King James Version
Judges 5
31 verses with commentary
The Song of Deborah
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomplish His purposes. This ill...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Then sang Deborah.**—She was a prophetess, I and the word for “prophet,” like the Latin *vates, *involved gifts which were closely allied to those of the poet.
**And Barak.**—Doubtless Deborah was the sole author of the song, as is implied by the singular verb (Judges 5:3); but no doubt Barak joined in antiphon when it was sung, just as Moses, at the head of the warriors, and Miriam, at the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Praise and glory ascribed to God.(1-5)
The distress and deliverance of Israel.(6-11)
Some commended, others censured.(12-23)
Sisera's mother disappointed.(24-31)
**Verses 1-5**
No time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his mercies; for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a full heart. By...
Read full commentary →Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accompli...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **For the avenging of Israel.**—The Hebrew word *peraoth *cannot have this meaning, though it is found in the Syriac and implied by the Chaldee. The word only occurs in Deuteronomy 32:42, and there, as here, implies the notion of *leading; *so that the LXX. are doubtless right in rendering it, “In the leading of the leaders of Israel.” God is praised because both *leaders *and people (Judges 5...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Praise and glory ascribed to God.(1-5)
The distress and deliverance of Israel.(6-11)
Some commended, others censured.(12-23)
Sisera's mother disappointed.(24-31)
**Verses 1-5**
No time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his mercies; for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a full heart. By...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfec...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Hear, O ye kings.**—There were no kings or princes in Israel, but the appeal is to the “kings of the earth,” as in Psalm 2:10; for which reason the LXX. render “princes” by *satraps. *The Chaldee refers it to the kings allied with Jabin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Praise and glory ascribed to God.(1-5)
The distress and deliverance of Israel.(6-11)
Some commended, others censured.(12-23)
Sisera's mother disappointed.(24-31)
**Verses 1-5**
No time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his mercies; for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a full heart. By...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, y...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir.**—See Psalm 68:7-9; Habakkuk 3:3-12. The majority of commentators, both ancient and modern, suppose that the reference is to the promulgation of the law on Sinai, as described in Exodus 19:16-18, Deuteronomy 33:3. But the mention of Seir and Edom seems to show that this is not the case, and, indeed, the imagery is different, and the context requires a mor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Praise and glory ascribed to God.(1-5)
The distress and deliverance of Israel.(6-11)
Some commended, others censured.(12-23)
Sisera's mother disappointed.(24-31)
**Verses 1-5**
No time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his mercies; for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a full heart. By...
Read full commentary →The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. melted: Heb. flowed
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Melted.**—Literally, *flowed away*—a powerful poetic image. (Comp. Isaiah 63:19; Isaiah 64:3; Psalm 97:5—“melted like wax.”)
**Even that Sinai.**—Rather, *even this Sinai, *as though Deborah actually saw the sacred mountain before her. The boldness of the expression leaves no difficulty in supposing the meaning to be that “even as Sinai was moved” (Psalm 68:8), so the mountains of Edom seeme...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Praise and glory ascribed to God.(1-5)
The distress and deliverance of Israel.(6-11)
Some commended, others censured.(12-23)
Sisera's mother disappointed.(24-31)
**Verses 1-5**
No time should be lost in returning thanks to the Lord for his mercies; for our praises are most acceptable, pleasant, and profitable, when they flow from a full heart. By...
Read full commentary →In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways . travellers: Heb. walkers of paths byways: Heb. crooked ways
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through thes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **In the days of Shamgar.**—In this and the two next verses is described the misery and dejection of Israel; and the names of Shamgar and Jael are mentioned to enhance the glory of Deborah, by showing that even the presence among the Israelites of two such heroic souls as Shamgar and Jael was unavailing to deliver them until Deborah arose. That Shamgar is thus (apparently) alluded to as a cont...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfec...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **The inhabitants of the villages ceased.**—The one Hebrew word for “the inhabitants of the villages” is *perâzôn. *The rendering of our version is supported by the Chaldee, and by the meaning of the analogous words in Deuteronomy 3:5.1Samuel 6:18, &c. But this cannot be the meaning in Judges 5:11; and it is far more probable that the LXX. (Cod. B) is right in rendering it “princes” (*dunatoi;...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human ins...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **They chose new gods.**—The Chaldee and the LXX. agree in this interpretation, which is strongly supported by Deuteronomy 32:16-17. The Syriac and Vulgate render it “God chose new things,” or “wars” (*nova bella elegit Dominus, *Vulg.); but this gives a poorer sense, and is open to the objection that *Jehovah, *not *Elohim, *is used throughout the rest of the song. It alludes to the idolatry ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **My heart is toward the governors of Israel.**—The fact that even in this extremity Israel had men (literally, *law-givers*) who were willing to brave any danger to rescue their people fills Deborah with gratitude to them and *to *God.
