Judges 5:18

18 But the people of Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives on the battlefield.

Judges 5:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 5:18

Zebulun and Naphtali were a people
These two tribes were chiefly concerned in this war; out of them were the 10,000 men that followed Barak, who willingly offered themselves, and were the most active and vigorous:

[that] jeoparded themselves unto the death;
exposed them to the utmost danger, fearless of death itself: or reproached F11 their lives; were careless of them, valued them not; they were not dear to them, but were ready to part with them freely, in the cause of liberty in which they were engaged:

in the high places of the field;
on the top of Mount Tabor, where they were mustered, and from whence they beheld the vast host of Sisera surrounding them; and yet, with an undaunted bravery and courage, descended the hill to fight with them. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "in the country of Merome"; in the plains and fields of it, near which were the waters of Merom, where Joshua fought Jabin, a former king of Canaan, and supposed by some to be the same with Kishon here, ( Joshua 11:5 ) ( Psalms 83:9 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Prx) "probris affecit", Pagninus; so the Targum.

Judges 5:18 In-Context

16 Why did they stay behind with the sheep? To listen to shepherds calling the flocks? Yes, the tribe of Reuben was divided; they could not decide to come.
17 The tribe of Gad stayed east of the Jordan, and the tribe of Dan remained by the ships. The tribe of Asher stayed by the seacoast; they remained along the shore.
18 But the people of Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives on the battlefield.
19 At Taanach, by the stream of Megiddo, the kings came and fought; the kings of Canaan fought, but they took no silver away.
20 The stars fought from the sky; as they moved across the sky, they fought against Sisera.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.