1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
11 They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.
16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
1 Then sang H7891 Deborah H1683 and Barak H1301 the son H1121 of Abinoam H42 on that day, H3117 saying, H559
2 Praise H1288 ye the LORD H3068 for the avenging H6544 H6546 of Israel, H3478 when the people H5971 willingly offered H5068 themselves.
3 Hear, H8085 O ye kings; H4428 give ear, H238 O ye princes; H7336 I, even I, will sing H7891 unto the LORD; H3068 I will sing H2167 praise to the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel. H3478
4 LORD, H3068 when thou wentest out H3318 of Seir, H8165 when thou marchedst out H6805 of the field H7704 of Edom, H123 the earth H776 trembled, H7493 and the heavens H8064 dropped, H5197 the clouds H5645 also dropped H5197 water. H4325
5 The mountains H2022 melted H5140 from before H6440 the LORD, H3068 even that Sinai H5514 from before H6440 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel. H3478
6 In the days H3117 of Shamgar H8044 the son H1121 of Anath, H6067 in the days H3117 of Jael, H3278 the highways H734 were unoccupied, H2308 and the travellers H1980 walked H3212 through byways. H6128 H5410
7 The inhabitants of the villages H6520 ceased, H2308 they ceased H2308 in Israel, H3478 until that I Deborah H1683 arose, H6965 that I arose H6965 a mother H517 in Israel. H3478
8 They chose H977 new H2319 gods; H430 then was war H3901 in the gates: H8179 was there a shield H4043 or spear H7420 seen H7200 among forty H705 thousand H505 in Israel? H3478
9 My heart H3820 is toward the governors H2710 of Israel, H3478 that offered themselves willingly H5068 among the people. H5971 Bless H1288 ye the LORD. H3068
10 Speak, H7878 ye that ride H7392 on white H6715 asses, H860 ye that sit H3427 in judgment, H4055 and walk H1980 by the way. H1870
11 They that are delivered from the noise H6963 of archers H2686 in the places of drawing water, H4857 there shall they rehearse H8567 the righteous acts H6666 of the LORD, H3068 even the righteous acts H6666 toward the inhabitants of his villages H6520 in Israel: H3478 then shall the people H5971 of the LORD H3068 go down H3381 to the gates. H8179
12 Awake, H5782 awake, H5782 Deborah: H1683 awake, H5782 awake, H5782 utter H1696 a song: H7892 arise, H6965 Barak, H1301 and lead thy captivity H7628 captive, H7617 thou son H1121 of Abinoam. H42
13 Then he made him that remaineth H8300 have dominion H7287 over the nobles H117 among the people: H5971 the LORD H3068 made me have dominion H7287 over the mighty. H1368
14 Out of Ephraim H669 was there a root H8328 of them against Amalek; H6002 after H310 thee, Benjamin, H1144 among thy people; H5971 out of Machir H4353 came down H3381 governors, H2710 and out of Zebulun H2074 they that handle H4900 the pen H7626 of the writer. H5608
15 And the princes H8269 of Issachar H3485 were with Deborah; H1683 even Issachar, H3485 and also Barak: H1301 he was sent H7971 on foot H7272 into the valley. H6010 For the divisions H6390 of Reuben H7205 there were great H1419 thoughts H2711 of heart. H3820
16 Why abodest H3427 thou among H996 the sheepfolds, H4942 to hear H8085 the bleatings H8292 of the flocks? H5739 For the divisions H6390 of Reuben H7205 there were great H1419 searchings H2714 of heart. H3820
17 Gilead H1568 abode H7931 beyond H5676 Jordan: H3383 and why did Dan H1835 remain H1481 in ships? H591 Asher H836 continued H3427 on the sea H3220 shore, H2348 and abode H7931 in his breaches. H4664
18 Zebulun H2074 and Naphtali H5321 were a people H5971 that jeoparded H2778 their lives H5315 unto the death H4191 in the high places H4791 of the field. H7704
19 The kings H4428 came H935 and fought, H3898 then fought H3898 the kings H4428 of Canaan H3667 in Taanach H8590 by the waters H4325 of Megiddo; H4023 they took H3947 no gain H1215 of money. H3701
20 They fought H3898 from heaven; H8064 the stars H3556 in their courses H4546 fought H3898 against Sisera. H5516
21 The river H5158 of Kishon H7028 swept them away, H1640 that ancient H6917 river, H5158 the river H5158 Kishon. H7028 O my soul, H5315 thou hast trodden down H1869 strength. H5797
