages in Israel. Then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates.
— in the places of drawing water; at those pits or springs of water, to which the people’s necessities forced them oft to resort, and which the archers usually lurk in woods, or thickets, or hedges, that from thence they might shoot at them, and kill and spoil them.
12 “Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
— awake, awake, Deborah; the prophetess rouses herself in this verse, which forms an introduction to the second section of the song, to describe the loyalty of the tribes and the grandeur of the victory.
13 “Then He made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people; the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty.
— the Lord made me have dominion over the mighty; that is, Deborah, to whom God gave dominion either over the mighty ones of Israel, being raised up to be their judge; or over the mighty Canaanites;
— she having a concern in the conquest of them and triumph over them, through her direction, advice, command, and presence, though a woman.
14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
— Out of Ephraim, representing Joseph, was there a root of them against Amalek, representing Esau; and the extension of Esau and Jacob rivalry:
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, “Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to my country. Genesis 30:25
— the Targum of Jonathan reveals in greater depth how the posterity of Joseph, not any other tribes, were to be a yoke (Genesis 27:40) and a flame unto the house of Esau, saying
“And it was, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said through the Holy Spirit that the House of Joseph is destined to be like a flame to consume the House of Esau. He said: ‘From now on, I am not afraid of Esau and his legions.’ And he said to Laban: ‘Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own land.’” Genesis 30:25 Jonathan
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah, even Issachar, and also Barak; he was sent on foot into the valley. In the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
— Deborah calls the princes of Issachar “my princes” with a touch of pride, and hence some have assumed that she belonged to the tribe of Issachar, not to that of Ephraim;
— for the division of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart; either for their divisions among themselves in their own councils, or for their divisions and separations from their brethren separated by the river Jordan.
16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? In the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
— for the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart; they felt the patriotic impulse and determined, at first, to join the ranks of their western brethren, but resiled from that purpose, preferring their peaceful shepherd songs to the trumpet sound of war.
17 Gilead abode beyond the Jordan; and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the seashore and abode in his sheltered coves.
— Gilead abode beyond Jordan; Gilead was the son of Machir, a grandson of Manasseh.
— and why did Dan remain in ships? the Danites inhabiting Joppa, and other places bordering on the Mediterranean sea, attended their navigation and merchandise.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeopardized their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
— Zebulun and Naphtali; these two tribes were chiefly concerned in this war; out of them were the 10,000 men that followed Barak, who willingly offered themselves, and were the most active and vigorous.
19 “The kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
— the Canaanite hosts are now described, led to battle by their numerous kings, but they took no gain of money; they got no booty, as they would expect.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
— they fought from heaven; in a very magnificent manner, represent who were the allies and helpers of Israel; namely, the very angels of God themselves, the hosts of heaven, the armies of the Almighty.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength!
— O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength; thou, O Deborah, though but a woman, hast, by God’s assistance, subdued a potent enemy; a beautiful apostrophe of the prophetess.
22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.
— by the means of the pransings; rather, the stampings, tramplings, or plungings. In crossing the Kishon after moderate rains, a horse might be hopelessly disabled in the muddy morass formed by the flowing river.
23 “‘Curse ye Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord; ‘curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.’
— Curse ye Meroz; the wickedness of Meroz was worse than that of the tribes which held aloof, they hung back, and gave no help in the day of battle, although it was God who called them; and now whereabout may have been its exact site, it was evidently it was destroyed or punished like Succoth and Penuel, who refused to give Gideon assistance, Judges 8:5-9.
24 “Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
— Deborah herself said this under a spirit of prophecy: Blessed above women; celebrated and praised, for Jael would be regarded as a patriotic heroine, whose daring had secured to Israel the fruits of their victory.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
— in a lordly dish; rather, in a dish of the nobles: a splendid bowl, reserved for great occasions. All this was done to lull his suspicions into a false security.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer. And with the hammer she smote Sisera; she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
— she smote off his head; or rather, smote through his head, for there is not the least hint given in the story that she cut off his head.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
— at Jael’s feet he bowed, he fell; when she redoubled her blow: where he bowed, there he fell down dead; and struggled and stirred no more; thus ingloriously did this general of a vast army die.
