2. (Judges 5:13-18) The tribes that helped, and the tribe who didn't help
"Then the survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.
"From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.
"And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed at his heels;
Among the division of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
"Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To ear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
"Gilead remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay in ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And remained by its landings.
"Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,
And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
We could probably give this stanza of the song the name "The Roll Call of the Tribes." It begins to speak about each of the tribes' enthusiastic participation in Israel's liberation or their ambivalence and disinterest in joining in the Holy War that the LORD had called for.
We see two roles explained here: Deborah was the prophet, and Barak was the deliverer. As the prophet Deborah represents God's presence or at least His voice, Barak was the one who was to act on the instructions of the LORD.
Then the survivors came down to the nobles: Verse 13 gives us the response to Deborah's call to Israel for Holy War. We are told only a remnant come to the noble ones (the new leadership). Just some of the brave heeded the call. This indicates that many refused to serve. Apathy was the mood in Israel at this time. The sense of verses 12 and 13 is that it would fall to the prophetess Deborah to shake the people of Israel out of their deep sleep.
From Ephraim those whose root was in Amalek: Verse 14 throws a huge curveball. Its says that Ephraim came to join the battle, but they were rooted in Amalek. Since there is no sense that this is a negative comment, then we have the problem of figuring out what it means. Obviously, Ephraim was not genetically or nationally rooted in Amalek. Amalek is an age-old enemy of Israel that will only be destroyed once and for all when Messiah returns. So what is the idea behind saying the tribe of Ephraim was rooted in Amalek?
There are a few options about how to take this statement. One is that there was a minor copyist error and that Amalek was accidentally substituted for emek. Emek means valley. Saying that Ephraim was rooted (or came from) the valleys is certainly true and fits the geography of the tribe of Ephraim.
The Jewish sage Rashi says the word translated as "in" (rooted in Amalek) ought to be more properly translated as "against" (rooted against Amelek). Thus we have Ephraim properly defined as being against Amalek.
Another scholar, Kiel, says that the translation "rooted in Amalek" is correct if we understand that Ephraim took much of their territory away from the Amalekites. In other words, the area where Ephraim now lived was formerly called Amalek. Thus, it could be said they were "rooted" (they lived) in an area that used to be known as Amalek.
The bottom line is this: Ephraim did not have some sort of national or genetic connection to Amalek. Ephraim was Joshua's tribe, and it was also Deborah's tribe. So it should not be a surprise Ephraim is mentioned first.
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples: The next part of the verse is that some from the tribe of Benjamin came to fight once enough people from the tribe of Ephraim committed to the battle. A few interesting nuances to this piece of information should not be ignored. The Rabbis say that this is actually a prophetic pronouncement with the meaning that after Ephraim fights against these Canaanites, sometime later so will Benjamin. Around 1020 B.C. King Saul from the tribe of Benjamin fought to claim back more territory from the Canaanites.
Another line of thought is that since Benjamin's territory was located south of Ephraim, Benjamin was physically "behind" Ephraim. Since this is a song, it is hard to decipher every word or phrase to find some deeper meaning. The words were chosen as much for how they rhymed as for what they meant.
From Machir, commanders came down: Next, we find military commanders from Machir also supplied troops. Machir is merely referring to the tribe of Manasseh, but it was known by the name of Machir in Deborah's day. Manasseh, the founder of the tribe, had only one son. That son's name was Machir. Machir at one point was the accepted tribal leader over Manasseh. In typical Middle Eastern culture, it was more usual a tribal leader would have many sons. Each would head up his own clan. The firstborn of the tribal founder would by custom eventually become the new leader over the tribe. However, if another of the tribal founder's son was a more powerful leader, then he might become the tribal leader instead.
When a tribal founder had multiple sons, this produced multiple clans. The identification of the tribe (Manasseh in this case) would remain the same even as a new tribal leader took over. But, when only one son is produced, he bears a status almost as great as the original tribal founders. So, it was not uncommon for a tribal name to change to bear the name of that only child when that child assumed leadership. Thus, we find the tribe of Manasseh is being called Machir at this point in history rather than its original name, Manasseh. Manasseh and Machir would have been interchangeable terms.
And from Zebulun: Next Zebulun is mentions and is said to be holding the staff of office. Some translations say the "marshall's" staff. The KJV says Zebulun is holding the "pen of a writer". Not one of these translations is much help to us in figuring out what this means. The KJV is probably closer to the proper sense of the Hebrew.
What the phrase most literally says is, "the rod of they who handle the pen of the scribe." Now a rod is usually a symbol of authority in ancient times, but a scribe was not a royal person with governing authority. Rather, the rod of a scribe is referring to his writing instrument, his pen. His pen was his rod. Very few people in the age of the Judges could write. So, a scribe (whose job it was to record the king's pronouncements) was held in high esteem. However, many ancient Rabbis say that this is an idiom. In other words, saying "the rod of a scribe" is merely a lofty or poetic way of saying "men who use a pen". And of course, we are dealing with a song here, full of lofty words. So, this may be the proper translation.
Additionally, Zebulun was known to be heavily involved in trading. They were known as a merchant tribe. Merchants were among the few besides scribes who used a pen. They needed to write to record their accounts. However, the original Hebrew does not say that the men being referred to as coming to do battle were scribes (sofertim), rather it is that these particular men used the instrument that was the chief tool of a scribe (a pen). Thus, what this verse is actually referring to is that even merchants (man who are trained in buying and selling, not in warfare) rose up in religious fervor and responded to Deborah's call to arms.
The princes of Issachar were with Deborah: Verse 15 says the members of the tribe of Issachar volunteered for this battle as well.
Among the divisions of Reuben: Up to this point, the roll call of the tribes has been of a positive nature. Reuben changes this all. This is a lesson for Believers. We need to pay close attention to Reuben's response so that we do not make the same mistakes.
What Reuben did was to have long heartfelt discussion about what to do when the LORD called them to Holy War. Do they join their brethren (as they know they should)? Their brothers were on the opposite side of the Jordan River. Reuben's leaders from the time of Moses promised they would help their fellow Israelite on the west side of the Jordan if Moses let the Reubenites settle on the east side of the Jordan. (See Numbers 32:1-27 for more details.) Do they view the battles against Sisera and Jabin as a foreign conflict that was none of their business because it was not in their own backyard?
Here we also encounter a translation problem. In most Bibles verse 15 has something to do with the "divisions" of Reuben. The Hebrew word translated as "divisions" is pelaggah. Pelaggah is a word that is always associated with waterways like rivers and streams. It is usually meant to denote a place where a river divides or branches off into rivulets or what we commonly call brooks. The Hebrew sages unanimously say that this ought to be translated as "among the brooks of Reuben they made great resolutions in their hearts". In other words, the territory occupied by Reuben was well known as being well watered. It had many brooks and streams that criss-crossed the land. So the picture is of the leaders and nobles of Reuben sitting around and discussing the matter in a sort of defeatist or detached way. They were gathering along the many pastoral water courses of their territory and opining why they would want to leave this land for Holy War and risk so much. The answer is the did not want to leave.
Instead, it says they stayed safe and sound by the many sheepfolds they had erected for their abundant flocks. They listened to the lovely and enchanting musical notes coming from flutes some shepherds would play to pass the time. This is a degrading remark about Reuben whereby Deborah is basically bordering on calling them cowards and traitors. At the least, Reuben was essentially disavowing their familiar obligation and the past promises to Moses and God to stand with their fellow Israelites against their common enemies.
Gilead remained across the Jordan: Verse 17 says that Gilead (meaning the tribe of Gad) lived across the Jordan, next to Reuben. In other words, it has now been established that the Israelite tribes and their clans who lived separate from the Promised Land, the tribes who decided so many years earlier that they preferred the fertility and peacefulness of the trans-Jordan to the Promised Land offered by God, these tribes had begun the inevitable mental process of disassociating themselves from the tribes who went forward into the Promised Land. Such a disassociation means that they had no interest in coming to the aid of their Israelite brothers when they needed them them most. The tribes on the east side of the Jordan simply hoped that all Israel's problems would stay on the west side of the Jordan.
And why did Dan stay in ships: Next up is the tribe of Dan. Deborah asks why Dan stays in ships which implies that the Danites were staying near their homes by the sea instead of coming to fight at Mount Tabor alongside several of the other tribes. Technically, Dan was located on the seacoasts with a good port at Joppa. However, they did not ever control much of the seacoast in their assigned territory for very long. Dan was known to have forged an alliance with the Phoenicians, who were seafarers and located a little bit north of Joppa. Likely, Dan was already on the move to relocate northward at the time of Deborah. In any case, Dan certainly had a political problem on their hands. Their alliance with the Phoenicians was an important one. It was their bread and butter, and if they helped their brother Israelites fight against what would have been Canaanite allies of Phoenicia....well, you see the bind Dan found themselves in. Of course, Dan's alliance should have been with God. Their duty as to fight for their brothers and not to allow the world to dictate their actions.
Asher sat at the seashore: The tribe of Asher was also a land of sea merchant located along the Mediterranean Sea. Being merchants was big business and by definition, their trading partners would have been gentiles that often had alliances with many of the same Canaanite kings as did Dan and the Phoenicians. It was a delicate situation. So, Asher along with Dan decided not to risk their tribal economic advantage by fighting alongside their brother Israelites.
Zebulun was a people: This stanza of the song ends the role call of the tribes in verse 18 by explaining that as opposed to the wrong-minded decisions made by Reuben, Gad, Dan and Asher, the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali put their lives and their families lives on the line to answer the LORD'S call through His prophet Deborah.
Here in Judges chapter 5, we have the LORD wanting to continue His Holy War to both liberate Israel from their enemies and to continue to establish His Holy Kingdom on earth in the Promised Land. Deborah and Barak were His vehicles. Many from the tribes of Israel answered the call. Others sat on their hands and pretended not to notice. Interestingly, there is no mention at all of Judah or Simeon. There seems to be a north versus south mentality. Judah and Simeon were the south. Benjamin vacillated in their loyalties back and forth between the north and the south due to their geographical location. The remaining tribes were generally considered part of the north. However, in addition to the north versus south mentality, there also seems to be an east versus west mindset. The tribes of Gad and Reuben were not terribly concerned what happened on the west side of the Jordan River.
What we have here is a terribly fractured Israel during the time of the Judges. This is very similar to the fractures we can see in Christianity today. Each group, denomination, clan, sect and tribe only cares for their own interests. Some, like the tribe of Reuben had endless handwringing sessions about what their obligations ought to be to their brothers. There were probably Levite priests and elders who tried with all their might to remind the various clan leaders of Moses' and Joshua's instructions to stay true true to God and His commandments. This meant they were to work together to continue to fight for the establishment of God's Kingdom in the Promised Land. But the attitude for many of the people was, "let someone else do it". It seemed dangerous to their personal wealth and power. It was dangerous to their economy and dangerous to their mortal lives. For some it was simply and interruption in their every day comforts.
Reuben discussed the consequences of going to war, wrestled with it earnestly in their hearts, but they also turned their eyes away and determined to simply leave it at feeling badly than to disrupt their own lives. Asher and Dan had valuable friendships and business partnerships with those who worshiped other gods. And those friendships and business acquaintances were economically beneficial to them. So, they refused to get involved. Gad and Reuben lived across the Jordan River, which served to geographically separate them from their brothers. They did not want to be bothered with trouble and yet, they also did not want to give up their common identity as being Israelites. So, they kept their distance hoping they would be left alone by the enemy and that everything would work out just fine.
In the end, the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan River who sought to avoid the fate of their brethren were the first to be scattered and assimilated by Israel's enemies in later times.
Dan gave up and vacated their allotted territory in the Promised Land and moved far to the north to a place where they also gave up their God. They set up pagan calf worship.
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