22 Then were the horsehoofs H6119 H5483 broken H1986 by the means of the pransings, H1726 the pransings H1726 of their mighty ones. H47
23 Curse H779 ye Meroz, H4789 said H559 the angel H4397 of the LORD, H3068 curse H779 ye bitterly H779 the inhabitants H3427 thereof; because they came H935 not to the help H5833 of the LORD, H3068 to the help H5833 of the LORD H3068 against the mighty. H1368
24 Blessed H1288 above women H802 shall Jael H3278 the wife H802 of Heber H2268 the Kenite H7017 be, blessed H1288 shall she be above women H802 in the tent. H168
25 He asked H7592 water, H4325 and she gave H5414 him milk; H2461 she brought forth H7126 butter H2529 in a lordly H117 dish. H5602
26 She put H7971 her hand H3027 to the nail, H3489 and her right hand H3225 to the workmen's H6001 hammer; H1989 and with the hammer she smote H1986 Sisera, H5516 she smote off H4277 his head, H7218 when she had pierced H4272 and stricken through H2498 his temples. H7541
27 At her feet H7272 he bowed, H3766 he fell, H5307 he lay down: H7901 at her feet H7272 he bowed, H3766 he fell: H5307 where H834 he bowed, H3766 there he fell down H5307 dead. H7703
28 The mother H517 of Sisera H5516 looked H8259 out at a window, H2474 and cried H2980 through the lattice, H822 Why is his chariot H7393 so long H954 in coming? H935 why tarry H309 the wheels H6471 of his chariots? H4818
29 Her wise H2450 ladies H8282 answered H6030 her, yea, she returned H7725 answer H561 to herself,
30 Have they not sped? H4672 have they not divided H2505 the prey; H7998 to every H7218 man H1397 a damsel H7356 or two; H7361 to Sisera H5516 a prey H7998 of divers colours, H6648 a prey H7998 of divers colours H6648 of needlework, H7553 of divers colours H6648 of needlework on both sides, H7553 meet for the necks H6677 of them that take the spoil? H7998
31 So let all thine enemies H341 perish, H6 O LORD: H3068 but let them that love H157 him be as the sun H8121 when he goeth forth H3318 in his might. H1369 And the land H776 had rest H8252 forty H705 years. H8141
1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah.
3 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.
4 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.
5 The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways.
7 The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah.
10 Tell `of it', ye that ride on white asses, Ye that sit on rich carpets, And ye that walk by the way.
11 Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, `Even' the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
13 Then came down a remnant of the nobles `and' the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim `came down' they 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.
15 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.
16 Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.
17 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.
18 Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money.
20 From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength.
22 Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
23 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.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, `and' she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
26 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.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera `cried' through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,
30 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?
31 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.
1 And Deborah singeth -- also Barak son of Abinoam -- on that day, saying: --
2 `For freeing freemen in Israel, For a people willingly offering themselves Bless ye Jehovah.
3 Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes, I, to Jehovah, I -- I do sing, I sing praise to Jehovah, God of Israel.
4 Jehovah, in Thy going forth out of Seir, In Thy stepping out of the field of Edom, Earth trembled, also the heavens dropped, Also thick clouds dropped water.
5 Hills flowed from the face of Jehovah, This one -- Sinai -- From the face of Jehovah, God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath -- In the days of Jael -- The ways have ceased, And those going in the paths go `in' crooked ways.
