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Selected Verse: Judges 5:8 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jud 5:8	Strong Concordance	They chose [0977] new [02319] gods [0430]; then was war [03901] in the gates [08179]: was there a shield [04043] or spear [07420] seen [07200] among forty [0705] thousand [0505] in Israel [03478]?
	King James	They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The "war in the gates" describes the hostile attacks of the Canaanites, which were the punishment of the idolatry of the Israelites (compare the marginal references), and the reduction of Israel to an unarmed and unresisting state under the Philistine dominion. See Jdg 3:31 note.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

The "war in the gates" describes the hostile attacks of the Canaanites, which were the punishment of the idolatry of the Israelites (compare the marginal references), and the reduction of Israel to an unarmed and unresisting state under the Philistine dominion. See Jdg 3:31 note.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Jdg 5:8 describes the cause of the misery into which Israel had fallen. חדשׁים אלהים is the object to יבחר, and the subject is to be found in the previous term Israel. Israel forsook its God and creator, and chose new gods, i.e., gods not worshipped by its fathers (vid., Deu 32:17). Then there was war (לחם, the construct state of לחם, a verbal noun formed from the Piel, and signifying conflict or war) at the gates; i.e., the enemy pressed up to the very gates of the Israelitish towns, and besieged them, and there was not seen a shield or spear among forty thousand in Israel, i.e., there were no warriors found in Israel who ventured to defend the land against the foe. אם indicates a question with a negative reply assumed, as in Kg1 1:27, etc. Shield and spear (or lance) are mentioned particularly as arms of offence and defence, to signify arms of all kinds. The words are not to be explained from Sa1 13:22, as signifying that there were no longer any weapons to be found among the Israelites, because the enemy had taken them away ("not seen" is not equivalent to "not found" in Sa1 13:22); they simply affirm that there were no longer any weapons to be seen, because not one of the 40,000 men in Israel took a weapon in his hand. The number 40,000 is not the number of the men who offered themselves willingly for battle, according to Jdg 5:2 (Bertheau); for apart from the fact that they did not go unarmed into the battle, it is at variance with the statement in Jdg 4:6, Jdg 4:10, that Barak went into the war and smote the enemy with only 10,000 men. It is a round number, i.e., an approximative statement of the number of the warriors who might have smitten the enemy and delivered Israel from bondage, and was probably chosen with a reference to the 40,000 fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan, who went with Joshua to Canaan and helped their brethren to conquer the land (Jos 4:13). Most of the more recent expositors have given a different rendering of Jdg 5:8. Many of them render the first clause according to the Peshito and Vulgate, "God chose something new," taking Elohim as the subject, and chadashim (new) as the object. But to this it has very properly been objected, that, according to the terms of the song, it was not Elohim but Jehovah who effected the deliverance of Israel, and that the Hebrew for new things is not חדשׁים, but חדשׁות (Isa 42:9; Isa 48:6), or חדשׁה (Isa 43:19; Jer 31:22). On these grounds Ewald and Bertheau render Elohim "judges" (they chose new judges), and appeal to Exo 21:6; Exo 22:7-8, where the authorities who administered justice in the name of God are called Elohim. But these passages are not sufficient by themselves to establish the meaning "judges," and still less to establish the rendering "new judges" for Elohim chadashim. Moreover, according to both these explanations, the next clause must be understood as relating to the specially courageous conflict which the Israelites in their enthusiasm carried on with Sisera; whereas the further statement, that among 40,000 warriors who offered themselves willingly for battle there was not a shield or a lance to be seen, is irreconcilably at variance with this. For the explanation suggested, namely, that these warriors did not possess the ordinary weapons for a well-conducted engagement, but had nothing but bows and swords, or instead of weapons of any kind had only the staffs and tools of shepherds and husbandmen, is proved to be untenable by the simple fact that there is nothing at all to indicate any contrast between ordinary and extraordinary weapons, and that such a contrast is altogether foreign to the context. Moreover, the fact appealed to, that אז points to a victorious conflict in Jdg 5:13, Jdg 5:19, Jdg 5:22, as well as in Jdg 5:11, is not strong enough to support the view in question, as אז is employed in Jdg 5:19 in connection with the battle of the kings of Canaan, which was not a successful one, but terminated in a defeat. The singer now turns from the contemplation of the deep degradation of Israel to the glorious change which took place as soon as she appeared: -

