1.
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Sang. The verb is singular. Therefore
Deborah alone was the singer; v. 3,7. Did Barak compose it?
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2.
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The people willingly offered themselves.
Quoted in Psa. 110:3.
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4.
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The earth trembled. Joshua 3:16 suggests
this.
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7-13.
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An organised uprising.
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11.
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RVm: In the places of drawing water, there let
them rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. Stiffening courage by
recalling what God has done is times past.
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12.
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Awake, awake. Secret planning is followed
by open rebellion.
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Lead thy captivity captive. An interesting
question arises here as to whether David in Psalm 68 is quoting from this Song
of Deborah or whether in fact an older psalm of Moses (which was later
incorporated by David in Psalm 68) is not being used here. Compare also v. 4,5
with Psalm 68:7,8.
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13.
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RVm: The people of the Lord came down for me
against the mighty.
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14.
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Ephraim....Amalek; v. 12,15. After thee
(Ephraim) came Benjamin.
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Machir is Manasseh.
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Zebulun always has honourable mention. Cp.
1 Chron. 12:33; John 1:47.
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They that handle the pen of the writer.
Fuller (17th century) puts it this way: “Gown-men turned sword-men,
clerks became captains, changing their pen-knives into swords.” Compare
what happened to the apostles, most of them from Zebulun’s
area.
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16.
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Great searchings of heart. Was one of the
results of this hesitance that in later times Reuben was overrun by Moab, and no
help came from the other tribes?
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17.
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Dan....in ships. Does this imply a date
before Jud. 18?
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18.
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The high places of the field. Mt. Tabor;
4:6. But most of the fighting took place in the valley of
Jezreel.
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19.
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Kings of Canaan. Jabin’s allies. So
also in Josh. 11:2,5.
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20.
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The stars in their courses. Each of the
twelve tribes had as its sign one of the constellations of the Zodiac. The four
cherubim faces come evenly spaced round the twelve:
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