Judges 5:23

_CURSE YE MEROZ, SAID THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, CURSE YE BITTERLY THE INHABITANTS THEREOF; BECAUSE THEY CAME NOT TO THE HELP OF THE LORD, TO THE HELP OF THE LORD AGAINST THE MIGHTY._ Curse ye Meroz - a village on the confines of Issachar and Naphtali, which lay in the course of the fugitives; but the inhabitants declined to aid in their destruction. The ground of this anathema was, that the whole body of Israelites, holding the tenure of their lands on condition of military service, were bound when called upon to appear on the field as the national militia in defense or furtherance of the public interests....

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 5:23. _CURSE YE MEROZ_] Where Meroz was is not known; some suppose it was the same as _Merom_, nigh to _Dotham_. The _Syriac_ and _Arabic_ have _Merod_; but where this was is equally uncertain. It was certainly some city or district, the inhabitants of which would not assist in this war. _CURSE YE BITTERLY_] ארו ארור _oru aror, curse with cursing _- use the most awful execrations. _SAID THE ANGEL OF THE LORD_] That is, Barak, who was Jehovah's _angel_ or _messenger_ in this war; the person _sent_ by God to deliver his people. _TO THE HELP OF THE LORD_] That is, to the help of the _people_ of the Lord. _AGAINST THE MIGHTY._] בגבורים _baggibborim_, "with the heroes;" that is, Barak and his men, together with Ze

The inhabitants of Meroz (a village 12 miles from Samaria) hung back, and gave no help in the day of battle, although it was Yahweh who called them. Hence, the curse pronounced by the Angel of the Lord....

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

CURSE YE MEROZ, SAID THE ANGEL OF THE LORD,.... Not Barak, as the Targum and Jarchi, but Deborah herself said this under a spirit of prophecy, not from her own spirit in a revengeful way, but from the Spirit of God; or this was suggested to her by an angel, not a created, but the uncreated one, the Angel of the covenant, by whom she was inspired, and an impulse made by him on her to denounce a curse on Meroz; which some say was a star, Sisera's star; others the name of a mighty man p, so Jarchi; but rather it is some name of a city or place near where the battle was fought, so Kimchi, Ben Gersom, and Ben Melech: some take Meroz to be the same with Merom, at the waters of which Joshua fought with Jabin, Joshua 11:5 and supposed to be the same with the waters of Megiddo, and the river Kishon, where this battle was fought; and Jerom q, under the word Merom, observes, that there was in his t...

ANGEL (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

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

_Curse ye Meroz_ Probably this village lay on the route of Sisera's flight, and the inhabitants, though they were Israelites, made no effort to help their kinsmen in following up the victory. Similarly Succoth and Penuel refused to give Gideon assistance, Judges 8:5-9. The situation of Meroz is unknown. _the angel of the Lord_ Perhaps Jehovah Himself in manifestation; see on Judges 2:1. But it is conceivable that _the angel_is a later insertion designed to soften the direct intervention of Jehovah at this point. _against the mighty_ or _among the mighty_(marg.), or, with a slight change, _as heroes_, cf. Judges 5:13 _n._...

CURSE YE MEROZ, SAID THE ANGEL OF THE LORD— It is plain from the corresponding clause, that Meroz was a city, the _inhabitants whereof_ refused to assist in this war, and therefore are thus solemnly devoted by the angel of the Lord. See Joshua 5:14. _Against the mighty,_ at the close of this verse, is rendered by Houbigant, _with the mighty;_ with those warriors of the Lord, who freely offered themselves in this enterprise. From this curse the prophetess passes, by a beautiful transition, to the blessing of Jael, whose exploit is recorded in the foregoing chapter. The passage is so truly elegant and poetical, that our translators have insensibly fallen into two fine heroic lines in the 25th verse: He asked water, and she gave him milk; She brought forth butter in a lordly dish. The word translated _dish_ would be more properly rendered _bowl_ (see ch....