5:1 priests . . . house of Israel . . . house of the king. The fate of the northern kingdom was bound up with that of its leaders. The priests were responsible to teach the law (4:6), and the royal house was responsible for administering justice.

snare. The leaders trapped their foolish subjects.

Mizpah. Probably this is the Mizpah in Benjamin, where Samuel judged (1 Sam. 7:5, 6; 10:17–24), not Mizpah in Gilead (Gen. 31:48, 49).

Tabor. A famous mountain site located on the northeastern edge of the Jezreel Valley (Judg. 4:6). These and other northern sites had become high places of the pagan cult of Baal.