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Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 4:1-24

Deliverance under Deborah (4:1-5:31)Hazor, chief city of the north, had been conquered and burnt by Joshua (Joshua 11:10-13). However, not all the people had been destroyed. Having rebuilt Hazor, they now took revenge on the northern tribes, especially Zebulun and Naphtali, and ruled them cruelly for twenty years (4:1-3). (To understand fully how God saved Israel at this time, we must read the historical outline in Chapter 4 together with the song of victory in Chapter 5.)Israel’s deliverer on... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 4:10

Judges 4:10. At his feet— Deborah and Barak first went to Kedesh to levy the necessary forces, Judges 4:9.; which collected, they set forward for mount Tabor, Judges 4:6. Barak having the men at his feet; i.e. following him as their general. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Judges 4:9

9. the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman—This was a prediction which Barak could not understand at the time; but the strain of it conveyed a rebuke of his unmanly fears. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 4:4-11

Deborah was one of three prophetesses identified as such in the Old Testament (Judges 4:4), along with Miriam (Exodus 15:20) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14). Anna (Luke 2:36) and Philip’s four daughters (Acts 21:8-9) were also prophetesses. Deborah was also one of the judges (Judges 4:4). Another translation of "wife of Lappidoth" is "woman of torches." This may be the meaning since she motivated Barak and demonstrated conquering power, which torches symbolize (cf. Judges 5:7; Isaiah 62:1; Daniel... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 4:1-24

Deborah and BarakThis deliverance is described a second time in the early poem in Judges 5 (see on Judges 5:1). No other narrative describes more clearly the religious gathering of the clans, and the prowess of the hardy mountaineers when united. The plain of Esdraelon (see Intro. § 5) is one of the famous battle-fields of history. It drives like a wedge from the coast within 10m. of the Jordan; but it is dominated by hills on all sides, and is almost closed by them at its western end. In... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 4:9

(9) I will surely go with thee.—Literally-Going, I will go.Shall not be for thine honour.—Literally, thy pre-eminence (LXX. “proterçma”; Luther, “der Preis “) shall not be on the path which thou enterest.Of a woman.—To enter into the force of this we must remember the humble and almost down-trodden position of women in the East, so that it could hardly fail to be a humiliation to a great warrior to be told that the chief glory would fall to a woman. He may have supposed that the woman was... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 4:10

(10) Called.—The word used is the technical word for summoning an army (2 Samuel 20:4-5). Naturally Zebulun and Naphtali would be more difficult to arouse than the central tribes, because, though they felt the oppression most, they would have to bear the brunt of the vengeance in case of defeat. Ephraim and Benjamin (Judges 5:14), being more strong and secure, could raise their contingents without the personal help of Deborah, especially if that view of the chronology be admissible which avoids... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 4:1-24

Judges 4:5 Where ambition hath possessed itself thoroughly of the soul, it turns the heart into steel, and makes it uncapable of a conscience. All sins will easily down with the man that is resolved to rise. Bishop Hall. Reference. IX. 8-15. A. Raleigh, From Dawn to the Perfect Day, p. 132. read more

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