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Judges 5:17

in Judges 5

Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger by the ships? Asher stayed at the coast and remained in his harbors.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, And abode by his creeks.

KJV

Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.

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This verse in Judges 5

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on the Song of Deborah · Written before 420.

(Judges 5:17) Gad remained beyond the Jordan. And this is set forth as a reproach because while Reuben remained, Gad remained with him of equal mind. And Dan was free with ships. For seeing that the tribes of Reuben and Gad did not go with their brothers to battle, being terrified by fear, he took flight by being free with ships. Asher dwelt on the seashore and stayed in the ports. Likewise, this is set forth as a reproach because Asher, while dwelling on the seashore, stayed in the ports, choosing instead to flee rather than fight with his brothers.

This site's exposition

Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds

on Judges 5:16-17

Four groups stayed away and each is named with the thing that held it, Reuben with the sheepfolds and the bleating of the flocks, Gilead beyond Jordan, Dan with ships, Asher on the sea shore. The divisions of Reuben draw the sharpest line in the poem, repeated at the close of verse 15 and again at the close of verse 16, great thoughts of heart and great searchings of heart, which is long deliberation that produced no men. Judah, Simeon and Levi appear nowhere in the roll, praised or blamed, and the song gives no reason for their absence.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The land of Gilead, on the east of Jordan, was divided between Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, who are both comprehended here. Joppa was in the territory of Dan Jos 19:46, and was in later times the sea-port for Jerusalem. His breaches - Rather havens; i. e. the creeks and bays and river-months by which their coast was broken. Jos 19:29.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • גִּלְעָ֗דGilead

    giladH1568 →134 times

  • בְּעֵ֤בֶרon [the] other side of

    beeverH5676 →90 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּן֙the Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • שָׁכֵ֔ןhe dwelt

    shakhenH7931 →129 times

  • וְדָ֕ןand Dan

    vedanH1835 →70 times

  • לָ֥מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100 →752 times

  • יָג֖וּרdid he sojourn

    yagurH1481 →97 times

  • אֳנִיּ֑וֹתships

    ʾoniyotH591 →

  • אָשֵׁ֗רAsher

    ʾasherH836 →43 times

  • יָשַׁב֙he remained

    yashavH3427 →1079 times

  • לְח֣וֹףto [the] coast of

    lechofH2348 →

  • יַמִּ֔ים[the] seas

    yamimH3220 →396 times

  • וְעַ֥לand at

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • מִפְרָצָ֖יוlanding places his

    mifratzavH4664 →

  • יִשְׁכּֽוֹן׃he dwelt

    yishkonH7931 →129 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

7 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 13:31

    half of Gilead; and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan. All this was for the clans of the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half of the descendants…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 12:4

      And Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

    • Numbers 32:39–40

      The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

  • Through

    Joshua 13:25

    The territory of Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, near Rabbah;

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 12:26

      Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

    • 2 Samuel 11:1

      In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David…

    • Numbers 32:35

      Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

    • Deuteronomy 3:11

      (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)

    • Deuteronomy 2:19

      But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the…

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

The Death of Samson — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Samson — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 5 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on the Song of Deborah; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 5 →