Judges 5:23
in Judges 5‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah. Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, Because they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.
KJV
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
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This verse in Judges 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The inhabitants of Meroz (a village 12 miles from Samaria) hung back, and gave no help in the day of battle, although it was Yahweh who called them. Hence, the curse pronounced by the Angel of the Lord.
This site's exposition
Then were the horsehoofs broken
on Judges 5:22-23
Horsehoofs broken by their own prancing is what a chariot line looks like from the ground once it is mired and the teams begin to panic. The curse of Meroz is spoken by the angel of the Lord, the same speaker who brought the charge at 2:1, and it falls on a town of Israel for staying home rather than on Canaan for fighting. Meroz occurs nowhere else in Scripture and its site has never been fixed, so the one place the song curses by name is the one place in it a reader cannot find on a map.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Judges 5:23) Cursed be the land of Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord. In Hebrew it is written: Curse Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord is understood by the Hebrews to be Michael, who commands Deborah to have the people of Israel curse Meroz, that is, the power of the Angel that presided over the Canaanites. For Meroz is interpreted as secret. Therefore, he is commanded to be cursed, that is, anathematized, because while the other angels fought for Israel, he not only did not fight, but also persevered in their adversity.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This city of Meroz seems to have been at this time a considerable place, since something great was expected from it; but probably, after the angel of the Lord had pronounced this curse upon it, it dwindled, and, like the fig-tree which Christ cursed, withered away, so that we never read of it after this in scripture.
The angel, &c. - She signifies, that this curse proceeded not from her ill-will towards that place, but from divine inspiration; and that if all the rest of the song should be taken but for the breathings of a pious soul, but liable to mistake, yet this branch of it was immediately directed to her by the Lord, the angel of the covenant.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Curse ye Meroz - Where Meroz was is not known; some suppose it was the same as Merom, nigh to Dotham. The Syriac and Arabic have Merod; but where this was is equally uncertain. It was certainly some city or district, the inhabitants of which would not assist in this war. Curse ye bitterly - ארו ארור oru aror, curse with cursing - use the most awful execrations. Said the angel of the Lord - That is, Barak, who was Jehovah’s angel or messenger in this war; the person sent by God to deliver his people. To the help of the Lord - That is, to the help of the people of the Lord. Against the mighty - בגבורים baggibborim, “with the heroes;” that is, Barak and his men, together with Zebulun and Naphtali: these were the mighty men, or heroes, with whom the inhabitants of Meroz would not join.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| א֣וֹרוּ | ʾoru | curse | H779 → | 63 times |
| מֵר֗וֹז | meroz | Meroz | H4789 → | |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מַלְאַ֣ךְ | malakh | [the] angel of | H4397 → | 213 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹ֥רוּ | ʾoru | curse | H779 → | 63 times |
| אָר֖וֹר | ʾaror | continuously <to curse> | H779 → | 63 times |
| יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ | yosheveiha | inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בָ֙אוּ֙ | vau | they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לְעֶזְרַ֣ת | leezrat | to [the] help of | H5833 → | |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְעֶזְרַ֥ת | leezrat | to [the] help of | H5833 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים׃ | bagiborim | on the mighty [ones] | H1368 → | 158 times |
א֣וֹרוּcurse
ʾoruH779 →63 times
מֵר֗וֹזMeroz
merozH4789 →
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
מַלְאַ֣ךְ[the] angel of
malakhH4397 →213 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹ֥רוּcurse
ʾoruH779 →63 times
אָר֖וֹרcontinuously <to curse>
ʾarorH779 →63 times
יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָinhabitants its
yosheveihaH3427 →1079 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
בָ֙אוּ֙they came
vauH935 →2568 times
לְעֶזְרַ֣תto [the] help of
leezratH5833 →
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְעֶזְרַ֥תto [the] help of
leezratH5833 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים׃on the mighty [ones]
bagiborimH1368 →158 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
1 Corinthians 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 2:20–22
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1
As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
- Mark 16:20
And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.
- 1 Peter 2:5
Through
Jeremiah 48:10Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…
- 1 Kings 20:42
And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for…
- 1 Samuel 15:9
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they…
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jerome, Commentary on the Song of Deborah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.