PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Judges
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 137,835 words · 348 reading sections
Judges 4:9
Judges 4:9 Ver. 9. And she said, I will surely go with thee, She made no hesitation about it, but agreed at once to go with him for his encouragement; perceiving some degree of weakness in him, and yet an hearty and sincere inclination to engage in the work proposed, and that this might be no hinderance, she readily a…
362 wordsSECTION 62Judges 4:10
Judges 4:10 Ver. 10. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh,.... This he did either by the sound of a trumpet, as Ehud did, or by sending messengers to them to collect ten thousand men from among them, which they accordingly did, and came to him in Kedesh: and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet; th…
144 wordsSECTION 63Judges 4:11
Judges 4:11 Ver. 11. Now Heber the Kenite,.... A descendant of Kain, a principal man among the Midianites; the Targum calls him the Salmaean: [which was] of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses; who came along with the children of Israel through the wilderness into the land of Canaan, and first settled ab…
379 wordsSECTION 64Judges 4:12
Judges 4:12 Ver. 12. And they showed Sisera,.... Either some of the Canaanites that dwelt near Tabor, or some spies that Sisera had out; though some think the Kenites told him, who were at peace with Jabin, Jud 4:17; yet whether out of good will or ill will cannot be said: however, so it was ordered by the providence …
144 wordsSECTION 65Judges 4:13
Judges 4:13 Ver. 13. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots,.... Or "therefore" he gathered them together, which might lie some in one place, and some in another, for the better quartering of the men that belonged to them: [even] nine hundred chariots of iron; and which, as before observed, are magnified by Jo…
162 wordsSECTION 66Judges 4:14
Judges 4:14 Ver. 14. And Deborah said unto Barak, up,.... Not go up higher for they were upon the top of a mountain; but rise, bestir thyself, prepare for battle, put the army in rank and file, and march and meet the enemy without delay: for this [is] the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand; b…
328 wordsSECTION 67Judges 4:15
Judges 4:15 Ver. 15. And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all [his] chariots, and all [his] host,.... Frightened them, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, or disturbed them with a noise and tumult, as the word signifies; with a noise in the heavens, which were in their ears, as Abarbinel observes, like the no…
1,927 wordsSECTION 68Judges 5:1
Judges 5:1 INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 5 This chapter contains a song of praise on account of the victories obtained over Jabin, and his kingdom; after an exhortation to praise is given, and kings excited to attend to it, the majestic appearance of God at Seir, on Sinai, is observed, to raise in the mind a divine venerati…
430 wordsSECTION 69Judges 5:2
Judges 5:2 Ver. 2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel,.... The injuries done to Israel by any of their enemies, and particularly what wrongs had been done them by Jabin, king of Canaan, for twenty years past; though some understand it of the vengeance God took on Israel for their sins; and though praise is …
203 wordsSECTION 70Judges 5:3
Judges 5:3 Ver. 3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes,.... Not only the neighbouring ones, but all the kings and princes of the earth, far and near, then and in succeeding ages; Deborah desires and wishes that all potentates might hear of the wonderful works of God done for his people, that they might learn to k…
276 wordsSECTION 71Judges 5:4
Judges 5:4 Ver. 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 o…
308 wordsSECTION 72Judges 5:5
Judges 5:5 Ver. 5. The mountains melted from before the Lord,.... The inhabitants of them, through fear, the Lord going before Israel in a pillar of cloud and fire, and delivering mighty kings and their kingdoms into their hand: [even] that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel; or, "as that Sinai", the note of si…
140 wordsSECTION 73Judges 5:6
Judges 5:6 Ver. 6. In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,.... Of whom see Jud 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 we…
235 wordsSECTION 74Judges 5:7
Judges 5:7 Ver. 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 …
280 wordsSECTION 75Judges 5:8
Judges 5:8 Ver. 8. They chose new gods,.... That is, Israel, as most of the Jewish commentators interpret it; for the verb is singular, and Israel agrees well with it: this they did after the death of Joshua; it refers to their first idolatry, begun by Micah, Jud 17:1 they chose other gods than the true God; Baalim an…
544 wordsSECTION 76Judges 5:9
Judges 5:9 Ver. 9. My heart is towards the governors of Israel,.... Most of the Jewish commentators interpret this of their wise men and Scribes, who were willing to teach the people the law and the commandments, even in times of trouble, and did not cease from doing it on that account, and therefore Deborah praises t…