7 Villages ceased in Israel -- they ceased, Till that I arose -- Deborah, That I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 He chooseth new gods, Then war `is' at the gates! A shield is not seen -- and a spear Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart `is' to the lawgivers of Israel, Who are offering themselves willingly among the people, Bless ye Jehovah!
10 Riders on white asses -- Sitters on a long robe -- And walkers by the way -- meditate!
11 By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song; Rise, Barak, and take captive thy captivity, Son of Abinoam.
13 Then him who is left of the honourable ones He caused to rule the people of Jehovah, He caused me to rule among the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim their root `is' against Amalek. After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples. Out of Machir came down lawgivers, And out of Zebulun those drawing with the reed of a writer.
15 And princes in Issachar `are' with Deborah, Yea, Issachar `is' right with Barak, Into the valley he was sent on his feet. In the divisions of Reuben, Great `are' the decrees of heart!
16 Why hast thou abode between the boundaries, To hear lowings of herds? For the divisions of Reuben, Great `are' the searchings of heart!
17 Gilead beyond the Jordan did tabernacle, And Dan -- why doth he sojourn `in' ships? Asher hath abode at the haven of the seas, And by his creeks doth tabernacle.
18 Zebulun `is' a people who exposed its soul to death, Naphtali also -- on high places of the field.
19 Kings came -- they fought; Then fought kings of Canaan, In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; Gain of money they took not!
20 From the heavens they fought: The stars from their highways fought with Sisera.
21 The brook Kishon swept them away, The brook most ancient -- the brook Kishon. Thou dost tread down strength, O my soul!
22 Then broken were the horse-heels, By pransings -- pransings of its mighty ones.
23 Curse Meroz -- said a messenger of Jehovah, Cursing, curse ye its inhabitants, For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty!
24 Blessed above women is Jael, Wife of Heber the Kenite, Above women in the tent she is blessed.
25 Water he asked -- milk she gave; In a lordly dish she brought near butter.
26 Her hand to the pin she sendeth forth, And her right hand to the labourers' hammer, And she hammered Sisera -- she smote his head, Yea, she smote, and it passed through his temple.
27 Between her feet he bowed -- He fell, he lay down; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell -- destroyed.
28 Through the window she hath looked out -- Yea, she crieth out -- the mother of Sisera, Through the lattice: Wherefore is his chariot delaying to come? Wherefore tarried have the steps of his chariot?
29 The wise ones, her princesses, answer her, Yea, she returneth her sayings to herself:
30 Do they not find? -- they apportion spoil, A female -- two females -- for every head, Spoil of finger-work for Sisera, Spoil of embroidered finger-work, Finger-work -- a pair of embroidered things, For the necks of the spoil!
31 So do all Thine enemies perish, O Jehovah, And those loving Him `are' As the going out of the sun in its might!' and the land resteth forty years.
1 Then sang Deb'orah and Barak the son of Abin'o-am on that day:
2 "That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!
3 "Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing, I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.
4 "LORD, when thou didst go forth from Se'ir, when thou didst march from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, yon Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.
6 "In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Ja'el, caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways.
7 The peasantry ceased in Israel, they ceased until you arose, Deb'orah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the LORD.
10 "Tell of it, you who ride on tawny asses, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way.
11 To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the triumphs of the LORD, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD.
12 "Awake, awake, Deb'orah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abin'o-am.
13 Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for him against the mighty.
14 From E'phraim they set out thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zeb'ulun those who bear the marshal's staff;
15 the princes of Is'sachar came with Deb'orah, and Is'sachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed forth at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
16 Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings.
18 Zeb'ulun is a people that jeoparded their lives to the death; Naph'tali too, on the heights of the field.
19 "The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Ta'anach, by the waters of Megid'do; they got no spoils of silver.
20 From heaven fought the stars, from their courses they fought against Sis'era.
21 The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!
22 "Then loud beat the horses' hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 "Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24 "Most blessed of women be Ja'el, the wife of Heber the Ken'ite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 He asked water and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.