28 “The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?’
— the mother of Sisera looked out at a window, perhaps looked towards the high road, in which she expected Sisera to return in his chariot with his victorious army, but only foreboding the disastrous result of the war.
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself:
— her wise ladies; the wise of her princesses, showing also that the wisest were most utterly mistaken.
30 ‘Have they not sped? Have they not divided the prey: to every man a damsel or two, to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?’
— meet for the necks of them that take the spoil; to every man, the reward is a damsel or two.
31 “So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord! But let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.” And the land had rest forty years.
— prophetess she was, fighter she was, she could burst into triumphant approval of Jael’s bloody deed; and the land had rest forty years.
Judges 6
1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
— Midian; Midian was the son of Adraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2), and from him descended the numerous and wealthy nomadic tribes which occupied the plains east of Moab (Numbers 31).
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains and caves and strongholds.
— the Israelites had been bidden to maintain deadly hostility against the nation because of the shameful worship of Baal-peor, to which, under the instigation of Balaam, the Midianites had tempted them (Numbers 25:1-18).
3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the East, even they came up against them.
— at this time the Midianites were allies with the Amalekites and the Arabian tribes of Ismaelites who were collectively “the children of the East.”
4 And they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass.
— Gaza, a principality of the Philistines, indicates the extreme southwest point to which they spread their devastations, as today, a recurring problem Israel always has;
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude, for both they and their camels were without number; and they entered into the land to destroy it.
— for they came up with their cattle, and their tents, brought their flocks and their herds with them, encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the land (the fruits of the field and soil) as far as Gaza, in the extreme southwest of the land.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.
— unable or afraid to fight them off, the Israelites were greatly impoverished because of these invading Midianites.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,
— they cried to God for a deliverer, and he sent them a prophet in order that they might reflect, and might recognise in the oppression which crushed them the chastisement of God for their apostasy;
8 that the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, who said unto them, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
— a prophet; his name is left nameless, but Jewish writing says that he was Phinehas, the son of Eleazar; which I doubt, he should be Moses; his prophecies recorded all over the place in Deuteronomy 33; a gist below:
And of Joseph he said: “Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
14 and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
15 and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” Deuteronomy 33:13-17
10 And I said unto you: ‘I am the Lord your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell.’ But ye have not obeyed My voice.”
— the gods of the Amorites; Joshua 24:15; 1Kings 21:26; the use of Amorite, if the prophet was addressing those who dwelt in the mountains, the Amorites chiefly dwelt.
11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press to hide it from the Midianites.
— there was another Ophrah in Benjamin Joshua 18:23. This Ophrah was a city in Manasseh, in the village of Joash, the head, apparently, of the family of Abiezer, one of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh Numbers 26:30.
12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.”
— the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, that is Gideon; a man of a brave, active spirit,
13 And Gideon said unto him, “Oh my lord, if the Lord be with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
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14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee?”
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15 And he said unto Him, “Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
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16 And the Lord said unto him, “Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”
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17 And he said unto Him, “If now I have found grace in Thy sight, then show me a sign that Thou talkest with me.
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18 Depart not hence, I pray Thee, until I come unto Thee and bring forth my present and set it before Thee.” And He said, “I will tarry until thou come again.”
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19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak and presented it.
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20 And the angel of God said unto him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
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21 Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
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22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.”
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23 And the Lord said unto him, “Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.”
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24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovahshalom [that is, The Lord send peace]. Unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, “Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah pole that is by it;
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26 and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the Asherah pole which thou shalt cut down.”
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27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had said unto him. And so it was, because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, so that he did it by night.
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28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down and the Asherah pole was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
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29 And they said one to another, “Who hath done this thing?” And when they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.”
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30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, “Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal and because he hath cut down the Asherah pole that was by it.”
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31 And Joash said unto all who stood against him, “Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.”
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32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.”
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33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East were gathered together, and went over and pitched camp in the Valley of Jezreel.
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34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and the Abiezrites were gathered after him.
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35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also were gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and unto Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
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36 And Gideon said unto God, “If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said—
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37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.”
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38 And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
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39 And Gideon said unto God, “Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece: Let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.”
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40 And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
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