215 wordsSECTION 77Judges 5:10
Judges 5:10 Ver. 10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses,.... Though in some countries, as in ours, it is reckoned disgraceful to ride on asses; so Leo Africanus {b} makes mention of a preacher in Africa, who was called the ass rider; because he was continually, sitting on an ass; yet in Judea, where there were no hors…
789 wordsSECTION 78Judges 5:11
Judges 5:11 Ver. 11. They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the place of drawing water,.... Meaning either the army of the Israelites, delivered from the archers of Sisera's host at the river Kishon; or such persons, as maidens and others, that went out of the cities to fountains and wells of water, to f…
419 wordsSECTION 79Judges 5:12
Judges 5:12 Ver. 12. Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song, &c] Either perceiving some languor and remissness in her spirits, while she was delivering this song, and therefore arouses herself to attend to this service with more ardour and zeal; or rather finding herself more impressed with a sense of the g…
188 wordsSECTION 80Judges 5:13
Judges 5:13 Ver. 13. Then he made him that remaineth,.... The people of Israel that remained, who had been under the yoke of Jabin king of Canaan, under which many of the Israelites very probably died; but now the few mean and miserable that remained were raised to an high estate, and made to have dominion over the n…
163 wordsSECTION 81Judges 5:14
Judges 5:14 Ver. 14. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek,.... In this and some following verses, Deborah makes mention of the tribes that were siding and assisting in this war, and of those that were not; and begins with Ephraim, where she herself dwelt, Jud 4:5 who was the root, foundation, and sou…
538 wordsSECTION 82Judges 5:15
Judges 5:15 Ver. 15. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah,.... On Mount Tabor, whither they came to offer themselves to join in the war against Jabin; or to assist with their counsels, the men of this tribe being understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 1Ch 12:32 even Issachar: not the pr…
459 wordsSECTION 83Judges 5:16
Judges 5:16 Ver. 16. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks?.... This tribe abounded with flocks and herds, and therefore chose the country on the other side Jordan, as suitable for them; and now, at this critical juncture, they judged it wisest, and their best policy, to abide by t…
274 wordsSECTION 84Judges 5:17
Judges 5:17 Ver. 17. Gilead abode beyond Jordan,.... A country which lay on the other side Jordan, and was given by Moses, half of it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half to the half tribe of Manasseh, De 3:12 and being here distinguished from Reuben, it seems that not only that tribe, but also the trib…
3,892 wordsSECTION 85Judges 6:1
Judges 6:1 INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 6 In this chapter we have an account of the distressed condition Israel was in through the Midianites, Jud 6:1, of a prophet being sent unto them to reprieve them for their sins, Jud 6:7 of an angel appearing to Gideon, with an order to him to go and save Israel out of the hands of t…
385 wordsSECTION 86Judges 6:2
Judges 6:2 Ver. 2. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel,.... They were too strong for them, and overcame them, and brought them into subjection to them, and no wonder, when the Lord delivered them into their hand: and because of the Midianites; because of their usage of them, their manner of coming upon th…
246 wordsSECTION 87Judges 6:3
Judges 6:3 Ver. 3. And so it was, when Israel had sown,.... Their land, and it was grown up, and near being ripe, or quite; for the Midianites gave them no disturbance in the winter, and during seedtime, when they came out of their lurking holes, and manured their land, and sowed it: that the Midianites came up; into…
147 wordsSECTION 88Judges 6:4
Judges 6:4 Ver. 4. And they encamped against them,.... Formed a camp, from whence they sent out parties to plunder the people; or "they were fixing their tents among them,'' as the Vulgate Latin version; and so the Targum, "they dwelt by them,'' or fixed their habitations by them; for they seem not to have come as…
242 wordsSECTION 89Judges 6:5
Judges 6:5 Ver. 5. For they came up with their cattle, and their tents,.... Brought their flocks and their herds with them, to eat up the increase of the earth, and their tents, which they pitched and removed from place to place, for the convenience of feeding their cattle, and while they cut down the fruit of the ear…
272 wordsSECTION 90Judges 6:6
Judges 6:6 Ver. 6. And Israel was greatly impoverished, because of the Midianites,.... Were reduced very low, brought into famishing circumstances through the Midianites thus destroying the fruits of the earth year after year: and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord; which they should have done at first, inste…
110 wordsSECTION 91Judges 6:7
Judges 6:7 Ver. 7. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, because of the Midianites. Because of their oppressions and ill usage of them, and not because of their sins, which had brought those evils on them, of which, at present, they seemed not to be sensible; and yet such was the goodne…