**Among the people.**—When the leaders moved, the people moved with them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. Speak: or, Meditate
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomplish His purp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Speak.**—Rather, *Think of it. *or, perhaps, “Meditate *the *song.” It is placed in the original in far more forcible position at the end of the verse.
**Ye that ride on white asses.**—That is, nobles and wealthy (Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14). The word can hardly mean “white,” because there are no such things as white asses. It means rather “bright-coloured” (Ezekiel 27:18), “glossy-skinned,”...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. righteous: Heb. righteousnesses
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water.**—This is usually explained to mean that in the time of oppression the shepherds and the women could not go to the wells to draw water without being disturbed by the enemy’s archers; and the construction in that case is changed in the middle of the verse, to remind them that they can now sing God’s praises by ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on...
Read full commentary →Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect huma...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Awake, awake, Deborah.**—The prophetess rouses herself in this verse—which forms an introduction to the second section of the song—to describe the loyalty of the tribes and the grandeur of the victory.
**Lead thy captivity captive.**—Lead in triumph thy long train of captives. For the expression, comp. Revelation 13:10.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these impe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Then he made him that remaineth have dominion.**—The translation, reading, and punctuation of this verse is uncertain. The MSS. of the LXX. vary, and the Vulgate merely gives a paraphrase. The Alexandrine MS. of the LXX. may be correct: “Then descended a remnant against the mighty.” Ewald renders it, “Then descended a remnant of the nobles of the people.” They were only “a remnant,” because...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. handle: Heb. draw with
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek.**—The LXX. and Vulgate render it, “Ephraim uprooted them in Amalek.” But the meaning seems to be, “Out of Ephraim (came down to the battle) those whose root is in Amalek,” or, “among the Amalekites.” Ephraim had firmly rooted himself (comp. Isaiah 27:6; Psalm 80:10) in the country which had been the stronghold of the Amalekites. (See J...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
**9-40. they gave ... these cities which are here mentioned by name--**It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehobo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. foot: Heb. his feet thoughts: Heb. impressions For: or, In
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **And the princes of Issachar.**—The ordinary reading of the Hebrew gives the meaning, “And *my *princes in Issachar (came down to battle) with Deborah.” If this be the right reading, Deborah calls them “my princes” with a touch of pride, and hence some have assumed that she belonged to the tribe of Issachar, not to that of Ephraim. But a very slight change gives the meaning of “the princes i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**41. All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs--**This may appear too great a proportion compared with those of the other tribes. But it must be borne in mind that the list given here contains the names of every Levitical city (see on 1Ch 6:39-66); whereas only those cities of the other tribes are mentioned which l...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. For: or, In
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works thro...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Sheepfolds.**—Literally, *hurdles *(*mishpethaim*)*, *the dual form being due to some method of their construction. Hence the Vulgate renders, *inter duos terminos.*
**The bleatings of the flocks.**—Rather, *the sounds of shepherds’ flutes *or *pastoral pipings *(“Shepherds delighting in syrinx-pipes,” Hom., *Il. xviii.* 525). There is a contrast between these peaceful flutings and the batt...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. shore: or, port breaches: or, creeks
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Gilead abode beyond Jordan.**—Gilead was the son of Machir, and grandson of Manasseh. The name is here probably meant to include Gad, as well as the half-tribe of Manasseh. The word “abode” means “stayed quietly” (Psalm 16:9), and is rendered *qniesce-bat *in the Vulgate.
**Why did Dan remain in ships?**—The sudden question is very picturesque. The other rendering, “Why did Dan fear the shi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:43-45. God Gave Them Rest.