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Jdg 5:8 describes the cause of the misery into which Israel had fallen. חדשׁים אלהים is the object to יבחר, and the subject is to be found in the previous term Israel. Israel forsook its God and creator, and chose new gods, i.e., gods not worshipped by its fathers (vid., Deu 32:17). Then there was war (לחם, the construct state of לחם, a verbal noun formed from the Piel, and signifying conflict or war) at the gates; i.e., the enemy pressed up to the very gates of the Israelitish towns, and besieged them, and there was not seen a shield or spear among forty thousand in Israel, i.e., there were no warriors found in Israel who ventured to defend the land against the foe. אם indicates a question with a negative reply assumed, as in Kg1 1:27, etc. Shield and spear (or lance) are mentioned particularly as arms of offence and defence, to signify arms of all kinds. The words are not to be explained from Sa1 13:22, as signifying that there were no longer any weapons to be found among the Israelites, because the enemy had taken them away ("not seen" is not equivalent to "not found" in Sa1 13:22); they simply affirm that there were no longer any weapons to be seen, because not one of the 40,000 men in Israel took a weapon in his hand. The number 40,000 is not the number of the men who offered themselves willingly for battle, according to Jdg 5:2 (Bertheau); for apart from the fact that they did not go unarmed into the battle, it is at variance with the statement in Jdg 4:6, Jdg 4:10, that Barak went into the war and smote the enemy with only 10,000 men. It is a round number, i.e., an approximative statement of the number of the warriors who might have smitten the enemy and delivered Israel from bondage, and was probably chosen with a reference to the 40,000 fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan, who went with Joshua to Canaan and helped their brethren to conquer the land (Jos 4:13). Most of the more recent expositors have given a different rendering of Jdg 5:8. Many of them render the first clause according to the Peshito and Vulgate, "God chose something new," taking Elohim as the subject, and chadashim (new) as the object. But to this it has very properly been objected, that, according to the terms of the song, it was not Elohim but Jehovah who effected the deliverance of Israel, and that the Hebrew for new things is not חדשׁים, but חדשׁות (Isa 42:9; Isa 48:6), or חדשׁה (Isa 43:19; Jer 31:22). On these grounds Ewald and Bertheau render Elohim "judges" (they chose new judges), and appeal to Exo 21:6; Exo 22:7-8, where the authorities who administered justice in the name of God are called Elohim. But these passages are not sufficient by themselves to establish the meaning "judges," and still less to establish the rendering "new judges" for Elohim chadashim. Moreover, according to both these explanations, the next clause must be understood as relating to the specially courageous conflict which the Israelites in their enthusiasm carried on with Sisera; whereas the further statement, that among 40,000 warriors who offered themselves willingly for battle there was not a shield or a lance to be seen, is irreconcilably at variance with this. For the explanation suggested, namely, that these warriors did not possess the ordinary weapons for a well-conducted engagement, but had nothing but bows and swords, or instead of weapons of any kind had only the staffs and tools of shepherds and husbandmen, is proved to be untenable by the simple fact that there is nothing at all to indicate any contrast between ordinary and extraordinary weapons, and that such a contrast is altogether foreign to the context. Moreover, the fact appealed to, that אז points to a victorious conflict in Jdg 5:13, Jdg 5:19, Jdg 5:22, as well as in Jdg 5:11, is not strong enough to support the view in question, as אז is employed in Jdg 5:19 in connection with the battle of the kings of Canaan, which was not a successful one, but terminated in a defeat.

The singer now turns from the contemplation of the deep degradation of Israel to the glorious change which took place as soon as she appeared: -

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Chose - They did not only submit to idolatry when they were forced to it by tyrants, but they freely chose it. New gods - New to them, and unknown to their fathers, and new in comparison of the true and everlasting God of Israel, being but of yesterday. The gates - That is, in their walled cities, which have gates and bars; gates are often put for cities; then their strong holds fell into the hands of their enemies. Was there a shield - There was not, the meaning is not, that all the Israelites had no arms, but, either they had but few arms among them, being many thousands of them disarmed by the Canaanites and Philistines, or that they generally neglected the use of arms, as being without all hope of recovering their liberty.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
They chose new gods - This was the cause of all their calamities; they forsook Jehovah, and served other gods; and then was war in their gates - they were hemmed up in every place, and besieged in all their fortified cities; and they were defenseless, they had no means of resisting their adversaries; for even among forty thousand men, there was neither spear nor shield to be seen. The Vulgate gives a strange and curious turn to this verse: Nova bella elegit Dominus, et portas hostium ipse subvertit; "The Lord chose a new species of war, and himself subverted the gates of the enemy." Now, what was this new species of war? A woman signifies her orders to Barak; he takes 10,000 men, wholly unarmed, and retires to Mount Tabor, where they are immediately besieged by a powerful and well-appointed army. On a sudden Barak and his men rush upon them, terror and dismay are spread through the whole Cannanitish army, and the rout is instantaneous and complete. The Israelites immediately arm themselves with the arms of their enemies, and slay all before them; they run, and are pursued in all directions. Sisera, their general, is no longer safe in his chariot; either his horses fail, or the unevenness of the road obliges him to desert it, and fly away on foot; in the end, the whole army is destroyed, and the leader ingloriously slain. This was a new species of war, and was most evidently the Lord's doings. Whatever may be said of the version of the Vulgate, (and the Syriac and Arabic are something like it), the above are all facts, and show the wondrous working of the Lord.

