Judges 5:18

_ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI WERE A PEOPLE THAT JEOPARDED THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH IN THE HIGH PLACES OF THE_ _ FIELD._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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...

Verse Judges 5:18. _ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI - JEOPARDED THEIR LIVES_] The original is very emphatic, חרף נפשו למות _chereph naphsho lamuth,_ _they desolated their lives to death _- they were determined to conquer or die, and therefore plunged into the thickest of the battle. The word _jeoparded_ is a silly French term, and comes from the exclamation of a disappointed _gamester: Jeu perdu! The game is_ _lost_; or _J'ai perdue! I have lost_....

In contrast with the selfishness of the tribes just named, Deborah reverts with enthusiasm to the heroic prowess of Zebulun and Naphtali....

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

ZEBULUN AND NAPHTALI WERE A PEOPLE,.... These two tribes were chiefly concerned in this war; out of them were the 10,000 men that followed Barak, who willingly offered themselves, and were the most active and vigorous: [THAT] JEOPARDED THEMSELVES UNTO THE DEATH; exposed them to the utmost danger, fearless of death itself: or reproached k their lives; were careless of them, valued them not; they were not dear to them, but were ready to part with them freely, in the cause of liberty in which they were engaged: IN THE HIGH PLACES OF THE FIELD; on the top of Mount Tabor, where they were mustered, and from whence they beheld the vast host of Sisera surrounding them; and yet, with an undaunted bravery and courage, descended the hill to fight with them. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "in the country of Merome"; in the plains and fields of it, near which were the waters of Merom, where Joshu...

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

LIVES. souls. Hebrew. _nephesh._ See App-18....

In contrast to the lethargy of the tribes on the E. and N. was the heroic valour of Zebulun and Naphtali. _the high places of the field_ is hardly applicable to the field of battle, which was a plain; perhaps the general meaning is, the two tribes came fearlessly down from their mountain homes prepared to sacrifice all for the cause. See further on Judges 4:6....