(6) In the days of Shamgar.--In this and the two next verses is described the misery and dejection of Israel; and the names of Shamgar and Jael are mentioned to enhance the glory of Deborah, by showing that even the presence among the Israelites of two such heroic souls as Shamgar and Jael was unavailing to deliver them until Deborah arose. That Shamgar is thus (apparently) alluded to as a contemporary of Jael has an important bearing on the chronology; for it at least shows that simultaneous struggles may have been going on against the Philistines in the south and the Canaanites in the north.

In the days of Jael.--It has been thought so strange that Deborah should mention the name of the Bedouin chieftainess as marking the epoch, that some have supposed "Jael" to be the name of some unknown judge; and some have even proposed to read Jair. Others render it "the helper," and suppose that Ehud, or Shamgar, is referred to. But (1) Jael is essentially a woman's name (see Judges 4:17; Proverbs 5:19); (2) she is mentioned prominently in this very song as having put the finishing stroke to the victory of Israel; and (3) she may have been--and various incidents in the history lead us to suppose that she was--a woman of great importance and influence, even independently of her murder of Sisera.

The highways were unoccupied.--Literally, kept holiday. This had been foretold in Leviticus 26:22. The grass grew on them; there was no one to occupy them. "The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth" (Isaiah 33:8). "The land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned" (Zechariah 7:14). (Comp. 2Chronicles 15:5; Lamentations 1:4; Lamentations 4:18.)

Travellers.--Literally, as in the margin, walkers of paths. Those of the unhappy conquered race whose necessities obliged them to journey from one place to another could only slink along, unobserved, by twisted--i.e., tortuous, devious--bye-lanes. A traveller in America was reminded of this verse when he saw the neutral ground in 1780, with "houses plundered and dismantled, enclosures broken down, cattle carried away, fields lying waste, the roads grass-grown, the country mournful, solitary, silent."--(Washington Irving's "Life of Washington," ch. 137)

Verse 6. - From what misery God had saved the people! In the days of her predecessor Shamgar, when the Philistines overran the country, when Heber the Kenite still dwelt in the south of Judah, all traffic ceased in the land. The caravans were stopped, and travellers slunk into the by-ways.

5:6-11. Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that their salvation might appear more gracious. She shows what brought this misery upon them. It was their idolatry. They chose new gods, with new names. But under all these images, Satan was worshipped. Deborah was a mother to Israel, by diligently promoting the salvation of their souls. She calls on those who shared the advantages of this great salvation, to offer up thanks to God for it. Let such as are restored, not only to their liberty as other Israelites, but to their rank, speak God's praises. This is the Lord's doing. In these acts of his, justice was executed on his enemies. In times of persecution, God's ordinances, the walls of salvation, whence the waters of life are drawn, are resorted to at the hazard of the lives of those who attend them. At all times Satan will endeavour to hinder the believer from drawing near to the throne of grace. Notice God's kindness to his trembling people. It is the glory of God to protect those who are most exposed, and to help the weakest. Let us notice the benefit we have from the public peace, the inhabitants of villages especially, and give God the praise.In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,.... Of whom see Judges 3:31; who succeeded Ehud as a judge, but lived not long, and did not much; at least wrought not a perfect deliverance of the children of Israel; but during his time till now, quite through the twenty years of Jabin's oppression, things were as they are after described:

in the days of Jael; the wife of Heber the Kenite, spoken of in the preceding chapter, Judges 4:17, who appears to be a woman of masculine spirit, and endeavoured to do what good she could to Israel, though not a judge among them, as Jarchi suggests; and who before this affair of Sisera had signalized herself by some deeds of hers in favour of Israel, and against their enemies; yet far from putting a stop to the outrages committed; for in the times of both these persons:

the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways; the public roads were so infested with thieves and robbers, who stopped all they met with, and robbed them of what they had, that travellers and merchants with their carriages were obliged either to quit their employments, and not travel at all; or, if they did, were obliged to go in private roads, and roundabout ways, to keep clear of those rapparees the highways and public roads abounded with.