Judges 5:17

Gilead. The country across the Jordan east and south of the Sea of Galilee. Here spoken of as if it were one of the tribes. The writer apparently used the word “Gilead” in place of Gad, the tribe that inhabited a part of this territory.

Remain in ships. Evidently the migration of the Danites to the north, recorded in Judges 18, had taken place prior to the time of Deborah. The phrase suggests a degree of amalgamation with the seagoing Phoenicians, or, at least, association with them to the degree that the Danites lost their interest in the efforts of their Israelite brethren to regain independence.

Asher continued. Asher, apparently, was also experiencing absorption by the Canaanites and seafaring Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon to such an extent that they did not feel inclined to join in the Hebrew revolt. Union with the world, breathing its spirit and aims, takes away the desire of many Christians to join in the warfare against the hosts of darkness. While their brethren engage actively in Christian missionary endeavor, they sit back unmoved and uninterested.

In his breaches. Literally, “in his landing places.” The phrase has been explained as describing the appearance of the boat piers and the spaces or “breaches between them.”