Judges 5

Judges 5:5

5. The mountains melted] All the inhabitants of the mountains melted with fear. Dr. Wells.

Judges 5:6

6.—the highways were unoccupied,] The people, being corrupted in their religion, broke out into all manner of violence, and turned highway robbers, so that men durst not travel on the common roads. Bp. Patrick. A strong expression of the miserable calamities, under which the people lately laboured, as the just reward of their folly, vice, and depravity. Pyle.

Judges 5:7

7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased,] Men were forced to forsake the villages, and fly into walled towns and fortified places. Bp. Patrick.

—a mother in Israel.] A judge or ruler: as good rulers and deliverers are called fathers of their country, so Deborah calls herself “a mother in Israel.” Bp. Patrick.

Judges 5:10

10.—ye that ride on white asses,] Contemptible as this animal may at present appear, from the beginning it was not so. In many countries, and particularly in Judea, persons of the highest distinction were usually so mounted. The governors of Israel are so described here: and the thirty sons of Jair, who was judge and prince over Israel twenty-two years, are said to ride on thirty asses, chap. x. 4: and another judge of Israel is recorded to have had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on seventy ass colts, chap. xii. 14. It would be easy to confirm this observation with many more authorities. Bp. Sherlock.

She calls on governours and great men. There were no horses in Judea, so that the greatest persons rode on asses: these animals, in this country, were generally of a reddish colour; and therefore asses of a colour tending to white were highly esteemed for their rarity, and used only by honourable persons. Bp. Patrick. Others think, that the expression “white asses,” refers to the white garments, which were spread upon them for the accommodation of the riders; none but white garments being used by persons of distinction, or on days of publick rejoicing. Burd.

—and walk by the way.] Merchants who now travel in safety, which they durst not do before their deliverance. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 5:11

11. They that are delivered] The shepherds, who, before their deliverance, were disturbed by robbers shooting at them, when they went to water their flocks. Bp. Patrick. There is a beautiful rill in Barbary, received into a large bason, which bears a name signifying, “Drink and away,” from the great danger of meeting there with rogues and assassins. Dr. Shaw.

Judges 5:12

12.—lead thy captivity captive,] Lead in triumph, to the honour of God, the principal persons and spoils taken from the enemy. Dr. Wells.

Judges 5:14

14, 15. Out of Ephraim &c.] Here follows a catalogue of those Israelites who bravely assisted in the war. “Out of Ephraim was there a root of them,” namely, a small portion of them came from Ephraim. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 5:16

16.—For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.] For the division of counsels among the Reubenites, and their separation from the rest of their brethren, there were many sad thoughts among the other tribes. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

The song of Deborah and Barak. Before CHRIST about 1296. Or, port. Or, creeks. Hab. exposed to reproach. Asher continued on the || sea shore, and abode in his || breaches.

Judges 5:17

17.—in his breaches.] Or, in his creeks, as in the margin; that is, only minded his sea commerce. Dr. Wells.

Judges 5:20

20. They fought from heaven;] On the other hand, the angels of God fought for the Israelites, sending thunder, rain, &c. to discomfit their enemies. Dr. Wells. —the stars in their courses &c.] Either literally, by yielding light after it became night to the Israelites to pursue their victory: (Dr. Wells;) or figuratively, to express that God gave so entire a victory, as if the skies and stars had been their confederates against the infidel general and his army. Pyle. Or, the expression is poetical; the meaning may be, that, by mighty and sudden rains, which the common opinion ascribed to the special influence of the planets, the river of Kishon, near which Sisera’s army lay, was so raised and sworn, as to drown the greatest part of that huge host. Abp. Tillotson.

Judges 5:21

21.—O my soul, thou hast &c.] This is an elegant turning of her speech to herself, whose happiness she applauds, in beholding the most powerful enemies quite vanquished by her commission from God, and her prayers to Him. Bp. Patrick.

Judges 5:23

23.—Meroz,] Probably a city not far from mount Tabor, or the river Kishon; near which the battle was fought. Dr. Wells. It seems to be a notable effect of this curse, that the name of this city is blotted out, and not the least remains of it left upon earth. Reading.

Judges 5:24

24. Blessed above women &c.] The action of Jael is not written for our imitation, but instruction. See notes on chap. iv. 21. But there is another point of useful instruction to be drawn from this passage; which is, that we should be very cautious how we condemn or approve what God has not condemned or approved. Wogan.

Judges 5:25

25.—butter in a lordly dish.] Butter, or buttermilk, which is still esteemed a great treat among the Arabs. Dr. Hales. Dr. Pococke, giving an account of an Arab’s entertaining him in the Holy Land, says, that, among other things, they served him with some sour buttermilk. The Eastern way of churning is, by putting the cream into a goat’s skin turned inside out, which the Arabs suspend in their tents, and then press it to and fro, in one uniform direction; thus a separation of the parts is quickly occasioned, and butter is produced. Harmer.

Judges 5:28

28. The mother of Sisera &c.] In the passage which follows is afforded an admirable representation of the impatience of the mother of Sisera at his delay in returning, and her sanguine anticipation of his success; in which she dwells, not upon the greatness of his exploits, or the slaughter of his enemies, but upon the circumstances most likely to engage a light female mind; such as captive damsels, and embroidered garments, the spoils of victory, which she repeats and amplifies with much grace and elegance. Dr. Hales. How exquisitively just a description have we here of a mother, longing for the return of her beloved son; nay, impatient not only to see him safe, and crowned with victory, but loaded with spoils. The spoils too are such as most affected a female passion; damsels, to set off the pomp and splendour of her retinue, vests of needlework of divers colours, and curiously wrought on both sides to adorn her person. This was the gaudy prey she longed to see brought by her son in triumph. How natural are these sentiments! the tenderness of a mother on one hand, the foible and vanity of the female breast on the other. How very aptly applied by a woman to one of her own sex; to the mother of Sisera, by a mother in Israel. Wogan.

Judges 5:29

29. Her wise ladies] The ladies of her court. Pyle. Before CHRIST about 1296. hammered. Babara. destroyed. words. head of a man. necks of the spoil. The Midianites oppress Israel. A prophet rebuketh them.

Judges 5:31

31. So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord:] This abrupt and unexpected apostrophe, which concludes the poem, tacitly insinuates the utter disappointment of their vain hopes of conquest and spoils more fully and forcibly than any express declaration of words; while it marks the author’s piety and sole reliance on God’s protection of His people, and the glorious prospect of a greater and future deliverance, perhaps by the Sun of righteousness, Mal. iv. 2. Dr. Hales.

Chap. VI. ver. 3.— the children of the east.] Meaning, probably, the Arabians who inhabited Arabia Deserts, from the country of the Moabites and Ammonites, as far as the Euphrates. Calmet.

The children of the East included the posterity of Abraham’s sons by Keturah, of whom the Midianites were the principal, Gen. xxv. 6. It also included the Ishmaelites, Judg. viii. 24, who were settled near the Midianites, Gen. xxxvii. 28, in the wilderness of Paran, Gen. xxi. 21. Dr. Hales.