Judges 5

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Deborah and Barak sing a song of victory, praising the Lord for delivering Israel from Canaanite oppression. The song recounts the nation's former distress, the willing participation of some tribes, and the divine intervention that led to Sisera's defeat. It concludes by blessing Jael for slaying Sisera and wishing destruction upon God's enemies.

The Song of Deborah and Barak 1–3

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah.

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah; I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.

The Majestic Power of the LORD 4–5

Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Israel's Decline and Deborah's Rise 6–11

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways.

The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah.

Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses, Ye that sit on rich carpets, And ye that walk by the way.

Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, Eventhe righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

Rallying the Tribes of Israel 12–18

Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.

Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.

Out of Ephraimcame downthey whose root is in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal’s staff.

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.

Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, And abode by his creeks.

Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.

The Battle at Megiddo and the Curse of Meroz 19–23

The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan, In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money.

From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.

The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength.

Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah. Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, Because they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.

The Praise of Jael 24–27

Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

He asked water, andshe gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish.

She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head; Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.

At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell: Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

The Lament of Sisera's Mother 28–31

Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Siseracriedthrough the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,

Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?

So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 5

Verse 1

Then sang Deborah and Barak — A song of deliverance, as after the sea: 'Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD' (Ex 15:1). Deborah, called a prophetess in 4:4, sings with Barak 'on that day', the day of the victory told in ch.4. The song recounts the same battle in verse.

Verse 2

Praise ye the LORD — 'Praise' is barak, to bless, the verb of 'Bless ye the LORD' in v.9 and of Jael 'Blessed above women' in v.24. 'Willingly offered themselves' is nadab, to give freely; v.9 says again that the governors 'offered themselves willingly among the people'.

Verse 4

wentest out of Seir — Moses had spoken of the same coming: 'The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them' (Deut 33:2). Ps 68:7–8 takes up these lines, 'when thou wentest forth before thy people… the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved'.

Verse 5

The mountains melted — Nazal, to flow or run down. The hills 'melted like wax at the presence of the LORD' in Ps 97:5. Sinai is named with 'the LORD God of Israel', the God who spoke there; the song places this battle beside Sinai.

Verse 6

Shamgar the son of Anath — Shamgar 'slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad' (3:31). 'Unoccupied' is chadal, to cease, the verb repeated for the villages in v.7. 'Byways' are nathiyb, beaten tracks: travellers took the paths off the main roads.

Verse 7

a mother in Israel — Chadal, 'ceased', is the verb of 'unoccupied' in v.6, said twice here of the villages. Deborah 'arose' twice, as 'a mother in Israel'. The title is used of a city in 2 Sam 20:19, 'a city and a mother in Israel', where the city is also called 'the inheritance of the LORD'.

Verse 8

They chose new gods — Bachar, the verb of Joshua's call, 'choose you this day whom ye will serve' (Josh 24:15). The gods are 'new', as in Moses' song, 'new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not' (Deut 32:17). The disarmament follows the choice: 'was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand'?

Verse 10

white asses — Riding on an ass marks rank in Judges: Jair had thirty sons 'that rode on thirty ass colts' (10:4). The verse calls on three groups to speak: the riders, those who 'sit in judgment', and those who 'walk by the way'.

Verse 11

righteous acts of the LORD — Tsidqot, the plural of tsedaqah, the word Samuel uses in 'all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers' (1 Sam 12:7). The wells, where archers had been heard, become the place where these acts are told, and the people go down to the gates.

Verse 12

lead thy captivity captive — The words recur in Ps 68:18, 'thou hast led captivity captive', which Paul applies to the ascended Christ (Eph 4:8). Here Barak is told to lead away the defeated enemy. 'Awake, awake' is repeated for Deborah and again for the song.

Verse 14

Out of Machir came down governors — Machir was Manasseh's firstborn, 'the father of Gilead' (Josh 17:1). 'Governors' is mechoqeq, a lawgiver, the word of Num 21:18. 'Handle' is mashak, to draw, the verb of 4:6 for drawing men toward Tabor. Ephraim's 'mount of the Amalekites' is named in 12:15.

