Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 4:5
And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
5. dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah ] The marg. sat is better, cf. Jdg 6:11, 1Sa 14:2 ; 1Sa 22:6, lit. she was sitting, i.e. to declare the divine will in disputes and cases of difficulty; hence, it is implied, the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah (er-Rm) and Beth-el (Beitin), 5 and 12 m. respectively N. of Jerusalem, obtained its name. In the same neighbourhood, and associated with the same name, was the famous tree called Allon-bacuth, ‘tree (?oak) of mourning,’ under which Deborah the nurse of Rachel was buried, Gen 35:8. The conclusion seems to be irresistible that we have here and in Gen 35:8 two different ways of accounting for the name of the same tree. Of the two, that given in Gen. is perhaps preferable; for there is nothing elsewhere in the present narrative to suggest that Deborah’s home was in the S. of the hill country of Ephraim; Jdg 5:15, though it does not speak distinctly, appears to connect her with Issachar; and it is more likely that the deliverer arose where the need was the sorest, rather than from a district outside the area of the oppression. Moreover, Deborah with her head-quarters near Beth-el would have been too far apart from Barak for the conduct of the negotiations in Jdg 4:6-9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
She dwelt – Rather, she sat, namely, to judge the people Jdg 4:10, but not in the usual place, the gate Rth 4:1-2; Pro 22:22. It suited her character, and the wild unsafe times better, that she should sit under a palm-tree in the secure heights of Mount Ephraim, between Ramah and Bethel (Jdg 20:33 note). This verse shows that the Judges exercised the civil as well as military functions of rulers 1Sa 7:15-17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. The palm tree of Deborah] It is common for the Hindoos to plant trees in the names of themselves and their friends; and some religious mendicants live for a considerable time under trees. – Ward.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To have their suits and causes determined by her sentence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. she dwelt under the palm treeor,collectively, “palm-grove.” It is common still in the Eastto administer justice in the open air, or under the canopy of anumbrageous tree.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah,…. Her dwelling house was under a palm tree, or rather she sat under one, in the open air, when the people came to her with their cases, and it was called from hence after her name; though some, as Abarbinel observes, think it was so called, because Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, was buried here, and which was near Bethel, one of the places next mentioned, see
Ge 35:8,
between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim; which places were in the tribe of Benjamin in the borders of Ephraim, see Jos 16:2. The Jews conclude, from the situation of her, that she was a very opulent woman; the Targum is,
“she was dwelling in a city in Ataroth, Deborah was supported of her own; she had palm trees in Jericho, orchards in Ramah, olives producing oil in the valley, a place of watering in Bethel, and white dust in the kings mountain:”
and the children of Israel came up to her; from all parts of the land to the mount of Ephraim:
for judgment: to have her advice and counsel in matters of difficulty, and to have causes between contending parties heard and decided by her, so that she might be truly reckoned among the judges.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(5) She dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah.Similarly Abraham is said to have lived under the oak of Mamre (Gen. 14:13), and Saul under the pomegranate of Migron (1Sa. 14:2). Such tents the patriarchs loved (Coleridge). Dean Stanley (Jewish Chron. i. 318) draws a fine contrast between the triumphant mother of Israel (Judges 5 under her palm, full of the fire of faith and energy,and Juda Captiva, represented on the coins of Titus as a weeping woman sitting under a palm-tree, with downcast eyes and folded hands, and extinguished hopes. The words she dwelt are literally she was sitting, which may merely mean that she took her station under this well-known and solitary palm when she was giving her judgment (comp. Psa. 9:3); just as St. Louis, under the oak-tree at Vincennes (Stanley, Jewish Chron. i. 218), and as Ethelbert received St. Austin and his monks under an oak. The tree won its name as the Deborah palm from her, and may also have originated the name Baal-Tamar, the lord of the palm (Jdg. 20:33). Near it was another very famous treeAllon-Bachuththe oak or terebinth of weeping; so called from the weeping at the burial of the other Deborah (Gen. 35:8), which is alluded to in 1Sa. 10:3, if the true reading there be the oak of Deborah, and not of Tabor, as Thenius conjectures.
Between Ramah and Beth-el.Both towns were on the confines of Benjamin and Ephraim (see Jos. 18:25; Jos. 16:2).
In mount Ephraim.The one secure spot in Palestine. (See Note on Jdg. 3:27.) The Chaldee prosaically amplifies this into she lived in Ataroth (Jos. 15:2), having independent means, and she had palm-trees in Jericho, gardens in Ramah, olive-yards in the valley, a well-watered land in Bethel, and white clay in the kings mount.
Came up.A technical term for going before a superior (Num. 16:12; Deu. 25:7). Deborah, unlike the German Veledawho lived in a tower, in awful seclusionallowed the freest access to her presence as she sat beneath her palm.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Dwelt under the palm tree This was her official seat or throne. “She sat under a large palm, public and free, accessible to all; not like the German Velleda, who, according to Tacitus, sat in a tower, and to whom no one was admitted, in order to increase the veneration in which she was held. The palm was the common symbol of Canaan; it adorned the coins of both the Phenicians and the Jews.” Cassel. From its being the well known place where this prophetess judged, and being popularly called after her, it was still known to the historian as the palm tree of Deborah.
Between Ramah and Beth-el These cities fell within the territory of Ephraim, and were about six miles apart. The great mountain range in which they lay early acquired the name of Mount Ephraim, from its being largely allotted to that tribe. Joshua 16.
Came up to her for judgment They came unto the prophetess as unto a divine oracle, seeking to know the divine will and judgment in cases of difficulty or danger.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And she stationed herself under the palm tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.’
When local justice failed, or cases were too complicated, or inter-tribal, or needed special discernment, the people would come to her. She was seen as having wisdom from God. She stationed herself under a palm tree (which would provide shade) which was ever afterwards called ‘the palm tree of Deborah’. (There is little reason for identifying it as the oak under which Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was buried). Under a prominent tree would appear to have been a regular place for giving judgments, and made the judge accessible.
“Between Ramah and Bethel.” This would be in Benjaminite territory, and central for the tribes. It would be near Mizpah where the tribes met for judgment (Jdg 20:1).
“And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.” One of the responsibilities of the judges was administration and justice. But all who were called judges were seen as having Yahweh with them in one way or another. Such a position required the Spirit of Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 4:5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Ver. 5. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah. ] Or, She sat under the palm tree, as the Septuagint and Vulgate render it. The kings of Persia sat under a golden plane tree, or under a vine of gold, that had bunches of smaragdes and other precious stones, when they sat in judgment a
“ O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane! ”
a Athenaeus, lib. xii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dwelt = sat [as judge]: near where her namesake, Rebekah’s nurse, died. Gen 35:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the palm: Gen 35:8
between: Jos 16:2, Jos 18:22, Jos 18:25, 1Sa 1:1, 1Sa 1:19, 1Sa 6:16, 1Sa 6:17, 1Sa 25:1, Jer 31:15
came up: Exo 18:13, Exo 18:16, Exo 18:19, Exo 18:26, Deu 17:8-12, 2Sa 15:2-6
Reciprocal: Jdg 2:16 – the Lord Jdg 5:14 – of Ephraim
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 4:5. And she dwelt Or, as the Septuagint and Vulgate understand it, she sat: she had her judgment-seat in the open air, under the shadow of that tree, which was an emblem of the justice she administered there: thriving and growing against opposition, as the palm-tree does under pressures. Came to her To have their suits and causes determined by her sentence.