Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 5:11

[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.

11. Another most obscure verse.

Far from ] The prep. (a single letter in Hebr.) is suspicious; omitting it we may render The voice of the archers !, or Hark! the archers , resting after battle by the cool, shaded wells which are a favourite place of resort in the East. The word for archers, however, is uncertain; Budde conjectures Hark! how merry they are ! (the word as in Exo 32:6); places of drawing water as well as archers, only here.

There shall they rehearse ] i.e. where the people congregate: the verb occurs once again with a somewhat similar meaning in Jdg 11:40 of celebrating the daughter of Jephthah.

the righteous acts of the Lord ] His justice displayed in delivering His people; Mic 6:5 ; 1Sa 12:7, cf. Psa 103:6.

of his rule ] See on Jdg 5:7.

went down ] The word is used of the advance of the Israelite army ( Jdg 5:13-14), hence the gates will be those of the enemy. But the whole clause anticipates the description of the campaign, which does not begin till Jdg 5:12; it closely resembles the first half of Jdg 5:13, and may safely be expunged as a doublet, to the great improvement of rhythm and thought.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The sense of the King James Version is that, whereas formerly they could not go in safety to draw water from their wells, but were shot at by the archers of the enemy, now they were delivered from such tumults; and standing round the wells in security rehearsed the righteous acts of the Lord in delivering them, and the righteous acts of His government in Israel. (See Jdg 5:7).

Then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates – Israelites, who had hid themselves in caves and deserts, could return in security to the gates of their own cities for justice, or commerce, or to dwell there, now that the Canaanite was subdued.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. In the places of drawing water] As wells were very scarce in every part of the East, and travellers in such hot countries must have water, robbers and banditti generally took their stations near tanks, pools, and springs, in order that they might suddenly fall upon those who came to drink; and when the country was badly governed, annoyances of this kind were very frequent. The victory gained now by the Israelites put the whole country under their own government, and the land was cleansed from such marauders. Dr. Shaw, in his account of the sea-coast of the Mauritania Caesariensis, page 20, mentions a beautiful rill of water that runs into a basin of Roman workmanship, called shrub we krub, “drink and be off,” because of the danger of meeting with assassins in the place. Instead of such danger and insecurity, Deborah intimates that they may sit down at the place of drawing water, and there rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord; the land being now everywhere in peace, order and good government being restored.

Go down to the gates] They may go down to the gates to receive judgment and justice as usual. It is well known that the gate was the place of judgment in the East.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

From the noise of archers; either,

1. From the noise or sound, and consequently the force of those arrows which are shot at them; but she names the noise, because this epithet is frequently given to bows and arrows in poetical writings. Or,

2. From the triumphant noise and shout of archers rejoicing when they meet with their prey.

In the places of drawing water; at those pits or springs of water, which were scarce and precious in those hot countries, to which the peoples necessities forced them oft to resort, and nigh unto which the archers did usually lurk in woods, or thickets, or hedges, that from thence they might shoot at them, and kill and spoil them. When they come to those places with freedom and safety, which before they could not, they shall with thankfulness rehearse this righteous, and faithful, and gracious work of God, in rescuing his people, and punishing his enemies. He mentions the inhabitants of his villages, because as their danger was greater, Jdg 5:7, so was their deliverance, and their obligation to praise God.

To the gates, to wit, of their cities, which were the chief places to which both city and country resorted for public business and matters of justice, from which they had been debarred by their oppressors; but now they had free access and passage, either in or out of the gates, as their occasions required; and they who had been driven from their cities, now returned to them in peace and triumph; so the citizens deliverance is celebrated here, as the countrymens is in the foregoing words.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

11-14. The wells which are at alittle distance from towns in the East, are, in unsettled times,places of danger. But in peace they are scenes of pleasant and joyousresort. The poetess anticipates that this song may be sung, and therighteous acts of the Lord rehearsed at these now tranquil “placesof drawing water.” Deborah now rouses herself to describe, interms suitable to the occasion, the preparation and the contest, andcalls in a flight of poetic enthusiasm on Barak to parade hisprisoners in triumphal procession. Then follows a eulogisticenumeration of the tribes which raised the commanded levy, orvolunteered their servicesthe soldiers of Ephraim who dwelt nearthe mount of the Amalekites, the small quota of Benjamin; “thegovernors,” valiant leaders “out of Machir,” thewestern Manasseh; out of Zebulun.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 fetch water from thence for their necessities, but were frightened by the noise of archers that shot at them; or shepherds who led their flocks to water them there, but were repulsed or slain by archers that lay in wait in woods or lurking places thereabout; but now the country being cleared of them, they could without fear have recourse to these places of drawing water for their flocks or other uses, which laid them under obligation to do as directed in the next clause. The words are by some rendered,

“because of the voice of those that number (sheep and other cattle) at the places of drawing water g:”

which now they could do, being a time of peace; and for which the persons before described ought to be thankful:

there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord; coming to those places again, it would put them in mind to what hazards and dangers they had been exposed formerly by the enemy, but now were freed from; and this would lead them to discourse of and repeat the righteous dealings of God in taking vengeance on their enemies and delivering them from them:

even the righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his villages in Israel; they being now in no danger of having their houses broke open, and their substance plundered as before, Jud 5:7 then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates; either of their enemies, pursuing them unto them, as they did, Jud 4:16 or rather to the gates of their own cities, where they had now free egress and regress; and those that were in the fortified cities, who had fled thither from the villages because of the rapine of the enemy, now would go down to the gates, and pass through them, and return to their villages again; or else the meaning is, that the people would now frequent as formerly the courts of judicature held in the gates of their cities, to have justice done them, and be in no fear of being disturbed by the enemy, as before.