108 wordsSECTION 92Judges 6:8
Judges 6:8 Ver. 8. And the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel,.... "A man, a prophet" {f}, as in the Hebrew text, not an angel, but a man; and this not Phinehas, as say some Jewish writers {g}; for it is not probable he should live so long as more than two hundred years; and had he been living, it is very…
248 wordsSECTION 93Judges 6:9
Judges 6:9 Ver. 9. And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians,.... Even after they were brought out of Egypt, when the Egyptians pursued after them, and overtook them at the Red sea; where they were in the utmost distress, and the Lord wrought salvation for them, gave them a passage through it, and destroyed…
157 wordsSECTION 94Judges 6:10
Judges 6:10 Ver. 10. And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God, &c:] The covenant God of them and their fathers, and they ought not to have owned and acknowledged any other besides him: fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; meaning not a fear of being hurt by them, but such a fear and reverence…
137 wordsSECTION 95Judges 6:11
Judges 6:11 Ver. 11. And there came an angel of the Lord,.... This was not the prophet before mentioned, as Ben Gersom thinks, but an angel of God, as expressed, and not a created one, but the Angel of Jehovah's presence, the Word and Son of God, and who is expressly called Jehovah himself, Jud 6:14 and sat under an …
322 wordsSECTION 96Judges 6:12
Judges 6:12 Ver. 12. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him,.... He stayed some time under the oak, and Gideon being busy in threshing, took no notice of him wherefore he came and stood before him, in his sight: and said unto him, the Lord is with thee; the gracious presence of God was with Gideon while he was t…
191 wordsSECTION 97Judges 6:13
Judges 6:13 Ver. 13. And Gideon said to him, oh my Lord,.... Taking him not to be an angel, but some illustrious and eminent person: if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? all these troubles and calamities through the oppression of the Midianites; for he understood what was said to him in the salut…
214 wordsSECTION 98Judges 6:14
Judges 6:14 Ver. 14. And the Lord looked upon him,.... The same before called the angel of the Lord, and who was no other than Jehovah himself; who looked upon him with great earnestness, and with great delight and pleasure smiled upon him, and thereby showing he had a kindness for him, and meant well to him: and sai…
159 wordsSECTION 99Judges 6:15
Judges 6:15 Ver. 15. And he said unto him, oh my Lord,.... Whether he had yet suspected who he was, or took him still for some eminent person, is not certain; it is very probable he began to think he was some extraordinary person sent of God, and speaking in his name, and therefore expostulates with him about the work…
259 wordsSECTION 100Judges 6:16
Judges 6:16 Ver. 16. And the Lord said unto him, surely I will be with thee,.... The Targum is, "my Word shall be thy help,'' which was sufficient to answer all objections taken from his meanness, unworthiness, and weakness: and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man; all together, and as easily as if thou hads…
77 wordsSECTION 101Judges 6:17
Judges 6:17 Ver. 17. And he said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, &c. Or seeing he had, as appeared by his salutation of him as a man of might, by the work he gave him a commission to do, and by the promise of assistance and success: then show me a sign that thou talkest with me; in the name of God, …
161 wordsSECTION 102Judges 6:18
Judges 6:18 Ver. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee,.... Intending to go to his own, or his father's house, to fetch some food to entertain him with, and therefore entreats he would not quit the place where he was until he returned: and bring forth my present, and set it before thee; to treat him…
5,670 wordsSECTION 103Judges 7:1
Judges 7:1 INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 7 In this chapter we have an account of the army under Gideon gathered out of several tribes, which from 32,000 were reduced to three hundred, and we are told by what means this was done, Jud 7:1 and how he was directed to go into the host of the Midianites, where he heard one of the…
502 wordsSECTION 104Judges 7:2
Judges 7:2 Ver. 2. And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people that are with thee are too many,.... It appears, by what follows, that there were 32,000 of them, which was but a small army to engage with one of 100,000 more than they; for such was the army of the Midianites and their associates, see Jud 8:10 but the peop…
149 wordsSECTION 105Judges 7:3
Judges 7:3 Ver. 3. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people,.... Such a proclamation as follows, was, according to the law of God, to be made when Israel went out to battle against their enemies, De 20:8; though it looks as if Gideon would not have made such proclamation, had he not been directed to it …
488 wordsSECTION 106Judges 7:4