26 She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sis'era a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.
28 "Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sis'era gazed through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'
29 Her wisest ladies make answer, nay, she gives answer to herself,
30 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? --A maiden or two for every man; spoil of dyed stuffs for Sis'era, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?'
31 "So perish all thine enemies, O LORD! But thy friends be like the sun as he rises in his might." And the land had rest for forty years.
1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless you Yahweh.
3 Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes; I, [even] I, will sing to Yahweh; I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
4 Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir, When you marched out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the sky also dropped, Yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, The travelers walked through byways.
7 The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, Who offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless you Yahweh.
10 Tell [of it], you who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, You who walk by the way.
11 Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh, [Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.
13 Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people; Yahweh came down for me against the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim [came down] they whose root is in Amalek; After you, Benjamin, among your peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, Out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal's staff.
15 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.
16 Why sat you among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, Abode by his creeks.
18 Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death, Naphtali, on the high places of the field.
19 The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money.
20 From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength.
22 Then did the horse hoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
23 Curse you Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh. Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it, Because they didn't come to the help of Yahweh, To the help of Yahweh against the mighty.
24 Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25 He asked water, [and] she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
26 She put her hand to the tent-pin, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head; Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?
29 Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself,
30 Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies 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?
31 So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh: But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. The land had rest forty years.
1 At that time Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, made this song, saying:
2 Because of the flowing hair of the fighters in Israel, because the people gave themselves freely, give praise to the Lord.
3 Give attention, O kings; give ear, O rulers; I, even I, will make a song to the Lord; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you went out from Seir, moving like an army from the field of Edom, the earth was shaking and the heavens were troubled, and the clouds were dropping water.
5 The mountains were shaking before the Lord, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were not used, and travellers went by side roads.
7 Country towns were no more in Israel, *** were no more, till you, Deborah, came up, till you came up as a mother in Israel.
8 They had no one to make arms, there were no more armed men in the towns; was there a body-cover or a spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9 Come, you rulers of Israel, you who gave yourselves freely among the people: give praise to the Lord.
10 Let them give thought to it, who go on white asses, and those who are walking on the road.
11 Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel.
12 Awake! awake! Deborah: awake! awake! give a song: Up! Barak, and take prisoner those who took you prisoner, O son of Abinoam.
13 Then the chiefs went down to the doors; the Lord's people went down among the strong ones.
14 Out of Ephraim they came down into the valley; after you, Benjamin, among your tribesmen; from Machir came down the captains, and from Zebulun those in whose hand is the ruler's rod.
15 Your chiefs, Issachar, were with Deborah; and Naphtali was true to Barak; into the valley they went rushing out at his feet. In Reuben there were divisions, and great searchings of heart.
16 Why did you keep quiet among the sheep, hearing nothing but the watchers piping to the flocks?
17 Gilead was living over Jordan; and Dan was waiting in his ships; Asher kept in his place by the sea's edge, living by his inlets.
18 It was the people of Zebulun who put their lives in danger, even to death, with Naphtali on the high places of the field.
19 The kings came on to the fight, the kings of Canaan were warring; in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: they took no profit in money.
20 The stars from heaven were fighting; from their highways they were fighting against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon took them violently away, stopping their flight, the river Kishon. Give praise, O my soul, to the strength of the Lord!
22 Then loudly the feet of the horses were sounding with the stamping, the stamping of their war-horses.
23 A curse, a curse on Meroz! said the angel of the Lord. A bitter curse on her townspeople! Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the strong ones.
24 Blessings be on Jael, more than on all women! Blessings greater than on any in the tents!
25 His request was for water, she gave him milk; she put butter before him on a fair plate.
26 She put out her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and she gave Sisera a blow, crushing his head, wounding and driving through his brow.
27 Bent at her feet he went down, he was stretched out; bent at her feet he went down; where he was bent down, there he went down in death.
