DEBORAH AND BARAK This deliverance is described a second time in the early poem in Judges 5 (see on Judges 5:1). No other narrative describes more clearly the religious gathering of the clans, and the prowess of the hardy mountaineers when united. The plain of Esdraelon (see Intro. § 5) is one of t... [ Continue Reading ]
JABIN] In Joshua 11:1; Jabin is defeated by Joshua at the waters of Merom, near the head of the Jordan valley, and Hazor is burned. In Judges 5 Jabin is not mentioned, and Sisera is apparently regarded as king. Hazor] from Joshua 19:36, probably near Kadesh-naphtali. HAROSHETH OF THE GENTILES] or 'f... [ Continue Reading ]
CHARIOTS] They would be well-nigh irresistible on the plain. The Israelites, living in the hills, had none until Solomon's time. 4-24. Defeat and Death of Sisera.... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGED] not in the technical sense used in this book, but of the deciding of disputes (Judges 4:5).... [ Continue Reading ]
MOUNT EPHRAIM] see on Judges 3:27. Deborah's own tribe would seem to have been Issachar (Judges 5:15). DWELT] RV 'sat,' as judge, to decide cases. DEBORAH] 'bee.'... [ Continue Reading ]
BARAK] 'lightning': cp. the Carthaginian name Hamilcar Barca. Kedesh-naphtali] i.E. Kadesh (i.e. the shrine) of Naphtali; now Kades, 4 m. from the upper end of the waters of Merom. MOUNT TABOR] 1,843 ft. high: it commands the plain of Esdraelon from the NE. TEN THOUSAND MEN] cp. Judges 3:10; Judges... [ Continue Reading ]
SELL] cp. Judges 2:14; Judges 3:8; Judges 4:2. A WOMAN] i.e. JAEL.... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT UP] to Tabor. The flat summit of this conical hill made an excellent position from which the Israelites could charge down to the plain.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KENITES] cp. Judges 1:16. FATHER IN LAW] is correct, not (as RV) 'brother in law.' The modern traveller Porter noticed the black tents of nomads near Kedesh. PLAIN] RV'oak'; evidently a prominent tree on the N. of the edge of the plain of Esdraelon.... [ Continue Reading ]
KISHON] This river rises in the high ground to the SE. of the plain, and flows right through it in a northwesterly direction. From Tabor on the NE. the Israelites would dash down and drive the Canaanites back upon its banks: in rainy weather the whole plain would be further intersected by the Kishon... [ Continue Reading ]
FLED AWAY] northward to Kedesh, while Barak's host hurries westwards.... [ Continue Reading ]
MANTLE] RV 'rug,' or perhaps 'tent-curtain.'... [ Continue Reading ]
BOTTLE OF MILK] i.e. a lamb- or goat-skin. chapter Judges 5:25 adds 'butter.' Judges 5:26 seems (though not certainly) to imply that Sisera is killed as he stands drinking.... [ Continue Reading ]
The nail or tent-pin was of wood: to drive it into the ground when camping was the women's work. On the morality of the act see on Judges 5:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
If Barak came up immediately, he must have left the main body of the pursuers almost as they left the battle-field.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Israelites now proceed to do on a small soale what, after the victories of Joshua, they had refused to do on a large one.... [ Continue Reading ]