Judges 5:6-7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 5:6-11

Here, I. Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that the greatness of their trouble might make their salvation appear the more illustrious and the more gracious (Jdg. 5:6): From the days of Shamgar, who did some thing towards the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, to the days of Jael, the present day, in which Jael has so signalized herself, the country has been in a manner desolate. 1. No trade. For want of soldiers to protect men of business in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 5:6

In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath ,.... Of whom see Judges 3:31 ; who succeeded Ehud as a judge, but lived not long, and did not much; at least wrought not a perfect deliverance of the children of Israel; but during his time till now, quite through the twenty years of Jabin's oppression, things were as they are after described: in the days of Jael ; the wife of Heber the Kenite, spoken of in the preceding chapter, Judges 4:17 , who appears to be a woman of masculine spirit,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 5:7

The inhabitants of the villages ceased ,.... Not only did those Canaanitish robbers go upon the highway, and robbed all they met with, which made travelling difficult and dangerous; but entered into the villages and unwalled towns, and broke into houses and plundered them; so that the inhabitants of them were obliged to quit their dwellings, and go into the fortified cities for security; by which means the villages were left empty, and in time fell to ruin, and ceased: they ceased in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 5:6

The highways were unoccupied - The land was full of anarchy and confusion, being everywhere infested with banditti. No public road was safe; and in going from place to place, the people were obliged to use unfrequented paths. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 5:7

The villages ceased - The people were obliged to live together in fortified places; or in great numbers, to protect each other against the incursions of bands of spoilers. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 5:6

Words dcscriptive of a state of weakness and fear, so that Israel could not frequent the highways. It is a graphic description of a country occupied by an enemy. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 5:7

Render the word “villages” (here and in Judges 5:11) judgment, rule, or judges, rulers. The sense is “The princes (or magistrates) ceased in Israel,” i. e. there was no one to do justice in the gate, or defend men from their oppressors. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 5:6

Judges 5:6 . In the days of Shamgar, &c. In this and the two following verses Deborah, to give the Israelites a just sense of their deliverance, and excite them to greater thankfulness, represents the miseries to which the Canaanites had reduced them by twenty years’ oppression; their public roads or high-ways were deserted for fear of robbers or violence; their villages depopulated; their cities blocked up, and their country overrun with the enemy’s soldiers; while themselves were... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 5:7

Judges 5:7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased The people forsook all their unfortified towns, not being able to protect them from military insolence. A mother That is, to be to them as a mother, to instruct, and rule, and protect them, which duties a mother owes to her children. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 5:1-31

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

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