28 Looking out from the window she gave a cry, the mother of Sisera was crying out through the window, Why is his carriage so long in coming? When will the noise of his wheels be sounding?
29 Her wise women gave answer to her, yes, she made answer again to herself,
30 Are they not getting, are they not parting the goods among them: a young girl or two to every man; and to Sisera robes of coloured needlework, worked in fair colours on this side and on that, for the neck of the queen?
31 So may destruction come on all your haters, O Lord; but let your lovers be like the sun going out in his strength. And for forty years the land had peace.
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Commentary on Judges 5 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Deborah's Song of Victory - Judges 5
This highly poetical song is so direct and lively an utterance of the mighty force of the enthusiasm awakened by the exaltation of Israel, and its victory over Sisera, that its genuineness if generally admitted now. After a general summons to praise the Lord for the courage with which the people rose up to fight against their foes (Judges 5:2), Deborah the singer dilates in the first section (Judges 5:3-11) upon the significance of the victory, picturing in lively colours (1) the glorious times when Israel was exalted to be the nation of the Lord (Judges 5:3-5); (2) the disgraceful decline of the nation in the more recent times (Judges 5:6-8); and (3) the joyful turn of affairs which followed her appearance (Judges 5:9-11). After a fresh summons to rejoice in their victory (Judges 5:12), there follows in the second section (Judges 5:13-21) a lively picture of the conflict and victory, in which there is a vivid description ( a ) of the mighty gathering of the brave to battle ( Judges 5:13-15 ); ( b ) of the cowardice of those who stayed away from the battle, and of the bravery with which the braver warriors risked their lives in the battle ( Judges 5:15-18); and ( c ) of the successful result of the conflict (Judges 5:19-21). To this there is appended in the third section (Judges 5:22-31) an account of the glorious issue of the battle and the victory: first of all, a brief notice of the flight and pursuit of the foe (Judges 5:22-24); secondly, a commemoration of the slaying of Sisera by Jael (Judges 5:24-27); and thirdly, a scornful description of the disappointment of Sisera's mother, who was counting upon a large arrival of booty (Judges 5:28-30). The song then closes with the hope, founded upon this victory, that all the enemies of the Lord might perish, and Israel increase in strength ( Judges 5:31 ). The whole song, therefore, is divided into three leading sections, each of which again is arranged in three somewhat unequal strophes, the first and second sections being introduced by a summons to the praise of God (Judges 5:2, Judges 5:12), whilst the third closes with an expression of hope, drawn from the contents of the whole, with regard to the future prospects of the kingdom of God ( Judges 5:31 ).
The historical introduction (“ Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying ”) takes the place of a heading, and does not mean that the song of Deborah and Barak which follows was composed by them jointly, but simply that it was sung by them together, in commemoration of the victory. The poetess or writer of the song, according to Judges 5:3, Judges 5:7, and Judges 5:12, was Deborah. The song itself opens with a summons to praise the Lord for the willing and joyful rising up of His people.
2 That the strong in Israel showed themselves strong,
That the people willingly offered themselves,
Praise ye the Lord!
The meaning of פּרע and פּרעות is a subject of dispute. According to the Septuagint rendering, and that of Theodot ., ἐν τῷ ἄρξασθαι ἀρχηγοὺς ἐν Ἰσραήλ , many give it the meaning to begin or to lead, and endeavour to establish this meaning from an Arabic word signifying to find one's self at the head of an affair. But this meaning cannot be established in Hebrew. פּרע has no other meaning than to let loose from something, to let a person loose or free (see at Leviticus 10:6); and in the only other passage where פּרעות occurs (Deuteronomy 32:42), it does not refer to a leader, but to the luxuriant growth of the hair as the sign of great strength. Hence in this passage also פּרעות literally means comati , the hairy ones, i.e., those who possessed strength; and פּרע , to manifest or put forth strength. The persons referred to are the champions in the fight, who went before the nation with strength and bravery. The preposition בּ before פּרע indicates the reason for praising God, or rather the object with which the praise of the Lord was connected. וגו בּפרע , literally “in the showing themselves strong.” The meaning is, “for the fact that the strong in Israel put forth strength.” התנדּב , to prove one's self willing, here to go into the battle of their own free will, without any outward and authoritative command. This introduction transports us in the most striking manner into the time of the judges, when Israel had no king who could summon the nation to war, but everything depended upon the voluntary rising of the strong and the will of the nation at large. The manifestation of this strength and willingness Deborah praises as a gracious gift of the Lord. After this summons to praise the Lord, the first part of the song opens with an appeal to the kings and princes of the earth to hear what Deborah has to proclaim to the praise of God.
