Judges 5:23

Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord,.... Not Barak, as the Targum and Jarchi, but Deborah herself said this under a spirit of prophecy, not from her own spirit in a revengeful way, but from

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.

Meroz; a place then, no doubt, eminent and considerable, though now there be no remembrance of it left, which possibly might be the effect of this bitter curse; as God curseth Amalek in this manner, that he would utterly blot out their remembrance, &c., . And this place above all others may be thus severely cursed, either because it was near the place of the fight, and therefore had the greatest opportunity and obligation to engage with and to assist their brethren; and their denying their help was a great discouragement to all their brethren, whose hearts, no doubt, were greatly afflicted, and might have utterly fainted at this great miscarriage, and scandalous example; or for some other great aggravation of their cowardice and treachery, which may easily be imagined, though it be not here expressed. Said the angel of the Lord: she signifies that this curse proceeded not from her spleen or ill will towards that place, nor from her own private opinion or affection, but from Divine inspiration; and that if all the rest of the song should be taken but for the breathings and expressions of a pious and devout soul, but liable to mistake, yet this branch of it was immediately dictated to her by the Lord, by the ministry of an angel; otherwise she neither would nor durst have uttered so bitter a curse against them. Of the Lord; either, first, Of the Lord’ s people; for God takes what is done for or against his people as if it was done to himself: see . Or, secondly, Of the Lord himself, who though he did not need, yet did require and expect their help and concurrence; and he expresseth it thus, to show the sinfulness and unreasonableness of their cowardly desertion of this cause, because it was the cause of God, and they had the call of God to it, whom they knew to be able easily to crush that enemy whom they dreaded, and who had promised to do it.

Judges 5:23 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.Ver. 23. Curse ye Meroz.] So effectual was this curse, that, as the fig tree cursed by our Saviour withered immediately, so this city Meroz now liveth only by fame, there being no mention of it elsewhere in Scripture, in Jerome, Adrichomius, or any other. Neutrality is most odious to Jesus Christ, the angel here mentioned. Solon made a law that none should stand neutal.

(23) Curse ye Meroz.—The guilt of Meroz was worse than that of the tribes which held aloof, because, whatever may have been its exact site, it was evidently in the very heart of the country which had been thus inspired to strike a blow for freedom. Possibly it would have been in the power of the inhabitants at least to cut off the retreat of the enemy. We may conjecture, from the ban thus laid on Meroz, that it felt the vengeance of the victorious Israelites, and was destroyed or punished like Succoth and Penuel. Their crime was detrectatio militiae, which the ancients regarded with special indignation. The case of Jabesh Gilead, in Judges 21:9-10, may account for the difficulty of ascertaining the site of the town; it is not mentioned elsewhere. By some it is identified with Kefr Musr, a village to the south of Tabor (5 Raumer); by others with Marussus, north of Bethshean. It has been conjectured that the true reading may be Merom, and Dr. Thomson identifies it with Marom, as Eusebius alludes to it under the name Merran, and Jerome calls it Merrom. They, however, place it near Dothan, twelve miles from Shechem—a very unlikely locality. Said the angel of the Lord.—The Maleak Jehovah, as in Judges 3:1. Here, as in that passage, some (referring to Haggai 1:13; Malachi 2:7) suppose that Deborah is herself the angel or messenger of the Lord. However that may be, she certainly speaks as the mouthpiece of Jehovah’s messenger (Judges 4:4).

Verse 23. Curse ye Meroz] Where Meroz was is not known; some suppose it was the same as Merom, nigh to Dotham. The Syriac and Arabic have Merod; but where this was is equally uncertain. It was certainly some city or district, the inhabitants of which would not assist in this war. Curse ye bitterly] ארו ארור oru aror, curse with cursing - use the most awful execrations. Said the angel of the LORD] That is, Barak, who was Jehovah's angel or messenger in this war; the person sent by God to deliver his people. To the help of the LORD] That is, to the help of the people of the Lord. Against the mighty.] בגבורים baggibborim, "with the heroes;" that is, Barak and his men, together with Zebulun and Naphtali: these were the mighty men, or heroes, with whom the inhabitants of Meroz would not join.

23. Curse ye Meroz] Probably this village lay on the route of Sisera’s flight, and the inhabitants, though they were Israelites, made no effort to help their kinsmen in following up the victory. Similarly Succoth and Penuel refused to give Gideon assistance, Judges 8:5-9. The situation of Meroz is unknown. the angel of the Lord] Perhaps Jehovah Himself in manifestation; see on Judges 2:1. But it is conceivable that the angel is a later insertion designed to soften the direct intervention of Jehovah at this point. against the mighty] or among the mighty (marg.), or, with a slight change, as heroes, cf. Judges 5:13 n.

The inhabitants of Meroz (a village 12 miles from Samaria) hung back, and gave no help in the day of battle, although it was Yahweh who called them. Hence, the curse pronounced by the Angel of the Lord.

23. Curse Meroz — The name of this place occurs here only, and of its history we have no other trace. Perhaps it utterly perished by reason of this awful curse.