Juízes 5

Juízes 5

Clarke - “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.” Davis - Times were so bad folks couldn’t even travel safely—they had to take the back roads because thieves and thugs freeloaded on the main highways. Israel was totally defenseless, having neither warriors (v. 7a) nor weapons (v. 8b; cf. the later situation under the Philistines in 1 Sam. 13:5–7, 19–22). Sometimes it is only when God’s people see how hopeless they are (the picture of vv. 6–8) that they can appreciate how mighty Yahweh is (the picture of vv. 4–5). Desperate people (vv. 6–8) and sufficient God (vv. 4–5) are placed side by side that the former might rest in the latter. (Judges: Such a Great Salvation) And travelers went by roundabout ways: Literally this means crooked paths, off the road bypaths which were not frequented by the Canaanites. This was Israel's fearful state before God's victory over King Jabin. They refused Yahweh as their kind King so He gave them an evil king! THOUGHT- A decline in the social and moral life of a nation is the inevitable consequence of a nation’s spiritual decline. O, that the Spirit would graciously give believers in post-Christian America open ears to hear and broken hearts to be revived so that righteousness might reign and our nation be exalted once again for the glory of the LORD. Proverbs 14:34 makes it clear that "Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people. " Judges 5:7 "The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel. English of the Septuagint (LXX): The mighty men in Israel failed (ceased), they failed (ceased) until Deborah arose, until she arose a mother in Israel. ASV The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. Berkley The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. ESV The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. KJV The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. NIV Village life [Or Warriors] in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. peasantry - Esther 9:19 a mother - Jdg 4:4, 5, 6; 2Sa 20:19; Is 49:23; Ro 16:13 NORMAL LIFE WAS NOT POSSIBLE The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel - Remember that the prevailing conditions in Jdg 5:6-6 lasted for 20 years! Even the Great Depression in America only lasted 10 years (1929-1939)! And think how horrible the conditions were in America during that time! That gives us some sense of how bad it was for the average Israelite for 20 years! Peasantry (parazon [only in Jdg 5:7,11] from perazah = an open region) is a difficult Hebrew word to translate. Some Hebrew lexicons render perazon warriors or as people dwelling in unwalled villages. In this context parazon may in fact be "warriors" especially in view of the fact that one variant of the Lxx translates it with dunatos which describes one who possesses power. The alternative translation as in NAS is that village life in open villages ceased and the peasants fled to walled cities, which would fit the context (Jdg 5:6) but would be less consistent with the way the Septuagint (LXX) has translated the verse. KJV Bible Commentary (see online) - The phrase, the inhabitants of the villages (KJV), has been variously translated as “peasantry” (NASB), “village life” (NIV), and “champions” (NEB). The latter is to be preferred, for it makes the context more clear: “Champions there were none, none left in Israel, until I Deborah arose.” Until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel - Until is a time phrase indicating that prior to Deborah the situation was dire. Until usually implies a situation will come to an end or a change of circumstances as in the case of Deborah arising as judge. Note the repetition for emphasis (and is not a prideful statement) - I, Deborah, arose, until I arose. The repeated pronoun "I" supports Deborah as the writer of this song. Judges 5:8 "New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel. new gods - Jdg 2:12,17; Deut 32:16-17 Related Passages: Judges 2:12-13+ and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. Comment: Recall that Baal and Ashtaroth were the principal god and goddess, respectively, of the Canaanite nations. Baal was associated with the sun and storms, Ashtaroth with sex and fertility. The worship of both "gods" was grossly licentious and cruel and included animal sacrifices, male and female prostitution, and sometimes human sacrifices, things that should never have been referred to as worship! Judges 2:17+ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do as their fathers. Judges 10:14 “Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” Deuteronomy 32:16-17+ “They made Him jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. THE CAUSE OF ISRAEL'S OPPRESSION - IDOLATRY New "gods" were chosen; Then war was in the gates - Israel turned to idolatry, a refrain that echoes again and again in Judges. Chosen in the Lxx is active voice indicating this was a volitional choice, a choice of their will, a choice between God and "no gods!" Note the time sensitive word "then" which marks progress, in this case almost describing the result of idolatry. The gates refers presumably to the fortified gates of the the walled cities. So here Deborah says, not only were the roads deserted but the Canaanites even came up to accost the walled cities (or into them)! Israel did not want God, so He gave them war. GWN renders it "war broke out inside the city gates." THOUGHT- This principle is timeless. If you would rather choose your idols (and their accompanying "pet sins") over the holy God, God will let you have what you desire, but He won't let you choose the consequences. He will choose the consequences and you will have "war" in your heart and mind and soul and spirit! Do not be deceived (read Gal 6:7-8+). TECHNICAL NOTE - This is not an easy, straightforward passage. Wycliffe Bible Commentary says "These words have puzzled Biblical scholars. Their most obvious meaning is that Israel, devoid of help from God, turned to idolatry. Some commentators make God the subject, reading, God (ʾĔlōhîm) chose something new (so the Peshitta and the Vulgate). Others translate ʾĔlōhîm as judges, although such a usage is foreign to the Book of Judges. It seems best to render the words as in the av, seeing in them a description of the apostasy of the people of Israel and their desperate attempt to gain help from idols." The NET translation has "God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel." The NET NOTE says "The Hebrew text reads literally, "He chose God/gods new." Some take "Israel" as the subject of the verb, "gods" as object, and "new" as an adjective modifying "gods." This yields the translation, "(Israel) chose new gods." In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present NET translation takes "God" as subject of the verb and "new" as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1–5, 239–40." Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel - Israel was unarmed. The children of Israel had no physical weapons because they had lost the spiritual war by compromise and following after other gods. The moral erosion that followed could not be combatted because no strength--spiritual or physical--was available. Given no arms this makes it all the more dramatic that they willingly volunteered themselves for such a dangerous mission. THOUGHT - There is a lesson that repeats itself over and over in Judges and that is that we cannot fight the external enemies if we have failed to conquer the internal enemies. Life Application Notes - Without God at the center of their national life, pressure from the outside soon became greater than power from within, and they were an easy prey for their enemies. If you are letting a desire for recognition, craving for power, or love of money rule your life, you may find yourself besieged by enemies—stress, anxiety, illness, fatigue. Keep God at the center of your life, and you will have the power you need to fight these destroyers. (Borrow for 1 hour - Life application study Bible) Guzik sees an interesting application of no weapons - By spiritual analogy, we can say that Satan doesn’t only want to oppress the Christian; he also wants to disarm the believer. He wants the believer to lay down the full armor of God that belongs to you in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:12-18+). (Judges 5 Commentary) Judges 5:9 "My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the LORD! Amplified: My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord! ASV: My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah. ESV: My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord. NJB: My heart is with the leaders of Israel, with the people who came forward with a will! Bless Yahweh! DEBORAH'S GRATITUDE TO WARRIORS AND GOD My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the LORD! This describes the glorious transformation that took place when Deborah arose. Notice also it begins and ends with praise to the LORD. So even these desperate times are bookended with praise to God. Deborah was clearly a God centered, Spirit empowered prophetess! THOUGHT - How do you respond when you are experiencing dire straits? Do you moan and groan, complain and character "assassinate" (God's faithfulness, etc)? Or do you Praise Yahweh in the storm? (Play great song - I Will Praise You in the Storm - don't just sing it! Believe it! Live it!) Do you give thanks for all things, remembering that this God's (commanded) will for believers (1Th 5:18+)? When circumstances are dire, we need to take our eyes off of our circumstances and fix them on the God of the circumstances. We can do this when we lay aside self-reliance and rely on the Holy Spirit to enable this supernatural response.