Judges 5:16

_WHY ABODEST THOU AMONG THE SHEEPFOLDS, TO HEAR THE BLEATINGS OF THE FLOCKS? FOR THE DIVISIONS OF REUBEN THERE WERE GREAT SEARCHINGS OF HEART._ Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds? х_ HAMISHPªTAYIM_ (H4942), folds, enclosures for sheep, open above, often made of hurdles, in which, during the summer months, the flocks are kept by night (cf. Genesis 49:4).] The Hebrews seem to have used the dual form on account of folds of this kind being divided into two parts for the accommodation of different kinds of flocks (Gesenius). The statement is reiterated as it were with an ill-suppressed sneer of scorn and pity, that upon the banks of their mountain streams the members of the tribe of Reuben cherished strong aspirations for liberty, and formed high resolves to hasten to the aid of their oppressed brethren. But with a characteristi

12-23 Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore the more dangerous. Who fought for them. The several tribes that helped are here spoken of with honour; for though God is above all to be glorified, those who are employed must have their due praise, to encourage others. But the whole creation is at war with those to whom God is an enemy. The river of Kishon fought against their enemies. At most times it was shallow, yet now, probably by the great rain that fell, it was so swelled, and the stream so deep and strong, that those who attempted to pass, were dro...

GREAT SEARCHINGS - (thoughts, Judges 5:15) of heart Deborah means to say that at first the Reubenites made magnanimous resolutions to help their brethren against Jabin. But they stayed at home, and let the opportunity slip....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 5:1 THEN SANG DEBORAH, etc. The ode which follows was doubtless the composition of Deborah the prophetess, and was sung by her (as the gender of the Hebrew verb indicates), assisted by Barak, who perhaps sang the antistrophe (cf. Exodus 15:1, Exodus 15:21). It is a song of wonderful beauty and lyric power, somewhat difficult, as all Hebrew poetry is. JUDGES 5:2 Her first feeling was one of patriotic joy that her countrymen had been roused to the venture of war, and of gratitude to God that it was so. "For the bold leading of the leaders of Israel, for the

WHY ABODEST THOU AMONG THE SHEEPFOLDS, TO HEAR THE BLEATINGS OF THE FLOCKS?.... This tribe abounded with flocks and herds, and therefore chose the country on the other side Jordan, as suitable for them; and now, at this critical juncture, they judged it wisest, and their best policy, to abide by them, and the care of them; lest by intermeddling, should Jabin prevail, he might be provoked to fall upon them, and take them from them; wherefore the bleatings of their flocks, and the whistlings of the shepherds that kept them, sounded louder in their ears, and more engrossed their attention, than the groans and cries of Israel under oppression; or than the soundings of the trumpet, the alarm of war, or the loud calls of Deborah and Barak; being under the influence of a carnal worldly spirit, and wanting affection and sympathy towards their brethren, about which Deborah here expostulates with...

CHAPTER 5 The Song of Deborah and Barak _ 1. The praise of Jehovah (Judges 5:1)_ 2. The condition of the people and their deliverance (Judges 5:6) 3. The celebration of the victory and the victors (Judges 5:12) 4. The fate of the enemy (Judges 5:23) This is one of the prophetic songs of the Bible. It is full of the fire of passion and enthusiasm, reflecting the character of the woman through whom the deliverance had been wrought. It has been classed with the barbaric outbursts of the battle-hymns and odes of triumph of heathen nations, likened to some wild chant of a victor, whose blood-thirst has been que

GLORY AND SHAME. Deborah and Barak are apostrophised. She is called to awake and utter a battle-song, such as will arouse a slumbering people like the sound of a trumpet; a _Men of Harlech_ or a _Marseillaise_, that summons heroes to victory or death; not a song _after_ battle, like the pæ an we are interpreting. Judges 5:13. Read, Then came down Israel like noble ones, the people of Yahweh came down for Him like heroes. Judges 5:14. The response to the martial call is varied. Some of the tribes, leaping to arms, achieve deathless honour; others, lagging at home, are covered with eternal shame and contempt. Phrase after phrase seizes the reader's memory. How striking is the contrast between shirkers and heroes Reuben sitting among the sheep-folds, listening to the calling

WHY... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._...

_among the sheepfolds_ Genesis 49:14, cf. Psalms 68:13; the meaning is uncertain; it ought to be -fire-places" or -ash-heaps," according to the etymology of the Hebr. word. _the pipings for the flocks_ The root is used of _whistling, hissing_, in order to call together, Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 7:18; Zechariah 10:8; cf. _pastoria sibila_of Ovid, _Met_. xiii. 785 (Moore); it does not mean -to play on the flute." The last line of this verse is incorrectly repeated from...

AND THE PRINCES OF ISSACHAR— Mr. Green, transposing the concluding word of the last verse_, seper,_ to the beginning of this, reads, _The princes of Issachar were numbered with Deborah and Barak, when Barak was sent on foot into the valley._ See ch. Judges 4:10. After having commended those who gloriously engaged in this war, Deborah proceeds to express her disapprobation of those who withheld themselves from it. She in a beautiful manner apostrophises the Reubenites, (Judges 5:16.) whose unhappy _divisions_ prevented them from joining with their brethren in the common cause, and, as she finely repeats, occasioned _great searchings of heart. Gilead, i.e._ the _Gadites,_ Joshua 5:17 abode inactive beyond Jordan