Verse 15

great thoughts of heart — Chiqeq is a decree or resolution; in v.16 the same people have 'searchings' (cheqer), a deliberation. Issachar's princes came with Deborah. Barak 'was sent on foot', as 4:10 puts it, 'with ten thousand men at his feet'.

Verse 16

among the sheepfolds — Reuben and Gad 'had a very great multitude of cattle' and chose Gilead as 'a place for cattle' (Num 32:1). Moses' question to them there, 'Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?' (Num 32:6), is the one this verse asks again of Reuben.

Verse 17

Gilead abode beyond Jordan — The verse names three who stayed away: Gilead, east of the Jordan; Dan, 'in ships'; and Asher, 'on the sea shore'. 'Breaches' is miphrats, a break in the coast, a harbour. 'Abode' (shakan) is said of both Gilead and Asher.

Verse 18

jeoparded their lives — Charaph, to expose by stripping: these tribes laid their lives bare 'unto the death'. They are the two Barak was told to call (4:6, 10), and they fought in 'the high places of the field'; Barak had gone down to the battle from mount Tabor (4:14).

Verse 19

Taanach by the waters of Megiddo — Both cities lay in Manasseh's portion (Josh 17:11), and Manasseh had not driven out their inhabitants (1:27). The 'kings of Canaan' who fought there 'took no gain of money' (betsa).

Verse 20

the stars in their courses — 'Courses' is mesillah, a raised road: the stars on their tracks. Heaven had fought for Israel before, when 'the LORD cast down great stones from heaven' upon the fleeing enemy (Josh 10:11). The song does not say how; v.4 has said the clouds 'dropped water'.

Verse 21

The river of Kishon swept them away — Garaph, to sweep away, and qedumim, 'ancient', each occur only here in the KJV's tagged text. The LORD had named this river beforehand: 'I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera' (4:7). Ps 83:9 recalls it as 'the brook of Kison'.

Verse 23

Curse ye Meroz — Meroz is named only here. The curse is spoken by 'the angel of the LORD', as in 2:1, and the verb arar is used three times. The fault is staying away: 'they came not to the help of the LORD', the fault Moses charged on Reuben and Gad (Num 32:6).

Verse 24

Blessed above women — 'Blessed' is barak, the verb of 'Praise ye the LORD' in v.2. Jael is the wife of Heber the Kenite, whose house had peace with Jabin (4:17). Deborah had said that Sisera would be sold 'into the hand of a woman' (4:9), and the woman is now named.

Verse 25

butter in a lordly dish — Chem'ah is curdled milk; 'lordly' is addir, noble. The 'dish' (sephel) is a bowl, and the only other place the word occurs is Gideon's 'bowl full of water' (6:38). The song sets the request, 'He asked water', beside what she brought, as 4:19 does.

Verse 26

the workmen's hammer — 'Workmen's' is amel, one who toils. 'Smote off', 'pierced' and 'stricken through' are three different verbs (machats, machaq, chalaph) for the one deed. In the prose, 4:21 says the nail went 'into his temples', and 4:22 finds him 'dead, and the nail was in his temples'.

Verse 28

The mother of Sisera — The scene moves to Sisera's mother at the 'lattice', eshnab, a word found elsewhere only in Prov 7:6. She waits for 'his chariot', though Sisera had gone from it 'on his feet' (4:15).

Verse 30

to every man a damsel or two — The Hebrew word for 'damsel' (racham) is elsewhere 'mercy' or 'compassion', and twice 'womb' (Gen 49:25; Isa 46:3); here it names a young woman. The mother lists the plunder she expects: women, and dyed cloth 'of divers colours of needlework'. The song said of the kings of Canaan that they 'took no gain of money' (v.19).

Verse 31

them that love him — The LORD promises mercy 'unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments' (Ex 20:6). 'As the sun when he goeth forth in his might' is the picture Christ uses: 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father' (Matt 13:43). 'Rest forty years' was also said under Othniel (3:11).