Judges 4:5 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 4:4-9

The year of the redeemed at length came, when Israel was to be delivered out of the hands of Jabin, and restored again to their liberty, which we may suppose the northern tribes, that lay nearest to the oppressors and felt most the effects of his fury, did in a particular manner cry to God for. For the oppression of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will God arise. Now here we have, I. The preparation of the people for their deliverance, by the prophetic conduct and government of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 4:5

And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah ,.... Her dwelling house was under a palm tree, or rather she sat under one, in the open air, when the people came to her with their cases, and it was called from hence after her name; though some, as Abarbinel observes, think it was so called, because Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, was buried here, and which was near Bethel, one of the places next mentioned, see Genesis 35:8 , between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim ; which places were in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 4:5

The palm tree of Deborah - It is common for the Hindoos to plant trees in the names of themselves and their friends; and some religious mendicants live for a considerable time under trees. - Ward. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 4:5

She dwelt - Rather, “she sat,” namely, to judge the people Judges 4:10, but not in the usual place, “the gate” Ruth 4:1-2; Proverbs 22:22. It suited her character, and the wild unsafe times better, that she should sit under a palm-tree in the secure heights of Mount Ephraim, between Ramah and Bethel (Judges 20:33 note). This verse shows that the Judges exercised the civil as well as military functions of rulers 1 Samuel 7:15-17. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 4:5

Judges 4:5. And she dwelt Or, as the Septuagint and Vulgate understand it, she sat: she had her judgment-seat in the open air, under the shadow of that tree, which was an emblem of the justice she administered there: thriving and growing against opposition, as the palm-tree does under pressures. Came to her To have their suits and causes determined by her sentence. read more

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

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 4:5

dwelt = sat [as judge]: near where her namesake, Rebekah's nurse, died. Genesis 35:8 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 4:4-5

Judges 4:4-5. Deborah, a prophetess, &c.— Like Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, Deborah was enriched with the gifts of heaven, necessary to instruct, to direct, and to govern: besides which, God excited her by the Holy Spirit to declare his will to the people, as appears by the following part of this history. Her name signifies a Bee, which has been given by other nations to illustrious women; as among the Greeks, the nymph said to be the nurse of Jove, is called Melissa, and the wife... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Judges 4:5

5. she dwelt under the palm tree—or, collectively, "palm-grove." It is common still in the East to administer justice in the open air, or under the canopy of an umbrageous tree. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 4:1-24

1. The victory over Jabin and Sisera ch. 4 read more