**43-45. the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers--**This is a general winding up of the history from the thirteenth chapter, which narrates the occupation of the land by the Israelites. All the promises made, whether to the people or to Joshua (Jos 1:5), had been, or were in the course of being fulfilled; and the recorded ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. jeoparded: Heb. exposed to reproach
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instru...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Jeoparded their lives.**—Comp. Judges 9:7; Isaiah 53:12. The courage of Zebulon and Naphtali is contrasted with the empty debates of Reuben, the sloth of Gilead, the cowardly selfishness of Dan and Asher.
**In the high places of the field.**—That is, on Mount Tabor. The Hebrew word is *the Meroms; *hence the Vulgate has *in regione Merome. *(Comp. Joshua 11:5; Joshua 11:7.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:43-45. God Gave Them Rest.
**43-45. the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers--**This is a general winding up of the history from the thirteenth chapter, which narrates the occupation of the land by the Israelites. All the promises made, whether to the people or to Joshua (Jos 1:5), had been, or were in the course of being fulfilled; and the recorded ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfec...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **The kings.—**Comp. Joshua 11:1. Jabin did not stand alone.
**In Taanach.**—See Judges 1:27. The word means “sandy soil.”
**By the waters of Megiddo.**—The affluents of the Kishon, or the swollen waves of the river itself. There is a copious spring at *Lejjûn, *the ancient Megiddo, which in rainy seasons rapidly turns the plain into a morass (Thomson’s *Land and Book. *ch. 29).
**They took n...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 21:43-45. God Gave Them Rest.
**43-45. the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers--**This is a general winding up of the history from the thirteenth chapter, which narrates the occupation of the land by the Israelites. All the promises made, whether to the people or to Joshua (Jos 1:5), had been, or were in the course of being fulfilled; and the recorded ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. courses: Heb. paths
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomplish His purposes. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **They fought from heaven.—The “they” is impersonal**—the powers above. (Comp. Luke 12:20, Greek, and for the fact, Judges 4:22.)
**The stars in their courses.**—This is probably a general reference to the providential storms which had secured the victory to Israel. To understand the “stars” as meaning “angels” is a mistaken inference from Job 38:7. There is a striking parallel in Claudian’s ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect hum...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **The river of Kishon.**—Judges 4:7; Psalm 83:9. Either from this massacre, or that of the Baal priests of Elijah, the Kishon is now called the *Nahr Mukatta, *or “river of slaughter” (1Kings 18:40).
**That ancient river.**—The Vulgate renders this, “the torrent Kedumim,” and the LXX. (Cod. Vat.), “the river of the ancients” (comp. Deuteronomy 33:15). The Chaldee paraphrases it, “the torrent ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 22 Jos 22:1-9. Joshua Dismisses the Two Tribes and a Half, with a Blessing.
**1. Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh--**The general war of invasion being ended and the enemy being in so dispirited and isolated a condition that each tribe, by its own resources or with the aid of its neighboring tribe, was able to repress any renewed hostilitie...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones. pransings: or, tramplings, or, plungings
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to ac...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **By the means of the pransings.**—Rather, *the stampings. *In crossing the Kishon after moderate rains, I had an opportunity of observing by personal experience how easily a horse might be hopelessly disabled in the muddy morass formed by the river. The word is forcibly repeated by the figure known as *anadiplosis.*
**Their mighty ones.**—The great lords in their iron chariots, trying to goa...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Curse ye Meroz.**—The guilt of Meroz was worse than that of the tribes which held aloof, because, whatever may have been its exact site, it was evidently in the very heart of the country which had been thus inspired to strike a blow for freedom. Possibly it would have been in the power of the inhabitants at least to cut off the retreat of the enemy. We may conjecture, from the ban thus laid...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day--**for the space of seven years.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-23**
Deborah called on her own soul to be in earnest. He that will set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ, must himself burn with love. Praising God is a work we should awake to, and awake ourselves unto. She notices who fought against Israel, who fought for them, and who kept away. Who fought against them. They were obstinate enemies to God's people, therefore...
