48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto her, give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty,.... Which might be occasioned by the heat of the battle, and by the heat of the day, and by heat in running; he asks for a little water, that being very desirable by persons athirst. Some think he did not ask for wine, because he knew the Kenites did not drink...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto her, stand in the door of the tent,.... This he said, not in an imperious way, as some think, but by entreaty: and it shall be, when any man shall come and inquire of thee; seeing her at the door, and where he desired she would stand to prevent their coming into the tent: and say, is there any man here? any besides what belongs to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent,.... When she perceived he was fast asleep, and it being now put into her heart to kill him, having an impulse upon her spirit, which she was persuaded, by the effect it had upon her, that it was of God; not filling her with malice and revenge, but a concern for the glory of God, the interest of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera,.... Knowing the way he took, at least as he supposed: Jael came out to meet him; as she did Sisera, but with greater pleasure: and said unto him, come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest; for she full well knew whom he was in pursuit of: and when he came into her [tent]; at her invitation: behold,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So God subdued on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the children, of Israel. Freed Israel from subjection to him and delivered him into the hands of the Israelites; for Josephus (o) says, that as Barak went towards Hazor, he met Jabin, and slew him; who perhaps having heard of the defeat of his army under Sisera, came forth with another against...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the hand of the children of Israel, prospered and prevailed against Jabin, the king of Canaan,.... They continued their wars with him, in which they were successful: until they had destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan; took him, and put him to death, and took his cities, and destroyed the inhabitants of them, and so acted more agreeably to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Judges 5 This chapter contains a song of praise on account of the victories obtained over Jabin, and his kingdom; after an exhortation to praise is given, and kings excited to attend to it, the majestic appearance of God at Seir, on Sinai, is observed, to raise in the mind a divine veneration of him, Judges 5:1; then the miserable...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam,.... Deborah is first mentioned, because she was, as Kimchi says, the root or foundation of the work, the chief person in it, both in the direction of the war, and in the composition of this song; and indeed, as Ben Gersom observes, she alone composed it, see Judges 5:7; and the verb is singular:...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This chapter contains the triumphal song which was composed and sung upon occasion of that glorious victory which Israel obtained over the forces of Jabin king of Canaan and the happy consequences of that victory. Probably it was usual then to publish poems upon such occasions, as now; but this only is preserved of all the poems of that age of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel,.... The injuries done to Israel by any of their enemies, and particularly what wrongs had been done them by Jabin, king of Canaan, for twenty years past; though some understand it of the vengeance God took on Israel for their sins; and though praise is not given directly for that, yet inasmuch as,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes,.... Not only the neighbouring ones, but all the kings and princes of the earth, far and near, then and in succeeding ages; Deborah desires and wishes that all potentates might hear of the wonderful works of God done for his people, that they might learn to know there is one that is higher than they, to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom,.... Here properly begins the song, what goes before being but a preface to it; and it begins with an apostrophe to the Lord, taking notice of some ancient appearances of God for his people, which were always matter of praise and thankfulness; and the rather are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The mountains melted from before the Lord,.... The inhabitants of them, through fear, the Lord going before Israel in a pillar of cloud and fire, and delivering mighty kings and their kingdoms into their hand: [even] that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel; or, "as that Sinai", the note of similitude being wanting; and the sense is, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,.... Of whom see Judges 3:31; who succeeded Ehud as a judge, but lived not long, and did not much; at least wrought not a perfect deliverance of the children of Israel; but during his time till now, quite through the twenty years of Jabin's oppression, things were as they are after described: in the days of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The inhabitants of the villages ceased,.... Not only did those Canaanitish robbers go upon the highway, and robbed all they met with, which made travelling difficult and dangerous; but entered into the villages and unwalled towns, and broke into houses and plundered them; so that the inhabitants of them were obliged to quit their dwellings, and go...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They chose new gods,.... That is, Israel, as most of the Jewish commentators interpret it; for the verb is singular, and Israel agrees well with it: 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
My heart is towards the governors of Israel,.... Most of the Jewish commentators interpret this of their wise men and Scribes, who were willing to teach the people the law and the commandments, even in times of trouble, and did not cease from doing it on that account, and therefore Deborah praises them for it; so the Targum; but Kimchi and Ben...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Speak, ye that ride on white asses,.... Though in some countries, as in ours, it is reckoned disgraceful to ride on asses; so Leo Africanus (b) makes mention of a preacher in Africa, who was called the ass rider; because he was continually, sitting on an ass; yet in Judea, where there were no horses, or very few, it was accounted honourable; so it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the place of drawing water,.... Meaning either the army of the Israelites, delivered from the archers of Sisera's host at the river Kishon; or such persons, as maidens and others, that went out of the cities to fountains and wells of water, to fetch water from thence for their necessities, but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song, c] Either perceiving some languor and remissness in her spirits, while she was delivering this song, and therefore arouses herself to attend to this service with more ardour and zeal or rather finding herself more impressed with a sense of the great and good things the Lord had done for Israel,...