Judges 5:18

18 The people of Zebulun put their very lives in danger. So did Naphtali on the hills in the open country.

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 among the campfires? Why did they stay to hear shepherds whistling for the flocks? In the territories of Reuben, men looked deeply into their hearts.
17 Gilead stayed east of the Jordan River. Why did Dan stay near the ships? The men of Asher remained on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. They stayed in their safe harbors.
18 The people of Zebulun put their very lives in danger. So did Naphtali on the hills in the open country.
19 "Kings came and fought. The kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the streams of Megiddo. But they didn't carry any silver away. They didn't take anything at all.
20 From the heavens the stars fought. From the sky they fought against Sisera.
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