3 Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes!
I, to the Lord will I sing,
Will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, when Thou wentest out from Seir,
When Thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom,
The earth trembled, and the heavens also dropped;
The clouds also dropped water.
5 The mountains shook before the Lord,
Sinai there before the Lord, the God of Israel.
The “kings and princes” are not the rulers in Israel, for Israel had no kings at that time, but the kings and princes of the heathen nations, as in Psalms 2:2. These were to discern the mighty acts of Jehovah in Israel, and learn to fear Jehovah as the almighty God. For the song to be sung applies to Him, the God of Israel. זמּר , ψάλλειν , is the technical expression for singing with an instrumental accompaniment (see at Exodus 15:2).
To give the Lord the glory for the victory which had been gained through His omnipotent help over the powerful army of Sisera, and to fill the heathen with fear of Jehovah, and the Israelites with love and confidence towards Him, the singer reverts to the terribly glorious manifestation of Jehovah in the olden time, when Israel was accepted as the nation of God (Ex 19). Just as Moses in his blessing (Deuteronomy 33:2) referred the tribes of Israel to this mighty act, as the source of all salvation and blessing for Israel, so the prophetess Deborah makes the praise of this glorious manifestation of God the starting-point of her praise of the great grace, which Jehovah as the faithful covenant God had displayed to His people in her own days. The tacit allusion to Moses' blessing is very unmistakeable. But whereas Moses describes the descent of the Lord upon Sinai (Ex 19), according to its gracious significance in relation to the tribes of Israel, as an objective fact (Jehovah came from Sinai, Deuteronomy 33:2), Deborah clothes the remembrance of it in the form of an address to God, to bring out the thought that the help which Israel had just experienced was a renewal of the coming of the Lord to His people. Jehovah's going out of Seir, and marching out of the fields of Edom, is to be interpreted in the same sense as His rising up from Seir (Deuteronomy 33:2). As the descent of the Lord upon Sinai is depicted there as a rising of the sun from the east, so the same descent in a black cloud amidst thunder, lightning, fire, and vapour of smoke (Exodus 19:16, Exodus 19:18), is represented here with direct allusion to these phenomena as a storm rising up from Seir in the east, in which the Lord advanced to meet His people as they came from the west to Sinai. Before the Lord, who came down upon Sinai in the storm and darkness of the cloud, the earth shook and the heaven dropped, or, as it is afterwards more definitely explained, the clouds dropped with water, emptied themselves of their abundance of water as they do in the case of a storm. The mountains shook ( נזלוּ , Niphal of זלל , dropping the reduplication of the ל = נזלּוּ , Isaiah 63:19; Isaiah 64:2), even the strong rocky mountain of Sinai, which stood out so distinctly before the eyes of the singer, that she speaks of it as “this Sinai,” pointing to it as though it were locally near. David's description of the miraculous guidance of Israel through the desert in Psalms 68:8-9, is evidently founded upon this passage, though it by no means follows from this that the passage before us also treats of the journey through the desert, as Clericus supposes, or even of the presence of the Lord in the battle with Sisera, and the victory which it secured. But greatly as Israel had been exalted at Sinai by the Lord its God, it had fallen just as deeply into bondage to its oppressors through its own sins, until Deborah arose to help it (Judges 5:6-8).
