Judges 5:18
in Judges 5Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
KJV
Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
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This verse in Judges 5
Commentary
3 notes on this verse(Judges 5:18) Zebulun and Naphtali offered their lives unto death in the region of Morome. In Hebrew, it is 'super regionem Morome'. The meaning is that while the other tribes were unwilling to go, these two tribes offered their lives unto death. In the region of Morome. For Morome is interpreted as 'exalted': they are said to have offered their lives for the sake of the exalted region, that is, for God, and therefore they are praised, while the other tribes are criticized.
This site's exposition
jeoparded their lives unto the death
on Judges 5:18-19
Zebulun and Naphtali are the two tribes Barak was ordered to call at 4:6 and did call at 4:10, and they are the two the song says staked their lives. The kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, and the clause that they took no gain of money means they carried off no plunder from a battle they expected to win. The plain of Megiddo is the ground a long line of writers connect with the name at Revelation 16:16, and that identification belongs to them rather than to the verse itself.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Zebulun and Naphtali - jeoparded their lives - The original is very emphatic, חרף נפשו למות chereph naphsho lamuth, they desolated their lives to death - they were determined to conquer or die, and therefore plunged into the thickest of the battle. The word jeoparded is a silly French term, and comes from the exclamation of a disappointed gamester: Jeu perdu! The game is lost; or J’ai perdue! I have lost.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זְבֻל֗וּן | zevulun | Zebulun | H2074 → | 45 times |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [was] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| חֵרֵ֥ף | cheref | [which] it despised | H2778 → | |
| נַפְשׁ֛וֹ | nafsho | life its | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לָמ֖וּת | lamut | to die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְנַפְתָּלִ֑י | venaftali | and Naphtali | H5321 → | 51 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מְרוֹמֵ֥י | meromei | [the] heights of | H4791 → | |
| שָׂדֶֽה׃ | sadeh | [the] field | H7704 → | 334 times |
זְבֻל֗וּןZebulun
zevulunH2074 →45 times
עַ֣ם[was] a people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
חֵרֵ֥ף[which] it despised
cherefH2778 →
נַפְשׁ֛וֹlife its
nafshoH5315 →754 times
לָמ֖וּתto die
lamutH4191 →839 times
וְנַפְתָּלִ֑יand Naphtali
venaftaliH5321 →51 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
מְרוֹמֵ֥י[the] heights of
meromeiH4791 →
שָׂדֶֽה׃[the] field
sadehH7704 →334 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Revelation 12:11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 10:3–5
For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
- John 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
- 1 John 5:5
Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
- Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3–5
Through
Esther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast…
it leads to
- Acts 20:24
But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good…
- 2 Chronicles 20:3
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
- Joel 2:12–17
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Acts 20:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Jerome, Commentary on the Song of Deborah.