g So Cocceius, Noldius, p. 561. No. 1992.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The whole nation had good reason to make this reflection, as the warriors, having returned home, were now relating the mighty acts of the Lord among the women who were watering their flocks, and the people had returned to their towns once more. This is in all probability the idea of the obscure verse before us, which has been interpreted in such very different ways. The first clause, which has no verb, and cannot constitute a sentence by itself, must be connected with the following clause, and taken as an anakolouthon, as does not form a direct continuation of the clause commencing with . After the words “ from the voice of the archers,” we should expect the continuation “ there is heard,” or “there sounds forth the praise of the acts of the Lord.” Instead of that, the construction that was commenced is relinquished at , and a different turn is given to the thought. This not only seems to offer the simplest explanation, but the only possible solution of the difficulty. For the explanation that is to be taken as signifying “away from,” as in Num 15:24, etc., in the sense of “far from the voice of the archers, among the watering women,” does not suit the following word , “there,” at all. It would be necessary to attribute to the meaning “no more disquieted by,” a meaning which the preposition could not possibly have in this clause. are not sharers in the booty, for simply means to cut, to cut in pieces, to divide, and is never applied to the sharing of booty, for which is the word used (vid., Jdg 5:30; Psa 68:13; Isa 9:2). is to be regarded, as the Rabbins maintain, as a denom. from , to hold an arrow, signifying therefore the shooter of an arrow. It was probably a natural thing for Deborah, who dwelt in Benjamin, to mention the archers as representatives of warriors generally, since this was the principal weapon employed by the Benjaminites (see 1Ch 8:40; 1Ch 12:2; 2Ch 14:7; 2Ch 17:17). The tarrying of the warriors among the drawers of water, where the flocks and herds were being watered, points to the time of peace, when the warriors were again occupied with their civil and domestic affairs. is a simple aorist. , lit. to repeat, then to relate, or praise. “ The righteousness of Jehovah,” i.e., the marvellous acts of the Lord in and upon Israel for the accomplishing of His purposes of salvation, in which the righteousness of His work upon earth was manifested (cf. 1Sa 12:7; Mic 6:5). has been rendered by modern expositors, either “the righteous acts of His guidance or of His decision” ( Ewald and Bertheau), or “the righteous acts of His commanders,” or “the benefits towards His princes (leaders) in Israel” ( Ros. and others). But neither of these can be sustained. We must take here in just the same sense as in Jdg 5:7; the country covered with open towns and villages, together with their inhabitants, whom Jehovah had delivered from the hostile oppression that had rested upon them, by means of the victory obtained over Sisera. After that victory the people of the Lord went down again to their gates, from the mountains and hiding-places in which they had taken refuge from their foes (Jdg 5:6, Jdg 5:7), returning again to the plains of the land, and the towns that were now delivered from the foe.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(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 enemys archers; and the construction in that case is changed in the middle of the verse, to remind them that they can now sing Gods praises by the safe well-sides. The meaning is highly uncertain. The they that are delivered is a conjectural addition of our version. The Hebrew only has from the noise. The Vulgate renders it, where the chariots clashed together, and the army of the enemy was strangled. The LXX. (some MSS.) connect the clause with the last verse: Sing; or tell it from (i.e. by) the voice of those who strike up their tunes in the midst of the water-drawers. The Chaldee is here utterly vague. Ewald renders it, from the shoutings of the spoil-dividers between the water-troughs. Amid these uncertainties we have nothing better to offer than the conjecture of our translators.

Righteous acts.Where these words first occur, the Hebrew is Tsidkth; but in the second recurrence of the English words, even the righteous acts towards the inhabitants of the villagesin which they are guided by the Chaldee Targumwe have only the Hebrew words, Tsidkth pirzn. Here, as in Jdg. 5:7, the versions were perplexed by the word perzn; but it is now generally agreed that the meaning is either the righteous acts of his governance in Israel (Ewald), or towards the leaders in Israel (Rosenmller, &c.).

Then shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates.After singing the just deeds of God, they resumed their usual pursuits, unabashed and un-terrified.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

11. From the voice That is, by the voice; from, here, denoting the instrumental cause. Or perhaps the sense may be, above the voice; that is, louder than the voice, showing a greater rejoicing than those that divide the spoil.

Spoil dividers Some render the word archers. Robinson describes the persons referred to as “the victorious warriors who return, laden with booty, to their various tribes, and halt at the watering-places to divide out the spoil. These, as is well known, are the usual places of encampment and rest in the East; and the division of the plunder was also an occasion of rejoicing and song. See the description of such a scene.

1Sa 30:16.”

Let them celebrate Let those who divide the spoil tell and sing their victory again and again.

Righteous acts of Jehovah His marvellous works in behalf of Israel, such as Deborah now celebrated.

Government See note on Jdg 5:7.

Then went down to the gates That is, rallied to their gates to prepare for battle. The prophetess here begins to sing the action of the different tribes, but after this one line she pauses to call on others to join her, (Jdg 5:12,) and then in Jdg 5:13 resumes her rehearsal by returning to the word , went, or came, down.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments