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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Judges 5:8 When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/judges/5-8.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/new9.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://biblehub.com/visuals/9/07_Jdg_05_08.jpg" /><meta property="og:title" content="Judges 5:8 - The Song of Deborah and Barak" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Bible Hub" /><meta property="og:description" content="When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. 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Yet not a shield or spear could be seen among forty thousand warriors in Israel!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/esv/judges/5.htm">English Standard Version</a></span><br />When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/bsb/judges/5.htm">Berean Standard Bible</a></span><br />When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/kjv/judges/5.htm">King James Bible</a></span><br />They chose new gods; then <i>was</i> war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nkjv/judges/5.htm">New King James Version</a></span><br />They chose new gods; Then <i>there was</i> war in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb_/judges/5.htm">New American Standard Bible</a></span><br />“New gods were chosen; Then war <i>was in</i> the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb/judges/5.htm">NASB 1995</a></span><br />&#8220New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb77/judges/5.htm">NASB 1977 </a></span><br />“New gods were chosen; Then war <i>was</i> in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsb/judges/5.htm">Legacy Standard Bible </a></span><br />God chose new <i>leaders</i>; Then war <i>was</i> in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/amp/judges/5.htm">Amplified Bible</a></span><br />“They chose new gods; Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/csb/judges/5.htm">Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />Israel chose new gods, then there was war in the city gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hcsb/judges/5.htm">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />Israel chose new gods, then war was in the gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among 40,000 in Israel. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/judges/5.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cev/judges/5.htm">Contemporary English Version</a></span><br />The Israelites worshiped other gods, and the gates of their towns were then attacked. But they had no shields or spears to fight with. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/judges/5.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gwt/judges/5.htm">GOD'S WORD® Translation</a></span><br />When the people chose new gods, war broke out inside the city gates. Not a weapon was seen among 40,000 in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gnt/judges/5.htm">Good News Translation</a></span><br />Then there was war in the land when the Israelites chose new gods. Of the forty thousand men in Israel, did anyone carry shield or spear? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/isv/judges/5.htm">International Standard Version</a></span><br />New gods were chosen, then war came to the city gates, but there wasn't a shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 soldiers of Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/msb/judges/5.htm">Majority Standard Bible</a></span><br />When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/net/judges/5.htm">NET Bible</a></span><br />God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nheb/judges/5.htm">New Heart English Bible</a></span><br />They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/judges/5.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/judges/5.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? <div class="vheading2"><b>Literal Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsv/judges/5.htm">Literal Standard Version</a></span><br />He chooses new gods, "" Then war [is] at the gates! A shield is not seen—and a spear "" Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/judges/5.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> He chooseth new gods, Then war is at the gates! A shield is not seen -- and a spear Among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/slt/judges/5.htm">Smith's Literal Translation</a></span><br />He will choose new gods; Then war in the gates: If a shield was seen, and a lance, Among forty thousand in Israel.<div class="vheading2"><b>Catholic Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/judges/5.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />The Lord chose new wars, and he himself overthrew the gates of the enemies: a shield and spear was not seen among forty thousand of Israel. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cpdv/judges/5.htm">Catholic Public Domain Version</a></span><br />The Lord chose new wars, and he himself overturned the gates of the enemies. A shield with a spear was not seen among the forty thousand of Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nabre/judges/5.htm">New American Bible</a></span><br />New gods were their choice; then war was at the gates. No shield was to be found, no spear, among forty thousand in Israel! <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nrsvce/judges/5.htm">New Revised Standard Version</a></span><br />When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?<div class="vheading2"><b>Translations from Aramaic</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lamsa/judges/5.htm">Lamsa Bible</a></span><br />The LORD will choose new things; then the barley bread, and a sword or a spear shall not be seen among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hpbt/judges/5.htm">Peshitta Holy Bible Translated</a></span><br />God shall choose a new thing and then bread of barley, and a sword and spear will not be seen among forty thousand of Israel<div class="vheading2"><b>OT Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/jps/judges/5.htm">JPS Tanakh 1917</a></span><br />They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates; Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/sep/judges/5.htm">Brenton Septuagint Translation</a></span><br />They chose new gods; then the cities of rulers fought; there was not a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/parallel/judges/5-8.htm">Additional Translations ...</a></span></div></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="study" id="study"></a><div class="vheadingv"><b>Audio Bible</b></div><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AjzBiIYY2Dc?start=1239" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="vheadingv"><b>Context</b></div><span class="hdg"><a href="/bsb/judges/5.htm">The Song of Deborah and Barak</a></span><br>…<span class="reftext">7</span>Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. <span class="reftext">8</span><span class="highl"><a href="/hebrew/977.htm" title="977: yiḇ·ḥar (V-Qal-Imperf-3ms) -- To choose. A primitive root; properly, to try, i.e. select.">When they chose</a> <a href="/hebrew/2319.htm" title="2319: ḥă·ḏā·šîm (Adj-mp) -- New. From chadash; new.">new</a> <a href="/hebrew/430.htm" title="430: ’ĕ·lō·hîm (N-mp) -- Plural of 'elowahh; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used of the supreme God">gods,</a> <a href="/hebrew/227.htm" title="227: ’āz (Adv) -- At that time. A demonstrative adverb; at that time or place; also as a conjunction, therefore.">then</a> <a href="/hebrew/3901.htm" title="3901: lā·ḥem (N-ms) -- Perhaps war. From lacham, battle.">war</a> <a href="/hebrew/8179.htm" title="8179: šə·‘ā·rîm (N-mp) -- A gate. From sha'ar in its original sense; an opening, i.e. Door or gate.">came to their gates.</a> <a href="/hebrew/518.htm" title="518: ’im- (Conj) -- If. A primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!">Not</a> <a href="/hebrew/4043.htm" title="4043: mā·ḡên (N-cs) -- A shield. Also feminine mginnah; from ganan; a shield; figuratively, a protector; also the scaly hide of the crocodile.">a shield</a> <a href="/hebrew/7420.htm" title="7420: wā·rō·maḥ (Conj-w:: N-ms) -- A spear, lance. From an unused root meaning to hurl; a lance; especially the iron point.">or spear</a> <a href="/hebrew/7200.htm" title="7200: yê·rā·’eh (V-Nifal-Imperf-3ms) -- To see. A primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively.">was found</a> <a href="/hebrew/705.htm" title="705: bə·’ar·bā·‘îm (Prep-b:: Number-cp) -- Forty. Multiple of arba'; forty.">among forty</a> <a href="/hebrew/505.htm" title="505: ’e·lep̄ (Number-ms) -- A thousand. Prop, the same as 'eleph; hence a thousand.">thousand</a> <a href="/hebrew/3478.htm" title="3478: bə·yiś·rā·’êl (Prep-b:: N-proper-ms) -- From sarah and 'el; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also of his posterity.">in Israel.</a> </span><span class="reftext">9</span>My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD!…<div class="cred"><a href="//berean.bible">Berean Standard Bible</a> · <a href="//berean.bible/downloads.htm">Download</a></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="crossref" id="crossref"></a><div class="vheading">Cross References</div><div id="crf"><span class="crossverse"><a href="/deuteronomy/32-16.htm">Deuteronomy 32:16-17</a></span><br />They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations. / They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/1_samuel/13-19.htm">1 Samuel 13:19-22</a></span><br />And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” / Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. / The charge was a pim for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad. ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hosea/13-10.htm">Hosea 13:10-11</a></span><br />Where is your king now to save you in all your cities, and the rulers to whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? / So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jeremiah/2-11.htm">Jeremiah 2:11-13</a></span><br />Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. / Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. / “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/2-6.htm">Isaiah 2:6-8</a></span><br />For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners. / Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots. / Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_kings/17-7.htm">2 Kings 17:7-8</a></span><br />All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods / and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/psalms/106-36.htm">Psalm 106:36-39</a></span><br />They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. / They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. / They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/2_chronicles/15-3.htm">2 Chronicles 15:3-6</a></span><br />For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law. / But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them. / In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts. ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/3-1.htm">Isaiah 3:1-3</a></span><br />For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water, / the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, / the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jeremiah/5-19.htm">Jeremiah 5:19</a></span><br />And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/romans/1-21.htm">Romans 1:21-23</a></span><br />For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, / and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/1_corinthians/8-5.htm">1 Corinthians 8:5-6</a></span><br />For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), / yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/galatians/4-8.htm">Galatians 4:8-9</a></span><br />Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. / But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/ephesians/2-12.htm">Ephesians 2:12</a></span><br />remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/hebrews/11-32.htm">Hebrews 11:32-34</a></span><br />And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, / who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, / quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.</div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="tsk" id="tsk"><div class="vheading">Treasury of Scripture</div><p class="tsk2">They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?</p><p class="hdg">new gods</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/judges/2-12.htm">Judges 2:12,17</a></b></br> And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that <i>were</i> round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger… </p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/deuteronomy/32-16.htm">Deuteronomy 32:16,17</a></b></br> They provoked him to jealousy with strange <i>gods</i>, with abominations provoked they him to anger… </p><p class="hdg">was there</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/judges/4-3.htm">Judges 4:3</a></b></br> And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/1_samuel/13-19.htm">1 Samuel 13:19-22</a></b></br> Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make <i>them</i> swords or spears: … </p><div class="vheading">Jump to Previous</div><a href="/joshua/6-13.htm">Armed</a> <a href="/deuteronomy/33-27.htm">Arms</a> <a href="/ezekiel/38-5.htm">Body-Cover</a> <a href="/joshua/8-3.htm">Chose</a> <a href="/joshua/24-22.htm">Chosen</a> <a href="/judges/3-13.htm">City</a> <a href="/judges/5-7.htm">Israel</a> <a href="/joshua/9-13.htm">New</a> <a href="/deuteronomy/33-29.htm">Shield</a> <a href="/joshua/8-26.htm">Spear</a> <a href="/judges/4-14.htm">Thousand</a> <a href="/judges/5-7.htm">Towns</a> <a href="/judges/3-29.htm">War</a><div class="vheading2">Jump to Next</div><a href="/judges/7-11.htm">Armed</a> <a href="/judges/6-35.htm">Arms</a> <a href="/psalms/76-3.htm">Body-Cover</a> <a href="/1_samuel/13-2.htm">Chose</a> <a href="/judges/10-14.htm">Chosen</a> <a href="/judges/6-27.htm">City</a> <a href="/judges/5-9.htm">Israel</a> <a href="/judges/9-13.htm">New</a> <a href="/1_samuel/17-7.htm">Shield</a> <a href="/1_samuel/13-19.htm">Spear</a> <a href="/judges/7-3.htm">Thousand</a> <a href="/judges/10-4.htm">Towns</a> <a href="/judges/6-12.htm">War</a><div class="vheading2">Judges 5</div><span class="reftext">1. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/judges/5-1.htm">The Song of Deborah and Barak</a></span><br></div></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /> </div> </td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="combox"><div class="padcom"><a name="commentary" id="commentary"></a><div class="vheading"><a href="/study/judges/5.htm">Berean Study Bible</a></div><b>When they chose new gods</b><br />This phrase marks a pivotal moment in Israel's history, highlighting the people's departure from Yahweh to idolatry. The Hebrew word for "chose" (בָּחַר, bachar) implies a deliberate decision, indicating that the Israelites consciously turned away from the God who delivered them. This choice of "new gods" reflects a recurring theme in the Old Testament, where Israel's infidelity leads to spiritual and physical consequences. Historically, this period was marked by the influence of surrounding pagan cultures, which often lured the Israelites into worshiping deities like Baal and Asherah. This choice is a stark reminder of the first commandment, emphasizing the exclusivity of worship due to Yahweh alone.<p><b>then war came to their gates</b><br />The consequence of choosing new gods was immediate and severe: war. The Hebrew word for "war" (מִלְחָמָה, milchamah) suggests not just physical battles but also spiritual warfare. The phrase "to their gates" indicates that the conflict reached the very heart of their communities. In ancient times, city gates were central to a city's defense and commerce, symbolizing security and prosperity. The invasion of war to these gates signifies a breach in both physical and spiritual defenses, underscoring the vulnerability that comes from abandoning God. This serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of idolatry and the protection that comes from faithfulness to God.<p><b>Not a shield or spear was seen</b><br />This phrase paints a picture of unpreparedness and vulnerability. The absence of a "shield" (מָגֵן, magen) or "spear" (חֲנִית, chanit) suggests that the Israelites were defenseless against their enemies. In a historical context, this could indicate a lack of military resources or a demoralized state due to their spiritual apostasy. Spiritually, it reflects the loss of God's protection and strength, which are often symbolized by armor in biblical literature. This imagery serves as a powerful reminder of the necessity of spiritual readiness and reliance on God for protection.<p><b>among forty thousand in Israel</b><br />The number "forty thousand" is significant, often symbolizing a large, complete group in biblical terms. This figure emphasizes the widespread nature of the problem; it wasn't just a few individuals but a significant portion of the nation that was affected. The use of "Israel" here underscores the collective identity and responsibility of God's chosen people. Historically, this reflects the tribal confederation of Israel during the time of the Judges, a period marked by cycles of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. This serves as a call to collective faithfulness and unity under God's covenant.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/5.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(8) <span class= "bld">They chose new gods.</span>--The Chaldee and the LXX. agree in this interpretation, which is strongly supported by <a href="/context/deuteronomy/32-16.htm" title="They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.">Deuteronomy 32:16-17</a>. The Syriac and Vulgate render it "God chose new things," or "wars" (<span class= "ital">nova bella elegit Dominus, </span>Vulg.); but this gives a poorer sense, and is open to the objection that <span class= "ital">Jehovah, </span>not <span class= "ital">Elohim, </span>is used throughout the rest of the song. It alludes to the idolatry (<a href="/jeremiah/2-11.htm" title="Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.">Jeremiah 2:11</a>) which brought the retribution described in the next clause. Ewald and his pupil, Bertheau, render "gods" (Elohim) by "judges;" but this is very doubtful, though the word has that meaning in <a href="/exodus/21-6.htm" title="Then his master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or to the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.">Exodus 21:6</a>; <a href="/context/exodus/22-7.htm" title="If a man shall deliver to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.">Exodus 22:7-8</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Then was war in the gates.</span>--The Canaanites drove the Israelites from the city gates, where judgments were given, and expelled them from their towns; so the Targum explains it to mean, "the storming of gates," and so too Rabbi Tanchum. One MS. of the LXX. and the Syriac and Arabic versions have the strange rendering, "they chose new gods <span class= "ital">like barley bread," </span>which Theodoret explains to mean, "as though after eating wheaten bread, men would voluntarily descend to coarse barley bread"; but this is only due to an inferior reading.<p><span class= "bld">Was there a shield or spear.</span>--This is usually, and not unnaturally, explained to mean that there had been a general disarmament (comp. <a href="/judges/3-31.htm" title="And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.">Judges 3:31</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/13-19.htm" title="Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:">1Samuel 13:19</a>); we must then assume that the Israelites had only bows, slings, and swords. But (1) there is no indication whatever (but rather the reverse, <a href="/judges/4-15.htm" title="And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.">Judges 4:15</a>) that Barak's army--which, moreover, consisted of 10,000, not 40,000--was unarmed; and (2) the context seems to favour the meaning that, in spite of these degradations, there was not a warrior in all Israel who dared to put on his armour. . . . <div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/5.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - The cause of this misery was not far to seek; it was the idolatry of the people which provoked God to anger. Then their enemies were let loose upon them, and they dared make no resistance. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/commentaries/judges/5-8.htm">Parallel Commentaries ...</a></span><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><a name="lexicon" id="lexicon"></a><div class="vheading">Hebrew</div><span class="word">When they chose</span><br /><span class="heb">יִבְחַר֙</span> <span class="translit">(yiḇ·ḥar)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_977.htm">Strong's 977: </a> </span><span class="str2">To try, select</span><br /><br /><span class="word">new</span><br /><span class="heb">חֲדָשִׁ֔ים</span> <span class="translit">(ḥă·ḏā·šîm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Adjective - masculine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_2319.htm">Strong's 2319: </a> </span><span class="str2">New</span><br /><br /><span class="word">gods,</span><br /><span class="heb">אֱלֹהִ֣ים</span> <span class="translit">(’ĕ·lō·hîm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - masculine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_430.htm">Strong's 430: </a> </span><span class="str2">gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative</span><br /><br /><span class="word">then</span><br /><span class="heb">אָ֖ז</span> <span class="translit">(’āz)</span><br /><span class="parse">Adverb<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_227.htm">Strong's 227: </a> </span><span class="str2">At that time, place, therefore</span><br /><br /><span class="word">war</span><br /><span class="heb">לָחֶ֣ם</span> <span class="translit">(lā·ḥem)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_3901.htm">Strong's 3901: </a> </span><span class="str2">Perhaps war</span><br /><br /><span class="word">came to their gates.</span><br /><span class="heb">שְׁעָרִ֑ים</span> <span class="translit">(šə·‘ā·rîm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - masculine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8179.htm">Strong's 8179: </a> </span><span class="str2">An opening, door, gate</span><br /><br /><span class="word">Not</span><br /><span class="heb">אִם־</span> <span class="translit">(’im-)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunction<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_518.htm">Strong's 518: </a> </span><span class="str2">Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not</span><br /><br /><span class="word">a shield</span><br /><span class="heb">מָגֵ֤ן</span> <span class="translit">(mā·ḡên)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - common singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_4043.htm">Strong's 4043: </a> </span><span class="str2">A shield, a protector, the scaly hide of the crocodile</span><br /><br /><span class="word">or spear</span><br /><span class="heb">וָרֹ֔מַח</span> <span class="translit">(wā·rō·maḥ)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_7420.htm">Strong's 7420: </a> </span><span class="str2">A lance, the iron point</span><br /><br /><span class="word">was found</span><br /><span class="heb">יֵֽרָאֶה֙</span> <span class="translit">(yê·rā·’eh)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_7200.htm">Strong's 7200: </a> </span><span class="str2">To see</span><br /><br /><span class="word">among forty</span><br /><span class="heb">בְּאַרְבָּעִ֥ים</span> <span class="translit">(bə·’ar·bā·‘îm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Preposition-b | Number - common plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_705.htm">Strong's 705: </a> </span><span class="str2">Forty</span><br /><br /><span class="word">thousand</span><br /><span class="heb">אֶ֖לֶף</span> <span class="translit">(’e·lep̄)</span><br /><span class="parse">Number - masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_505.htm">Strong's 505: </a> </span><span class="str2">A thousand</span><br /><br /><span class="word">in Israel.</span><br /><span class="heb">בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃</span> <span class="translit">(bə·yiś·rā·’êl)</span><br /><span class="parse">Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_3478.htm">Strong's 3478: </a> </span><span class="str2">Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc</span><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading">Links</div><a href="/niv/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="//bibleapps.com/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 BibleApps.com</a><br /><a href="//bibliaparalela.com/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="//holybible.com.cn/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="//saintebible.com/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 French Bible</a><br /><a href="/catholic/judges/5-8.htm">Judges 5:8 Catholic Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/judges/5-8.htm">OT History: Judges 5:8 They chose new gods (Jd Judg. Jdg) </a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="/judges/5-7.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 5:7"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 5:7" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/judges/5-9.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Judges 5:9"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Judges 5:9" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>