Judges 5:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 5:1-5

The former chapter let us know what great things God had done for Israel; in this we have the thankful returns they made to God, that all ages of the church might learn that work of heaven to praise God. I. God is praised by a song, which is, 1. A very natural expression of rejoicing. Isa. any merry? Let him sing; and holy joy is the very soul and root of praise and thanksgiving. God is pleased to reckon himself glorified by our joy in him, and in his wondrous works. His servants? joy is his... read more

John Gill

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

Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom ,.... Here properly begins the song, what goes before being but a preface to it; and it begins with an apostrophe to the Lord, taking notice of some ancient appearances of God for his people, which were always matter of praise and thankfulness; and the rather are they taken notice of here, because of some likeness between them and what God had now wrought; and this passage refers either to the giving of the... read more

Adam Clarke

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

When thou wentest out of Seir - Here is an allusion to the giving of the law, and the manifestation of God's power and glory at that time; and as this was the most signal display of his majesty and mercy in behalf of their forefathers, Deborah very properly begins her song with a commemoration of this transaction. read more

Albert Barnes

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

Compare Psalms 68:7-9, and Habakkuk 3:3-16. The three passages relate to the same events, and mutually explain each other. The subject of them is the triumphant march of Israel, with the Lord at their head, to take possession of Canaan, and the overthrow of Sihon, Og, and the Midianites. This march commenced from Kadesh, in the immediate neighborhood of Self, and the victories which followed were an exact parallel to the victory of Deborah and Barak, accompanied as it had been with the storm... read more

Joseph Benson

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

Judges 5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir Thus the prophetess, by a sudden apostrophe, addresses him, not as their present deliverer, but as the God who had formerly exerted his miraculous power to bring them into the promised land; leaving her hearers to recollect, that it was the same power which had now subdued the Canaanites, that at first expelled them; the same power which had now restored to the Israelites the free enjoyment of their country, that at first put them in... 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

E.W. Bullinger

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

when. Compare Exodus 19:18 . dropped = dripped. read more

Thomas Coke

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

Judges 5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir— The argument of this ode is, the delivery of the people of Israel, by the assistance of God, from bondage; which the sacred writer briefly proposing at the beginning, and having summoned the kings and princes of the neighbouring nations to take note of so great an event, she enters upon the praises of God, not from the recent benefit, but from the miracles performed of old, at their departure out of Egypt. O JEHOVAH! when thou wentest out of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

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

4, 5. Allusion is here made, in general terms, to God's interposition on behalf of His people. Seir . . . the field of Edom—represent the mountain range and plain extending along the south from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf. thou wentest out—indicates the storm to have proceeded from the south or southeast. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 5:1-31

2. Deborah’s song of victory ch. 5One writer called this song "the finest masterpiece of Hebrew poetry" that "deserves a place among the best songs of victory ever written." [Note: Robert H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 326.] It is the equivalent of a victory celebration when the troops come home (cf. Exodus 15; Psalms 68)."Observe that each of the three major sections centers around a basic contrast: in Judges 5:2-11 c, the explosive God and humiliated people; in Judges 5:11... read more

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