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³¹ And after [0310] him was Shamgar [08044] the son [01121] of Anath [06067], which slew [05221] of the Philistines [06430] six [08337] hundred [03967] men [0376] with an ox [01241] goad [04451]: and he also delivered [03467] Israel [03478].

¹⁹ The kings [04428] came [0935] and fought [03898], then fought [03898] the kings [04428] of Canaan [03667] in Taanach [08590] by the waters [04325] of Megiddo [04023]; they took [03947] no gain [01215] of money [03701].

¹¹ They that are delivered from the noise [06963] of archers [02686] in the places of drawing water [04857], there shall they rehearse [08567] the righteous acts [06666] of the LORD [03068], even the righteous acts [06666] toward the inhabitants of his villages [06520] in Israel [03478]: then shall the people [05971] of the LORD [03068] go down [03381] to the gates [08179].

²² Then were the horsehoofs [06119] [05483] broken [01986] by the means of the pransings [01726], the pransings [01726] of their mighty ones [047].

¹³ Then he made him that remaineth [08300] have dominion [07287] over the nobles [0117] among the people [05971]: the LORD [03068] made me have dominion [07287] over the mighty [01368].

⁷ If a man [0376] shall deliver [05414] unto his neighbour [07453] money [03701] or stuff [03627] to keep [08104], and it be stolen [01589] out of the man's [0376] house [01004]; if the thief [01590] be found [04672], let him pay [07999] double [08147].
⁸ If the thief [01590] be not [03808] found [04672], then the master [01167] of the house [01004] shall be brought [07126] unto the judges [0430], to see whether he have put [07971] his hand [03027] unto his neighbour's [07453] goods [04399].

⁶ Then his master [0113] shall bring [05066] him unto the judges [0430]; he shall also bring [05066] him to the door [01817], or unto the door post [04201]; and his master [0113] shall bore [07527] his ear [0241] through with an aul [04836]; and he shall serve [05647] him for ever [05769].

²² How long wilt thou go about [02559], O thou backsliding [07728] daughter [01323]? for the LORD [03068] hath created [01254] a new thing [02319] in the earth [0776], A woman [05347] shall compass [05437] a man [01397].

¹⁹ Behold, I will do [06213] a new thing [02319]; now it shall spring forth [06779]; shall ye not know [03045] it? I will even make [07760] a way [01870] in the wilderness [04057], and rivers [05104] in the desert [03452].

⁶ Thou hast heard [08085], see [02372] all this; and will not ye declare [05046] it? I have shewed [08085] thee new things [02319] from this time [06258], even hidden things [05341], and thou didst not know [03045] them.

⁹ Behold, the former things [07223] are come to pass [0935], and new things [02319] do I declare [05046]: before they spring forth [06779] I tell [08085] you of them.

⁸ They chose [0977] new [02319] gods [0430]; then was war [03901] in the gates [08179]: was there a shield [04043] or spear [07420] seen [07200] among forty [0705] thousand [0505] in Israel [03478]?

¹³ About forty [0705] thousand [0505] prepared [02502] for war [06635] passed over [05674] before [06440] the LORD [03068] unto battle [04421], to the plains [06160] of Jericho [03405].

¹⁰ And Barak [01301] called [02199] Zebulun [02074] and Naphtali [05321] to Kedesh [06943]; and he went up [05927] with ten [06235] thousand [0505] men [0376] at his feet [07272]: and Deborah [01683] went up [05927] with him.

⁶ And she sent [07971] and called [07121] Barak [01301] the son [01121] of Abinoam [042] out of Kedeshnaphtali [06943], and said [0559] unto him, Hath not the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478] commanded [06680], saying, Go [03212] and draw [04900] toward mount [02022] Tabor [08396], and take [03947] with thee ten [06235] thousand [0505] men [0376] of the children [01121] of Naphtali [05321] and of the children [01121] of Zebulun [02074]?

² Praise [01288] ye the LORD [03068] for the avenging [06544] [06546] of Israel [03478], when the people [05971] willingly offered [05068] themselves.

²² So it came to pass in the day [03117] of battle [04421], that there was neither sword [02719] nor spear [02595] found [04672] in the hand [03027] of any of the people [05971] that were with Saul [07586] and Jonathan [03129]: but with Saul [07586] and with Jonathan [03129] his son [01121] was there found [04672].

²⁷ Is this thing [01697] done [01961] by my lord [0113] the king [04428], and thou hast not shewed [03045] it unto thy servant [05650], who should sit [03427] on the throne [03678] of my lord [0113] the king [04428] after [0310] him?

¹⁷ They sacrificed [02076] unto devils [07700], not to God [0433]; to gods [0430] whom they knew [03045] not, to new [02319] gods that came [0935] newly [07138] up [0935], whom your fathers [01] feared [08175] not.