“brook...brook...brook.” There is an irony here. Ordinarily, the “brook” Kishon was no threat to the Canaanite chariots, but with God’s involvement, even a small “brook” helped Israel. This battle also highlights the spiritual battle between Yahweh and Baal, the storm god. Who is in charge of the water? The Canaanites would say Baal is, but in this record, Yahweh shows, as He did when he covered the Egyptians with the sea, that He was stronger than the pagan gods and in ultimate control of the water. Although Baal is not mentioned in this record, he is in the next record in which God empowers Gideon. Gideon’s family lived in the area and had an altar to Baal.

“O my soul, march on in strength.” The Hebrew text is poetry, and therefore very difficult to assign only one meaning. The verse can also legitimately mean something such as, “O my soul, trample on the strong.” Both meanings are true and both apply here, so this verse is a good example of a double entendre (the figure of speech amphibologia).

[See figure of speech “amphibologia.”]