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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 2:14-23
EXPOSITION 2:14, 2:15 The anger of the Lord, etc. These verses contain an awful view of the wrath of God excited by wilful sin, and are a practical illustration of Exodus 20:5 : "I am a jealous God." Compare Psalms 79:5…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 3:1-6
EXPOSITION 3:1 Now these are the nations, etc. We are now told in detail what was stated in general in 2:22, 2:23, after the common method of Hebrew narrative. To prove Israel. This word to prove is used here in a somew…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 3:7-11
EXPOSITION This section introduces us into the actual narrative of the Book of Judges, the prefatory matter being now concluded. The whole book proceeds on the same model as this section does. The apostasy of Israel; th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 3:13-31
EXPOSITION 3:13 The children of Ammon. The technical name of the Ammonite people (see Genesis 19:38; Deuteronomy 2:19, Deuteronomy 2:37; 10:6, 10:11, 10:17, etc.). Sometimes, however, they are called Ammon, or Ammonites…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 5:1-31
EXPOSITION 5:1 Then sang Deborah, etc. The ode which follows was doubtless the composition of Deborah the prophetess, and was sung by her (as the gender of the Hebrew verb indicates), assisted by Barak, who perhaps sang…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 6:1-10
EXPOSITION 6:1 Midian. In Numbers 22:7 we read of the Midianites as allied with the Moabites in their hostility to the children of Israel, and we find them willing agents of Balaam s iniquitous counsels (Numbers 25:6, N…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 6:11-24
EXPOSITION 6:11 An angel, etc. Rather, the angel of the Lord, otherwise called "the angel of his presence" (Isaiah 63:9). In 6:14, 6:16, 6:23, for the angel of the Lord we have simply the Lord (see 2:1, note). An oak. R…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 6:25-32
EXPOSITION 6:25 The same night, etc. The iron was hot; it was time to strike. As regards what follows, there are two ways of understanding the verse. One, that of the A.V supposes that only one bullock is spoken of, and…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 6:33-40
EXPOSITION 6:33 The Midianites, etc. See 6:3, note. The valley of Jezreel. Rather, the plain, "the great plain of Esdraelon," as the Book of Judith styles it (Judith 1:8; see 4:13, note). The great plain of Jezreel, or…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 7:1-8
EXPOSITION 7:1 Jerubbaal. The mention of this name seems intended to keep before our minds that it is emphatically the servant of the Lord who is going forth to victory. The well of Harod, i.e. of trembling, so called,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 7:9-25
EXPOSITION 7:9 Get thee down, etc; i.e. attack the camp at once with thy 300 men. But if thou art afraid to do so, go down first alone with Phurah thy servant, and hear what they are saying in the camp. 7:11 The armed m…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 9:1-6
EXPOSITION 9:1 The son of Jerubbaal. Throughout this chapter Gideon is spoken of by the name of Jerubbaal. There must be some cause for this. The simplest and most probable cause is that this whole history of Abimelech…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 9:7-21
EXPOSITION 9:7 On the top of Mount Gerizim. Mount Gerizim rises on the south-west side of Samaria or Shechem as a sheer rock about 800 feet in height, facing Mount Ebal, which is separated from it by the narrow valley,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 9:22-57
EXPOSITION 9:22 Had reigned. The Hebrew word here used is quite a different one from that in 9:8, 9:10, 9:12, 9:14, and elsewhere, where the reign of a king is designated. It means to exercise dominion, to be a chief or…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 10:1-5
EXPOSITION 10:1 Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo. Nothing more is known of Tola than what is here told us, viz; his name, his parentage, his dwelling-place, his office, the length of time which he held it, and the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 10:6-18
EXPOSITION 10:6 Did evil again. We may conclude that Tola and Jair had used their influence to maintain the worship of Jehovah; but at their death idolatry broke out with more virulence than ever. Not only were the many…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 12:1-7
EXPOSITION 12:1 Northward, or, otherwise rendered, to Zaphon, a city of the Gadites mentioned in Joshua 13:27 together with Succoth, and thought to be the modern, Amateh on the Wady Rajlb (see Vanderveld's map). It is d…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 12:8-15
EXPOSITION 12:8 Ibzan of Bethlehem. It is uncertain whether Bethlehem of Judah is meant, or Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebu-lun, mentioned in Joshua 19:15. Josephus says that Ibzan was of the tribe of Judah, and of the c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 13:1-25
EXPOSITION 13:1 Did evil again. It by no means follows from this phrase that this chapter is in direct chronological sequence to the preceding The scene is shifted to the tribe of Dan, and to the Philistines on the west…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 14:1-9
EXPOSITION 14:1 Timnath, or, more correctly, Thimnathah, as in Joshua 19:43, a town in the tribe of Dan, the name of which survives in the modern Tibneh, about three miles south-west of Zorah ( 13:2, note). It may or ma…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 14:10-20
EXPOSITION 14:10 So his father went down. It is not clear what is meant by this mention of his father alone; but it was probably some part of the wedding etiquette that the father should go to the bride first alone; per…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 15:1-8
EXPOSTION 15:1 Within a while—the same expression as that in 14:8, rendered "after a time," and in 11:4, rendered "in process of time." In the time of wheat harvest—about the month of May. The harvest, as appears from 1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 15:9-20
EXPOSITION 15:9 Went up, i.e. from their own country in the Shephelah to the hill country of Judah. As Samson had avenged his wrongs on the whole Philistine people, so they now came up to Judah to take vengeance for Sam…
The Pulpit Commentary on Judges 16:1-22
EXPOSITION 16:1 Then. It should be and. There is nothing to show when the incident occurred. It may have been many years after his victory at hal-Lechi, towards the latter part of his twenty years' judgeship. Gaza, now…