Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Judges 5:10 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Jud 5:10 |
King James |
Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Speak--that is, join in this song of praise.
white asses--Those which are purely white are highly prized, and being costly, are possessed only by the wealthy and great.
Ye that sit in judgment--has been rendered, "ye that repose on tapestries." |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Ye that ride on white donkeys ... - i. e. nobles or magistrates. Deborah appeals to the classes mentioned in Jdg 5:6-7, to bear witness to the happy change that had followed the overthrow of Jabin.
That sit in judgment - Rather "that sit on saddles, or horse-cloths," a further description of those who ride on asses. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| And all classes of the people, both high and low, have reason to join in the praise. Those who ride upon white, i.e., white-spotted asses, are the upper classes generally, and not merely the leaders (cf. Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14). צהר, lit. dazzling white; but since there are no asses that are perfectly white, and white was a colour that was highly valued both by Hebrews and Arabs, they applied the term white to those that were only spotted with white. Those who sit upon coverings (מדּין from מד, a covering or carpet, with the plural termination ין, which is to be regarded as a poetical Chaldaism) are the rich and prosperous; and those who walk on the way, i.e., travellers on foot, represent the middle and lower classes, who have to go about and attend to their affairs. Considered logically, this triple division of the nation is not a very exact one, as the first two do not form a true antithesis. But the want of exactness does not warrant our fusing together the middle term and the first, and understanding by middin either saddles or saddle-cloths, as Ewald and Bertheau have done; for saddle-cloths are still further from forming an antithesis to asses, so that those who ride upon white asses could be distinguished, as the upper classes and leaders, from those who sit upon saddles, or are "somewhat richer." Moreover, there is no reason for regarding these three classes as referring simply to the long line of warriors hastening from the victory to the triumphal fte. On the contrary, all classes of the people are addressed, as enjoying the fruits of the victory that had been obtained: the upper classes, who ride upon their costly animals; the rich resting at home upon their splendid carpets; and the poor travellers, who can now go quietly along the high-road again without fear of interruption from the foe (Jdg 5:6). שׂיחוּ is rendered "sing" by many; but this rendering cannot be sustained from Psa 105:2 and Psa 145:5, and it is not necessary on the verse before us, since the well-established meaning of the word "ponder," reflect, sc., upon the acts of the Lord, is a perfectly suitable one. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Speak - Celebrate the praise of our mighty God. That ride on white asses - That is, magistrates and nobles, who used to do so, Jdg 10:4, Jdg 12:14. That walk - That is, you that can safely travel in those high ways, which before you durst neither ride nor walk in: so great and mean persons are jointly excited to praise God. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Ye that ride on white asses - Perhaps אתנות צחרות athonoth tsechoroth should be rendered sleek or well-fed asses; rendered asinos nitentes, shining asses, by the Vulgate.
Ye that sit in judgment - ישבי על מדין yoshebey al middin; some have rendered this, ye who dwell in Middin. This was a place in the tribe of Judah, and is mentioned Jos 15:61.
And walk by the way - Persons who go from place to place for the purposes of traffic. |
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
61 In the wilderness, Betharabah, Middin, and Secacah,