Judges 7:4 Ver. 4. And the Lord said to Gideon, the people are yet too many,.... Though they were but just the number that Barak had with him, when he attacked Sisera's army and got the victory, which yet was ascribed to God, whose hand was manifestly seen in it; but as these might be supposed to be able men of valour…
415 wordsSECTION 107Judges 7:5
Judges 7:5 Ver. 5. So he brought them down to the water,....] His whole army of 10,000 men: and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shall thou set by himself; this has led some, as particularly Grotius, to think of the Egyptian dogs; of whom Aelianus re…
362 wordsSECTION 108Judges 7:6
Judges 7:6 Ver. 6. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth,.... That is, that took up water in the hollow of their hands, which they lifted up to their mouths, and so lapped it, as the Egyptians about the Nile are said {d} to do, who drank not out of pots and cups, but used their hands to…
140 wordsSECTION 109Judges 7:7
Judges 7:7 Ver. 7. And the Lord said unto Gideon, by the three hundred men that lapped I will save and deliver the Midianites into thine hand,.... It is hard to say what character this action of the three hundred is expressive of, whether of weakness or of courage. Some think that those who drank upon their knees were…
380 wordsSECTION 110Judges 7:8
Judges 7:8 Ver. 8. So the people took victuals in their hands and their trumpets,.... That is, the three hundred took victuals of those that departed, as much as was necessary for them, and also their trumpets, being directed thereunto by Gideon, no doubt; perhaps they took all the trumpets they had; however, as many …
238 wordsSECTION 111Judges 7:9
Judges 7:9 Ver. 9. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him,.... The night after there had been so great a reduction of his army, from 32,000 to three hundred: arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hands; that is, go down from the hill where he and his little army …
137 wordsSECTION 112Judges 7:10
Judges 7:10 Ver. 10. But if thou fear to go down,.... With his little army, to attack a numerous host in the night, then he is directed to take this step first: go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host; in a private manner; perhaps this man was his aid-de-camp, or however a trusty servant in whom he could con…
148 wordsSECTION 113Judges 7:11
Judges 7:11 Ver. 11. And thou shalt hear what they shall say,.... The Midianites, or what shall be said by any of them; for though it was the night season, and so not a time for much conversation, as it may be supposed to be the dead of the night; yet something would be said and heard, which is a clear proof of the pr…
248 wordsSECTION 114Judges 7:12
Judges 7:12 Ver. 12. And the Midianites and the Amalekites, and the children of the east,.... The Arabians, who with the Amalekites joined the Midianites in this expedition: lay along in the valley in the valley of Jezreel, in their tents, which overspread the valley, or at least great part of it: like grasshoppers …
166 wordsSECTION 115Judges 7:13
Judges 7:13 Ver. 13. And when Gideon was come,.... With his servant, near and within hearing the talk and conversation of the outer guards or sentinels: there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow; his comrade that stood next him, and was upon guard with him; perhaps it was a dream he had dreamed the night befo…
447 wordsSECTION 116Judges 7:14
Judges 7:14 Ver. 14. And his fellow answered and said,.... As the dream was no doubt from God, so the interpretation of it was; it was he that put into the mind of the soldier's comrade to whom he told it to interpret it as follows; or otherwise in all likelihood he would never have thought of it: this is nothing els…
343 wordsSECTION 117Judges 7:15
Judges 7:15 Ver. 15. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof,.... Or, "the breaking of it" {g}; the dream itself being like something closed up and sealed, and the interpretation of it was like the breaking of a seal, and discovering what is hid under it; or like a nut…
269 wordsSECTION 118Judges 7:16
Judges 7:16 Ver. 16. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies,.... One hundred in a company, partly to make the better figure, a show of an army, with a right and left wing, and partly that they might fall upon the camp of Midian in different parts: and he put a trumpet in every man's hand; they that …
2,951 wordsSECTION 119Judges 8:1
Judges 8:1 INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 8 In this chapter we are told how Gideon pacified the Ephraimites, who complained because they were not sent unto to fight the Midianites, Jud 8:1 how he pursued the Midianites, until he took their two kings, and on his return chastised the men of Succoth and Penuel, because they ref…
370 wordsSECTION 120Judges 8:2
Judges 8:2 Ver. 2. And he said unto them,.... In a very mild and gentle manner, giving soft words, which turn away wrath: what have I done in comparison of you? he and his men, he signifies, had only blew trumpets, broke pitchers, and held torches; it was the Lord that did all, and set the Midianites one against anot…
224 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.