Judges 5:9

_MY HEART IS TOWARD THE GOVERNORS OF ISRAEL, THAT OFFERED THEMSELVES WILLINGLY AMONG THE PEOPLE. BLESS YE THE LORD._ My heart is toward the governors of Israel. In this verse gratitude is expressed to the respective leaders of the tribes, who with so much alacrity took part in the contest; but above all, to God, who inspired the patriotic disposition, as well as the strength to fight....

MY HEART ... - In this deplorable weakness of Israel how noble was the conduct of the governors who volunteered to lead the people against their oppressors. Deborah’s heart was filled with admiration as she thought of their patriotic devotion, and broke out into thanksgiving to Yahweh....

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

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 Melech understand by them the great men of the nation, their nobles and rulers, who enacted good laws and statutes; or at least took care to see that the good laws they had were put in execution; and these had a share in the affections and good wishes of Deborah, and that chiefly for the following reason: THAT OFFERED THEMSELVES WILLINGLY AMONG THE PEOPLE; to go along with them, and march at the head of them, to fight Sisera and his army; thereby setting a good example, and animating the people to battle, and inspiring them with courage and intrep...

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

JUDGES 5. THE SONG OF DELIVERANCE. The Song of Deborah so called because of the words I, Deborah, arose (Judges 5:7) is a splendid battle-ode, evidently contemporaneous with the events which it celebrates. It breathes the patriotic fervour and religious enthusiasm which inspired the loftiest minds in Israel, and proves that a great faith was already working wonders in the tribes which till lately had been desert nomads. It is a work of genius, and therefore a work of that highest art which is not studied and artificial, but spontaneous and inevitable (Moore, 135). R. H. Hutton calls it the greatest war-song of any age or nation. Unfortunately the text has suffered a good deal, and in some passages we can do no more than guess the sense. Judges 5:1 f. Yahweh is praised for two reasons: because the leaders of

IS TOWARD. Supply "saith to", instead of "is". The next clause gives the words spoken....

_governors_ Apparently the same word as in Judges 5:14, though the form is slightly different, lit. _lawgivers_, Isaiah 10:1; but in a primitive community the lawgivers would be the military leaders (Judges 5:14), hence tr. _commanders_, cf. Deuteronomy 33:21; Isaiah 33:22; Vulgate principes. _That offered themselves willingly_ See on Judges 5:2. The verse seems to repeat the thought of...

_The Song of Deborah and Barak Judges 5:1-31_ Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2 Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. 4 Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5 The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel,

DEBORAH'S TRIUMPH SONG This song celebrates the victory of Judges 4 but from the point of view, not of a later annalist, but of a contemporary poet—very possibly (though see Judges 5:12) the prophetess herself. The lyric outburst is one of the finest in any language; its style (though many of the words are now very obscure) is typical of the best Hebrew poetry. Its independence of Judges 4 may be inferred from the variations it exhibits. Sisera is represented as king: the majority of the tribes, not Zebulun and Naphtali only, are summoned: and the manner of Sisera's death is different. It says much for the fidelity of the compiler that he did not attempt to 'edit' these apparent discrepancies. 1-5. Introductory....