Read full commentary →Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instru...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Blessed above women.**—Jael would be regarded as a patriotic heroine, whose daring had secured to Israel the fruits of their victory. The morals of that early age were not sufficiently enlightened to understand that treachery and assassination are *never *justifiable, however good may be the end in view. But, as serious moralists, even in the nineteenth century, have held up to admiration t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-7. get you unto your tents--**that is, home; for their families had been left in fortified towns (Nu 32:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomplish His purp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Butter.**—Rather, *curdled milk.*
In a lordly dish.—Rather, *in a dish of the nobles: sephel, *a splendid bowl, reserved for great occasions. All this was done to lull his suspicions into a false security.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-7. get you unto your tents--**that is, home; for their families had been left in fortified towns (Nu 32:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. with: Heb. she hammered
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Nail. . . . workmen’s hammer.**—See on Judges 4:21.
**Smote.**—*Hammered.*
**Smote off his head.**—Rather, *shattered his head. *The Hebrew is onomatopoetic, i.e., the sound echoes the sense, recalling the smashing and crashing blows of the hammer. The repetition of these terrible alliterative verbs, “hammered,” “shattered,” “battered,” “transfixed,” the signs that the imagination of the pr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-7. get you unto your tents--**that is, home; for their families had been left in fortified towns (Nu 32:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. At: Heb. Between dead: Heb. destroyed
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **At her feet.**—Literally, *between her feet, *as though the dauntless woman had stridden over him as he lay in the dead sleep of weariness.
**He bowed.**—The word means that he suddenly curled up his knees in one contortion of agony.
**He fell.**—Rolling, perhaps, off the divan on which he was resting.
**He lay down.**—Motionless in death, after that one convulsive movement.
**Dead.**—Rathe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4-7. get you unto your tents--**that is, home; for their families had been left in fortified towns (Nu 32:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **The mother of Sisera.**—With a bold poetic impetuosity the scene is changed, and the prophetess, with a few broad touches, sets before us the last scene of the strange eventful history. The mother of Sisera and her attendant princesses had looked for the triumph and return of the host as confidently as the ladies of Spain expected the return of the Armada, or as the ladies of Aberdeen sat, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches--**in cattle, clothes, and precious metals.
**divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren--**(See on Nu 31:25-39).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, answer: Heb. her words
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God works through these imperfect human instruments to accomplish His purposes. This illu...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Her wise ladies.**—Literally, *the wise of her princesses. *There is unconcealed scorn in this, showing that the wisest were most utterly mistaken. Their “wisdom” is the seductive flattery of delusive hopes.
**Answered her.**—The verb is in the singular, implying that one spoke after another. The Vulgate renders it. “One of his wives, wiser than the rest, answered.”
**Yea, she returned answ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? every: Heb. the head of a man
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowermen...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey?**—Literally, *Are they not finding? are they not dividing the spoil? Is not the wealth of their booty the cause of their delay? *(Comp. Exodus 15:9 : “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil.”)
**To every man.**—Literally, as in the margin, *to the head of a man. *(Comp. Exodus 16:16; Numbers 1:2; 1Chronicle...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 22:10. They Build the Altar of Testimony on Their Journey.
**10. when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben ... built there an altar by Jordan--**This altar was probably an immense pile of stones and earth. The generality of our translators supposes that it was reared on the banks of the Jordan, within the limits of Canaan proper. But a l...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.</strong><br><br>This passage relates to the Song of Deborah celebrating divine victory, demonstrating God's sovereign choice and empowerment of deliverers. The judges themselves display varying degrees of faith and character flaws, yet God w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord.**—The abrupt burst in which the song rushes, as it were, to its conclusion, is very grand. The total frustration of the hopes of the princesses is all the more forcibly implied by the scorn with which it is left unexpressed. The one word “so” sums up the story in all its striking phases; and this passionate exclamation accounts, in part, for the inte...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jos 22:11-29. Contention Thereupon.
**11-29. and the children of Israel heard say--**Fame speedily spread intelligence of what the trans-jordanic tribes had done. The act being suspected of some idolatrous design, the tribes rose in a mass, and repairing to the tabernacle at Shiloh, resolved to declare war against the two tribes and a half as apostates from God. On calmer and more mature consider...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 24-31**
Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes v...
Read full commentary →