6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the paths kept holiday,
And the wanderers of the paths went crooked ways.
7 The towns in Israel kept holiday, they kept holiday,
Until that I, Deborah, arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel
8 They chose new gods;
Then was war at the gates:
Was there a shield seen and a spear
Among forty thousand in Israel?
The deep degradation and disgrace into which Israel had sunk before the appearance of Deborah, through its falling away from the Lord into idolatry, forms the dark reverse of that glorification at Sinai. Although, after Ehud, Shamgar had also brought help to the people against their enemies by a victory over the Philistines (Judges 3:31), and although Jael, who proved herself a heroine by slaying the fugitive Sisera, was then alive, things had got to such a pitch with Israel, that no one would venture upon the public high roads. There are no good grounds for the conjecture that Jael was a different person from the Jael mentioned in Judges 4:17., whether a judge who is not further known, as Ewald supposes, or a female judge who stood at the head of the nation in these unhappy times ( Bertheau ). ארחות חדלוּ , lit., “ the paths ceased ,” sc., to be paths, or to be trodden by men. נתיבות הלכי , “ those who went upon paths ,” or beaten ways, i.e., those who were obliged to undertake journeys for the purpose of friendly intercourse or trade, notwithstanding the burden of foreign rule which pressed upon the land; such persons went by “ twisted paths ,” i.e., by roads and circuitous routes which turned away from the high roads. And the פּרזון , i.e., the cultivated land , with its open towns and villages, and with their inhabitants, was as forsaken and desolate as the public highways. The word perazon has been rendered judge or guidance by modern expositors, after the example of Teller and Gesenius ; and in Judges 5:11 decision or guidance. But this meaning, which has been adopted into all the more recent lexicons, has nothing really to support it, and does not even suit our verse, into which it would introduce the strange contradiction, that at the time when Shamgar and Jael were judges, there were no judges in Israel. In addition to the Septuagint version, which renders the word δυνατοὶ in this verse (i.e., according to the Cod . Vat ., for the Col . Al . has φράζων ), and then in the most unmeaning way adopts the rendering αὔξησον in Judges 5:11, from which we may clearly see that the translators did not know the meaning of the word, it is common to adduce an Arabic word which signifies segregavit, discrevit rem ab aliis , though it is impossible to prove that the Arabic word ever had the meaning to judge or to lead. All the old translators, as well as the Rabbins, have based their rendering of the word upon פּרזי , inhabitant of the flat country (Deuteronomy 3:5, and 1 Samuel 6:18), and פּרזות , the open flat country, as distinguished from the towns surrounded by walls (Ezekiel 38:11; Zechariah 2:8), according to which פּרזון , as the place of meeting, would denote both the cultivated land with its unenclosed towns and villages, and also the population that was settled in the open country in unfortified places-a meaning which also lies at the foundation of the word in Habakkuk 3:14. Accordingly, Luther has rendered the word Bauern (peasants). שׁקּמתּי עד for קמתּי אשׁר עד . The contraction of אשׁר into שׁ , with Dagesh following, and generally pointed with Seghol , but here with Patach on account of the ק , which is closely related to the gutturals, belongs to the popular character of the song, and is therefore also found in the Song of Solomon (Judges 1:12; Judges 2:7, Judges 2:17; Judges 4:6). It is also met with here and there in simple prose (Judges 6:17; Judges 7:12; Judges 8:26); but it was only in the literature of the time of the captivity and a still later date, that it found its way more and more from the language of ordinary conversation into that of the Scriptures. Deborah describes herself as “a mother in Israel,” on account of her having watched over her people with maternal care, just as Job calls himself a father to the poor who had been supported by him (Job 29:16; cf. Isaiah 22:21).
Judges 5:8 describes the cause of the misery into which Israel had fallen. חדשׁים אלהים is the object to יבחר , and the subject is to be found in the previous term Israel . Israel forsook its God and creator, and chose new gods, i.e., gods not worshipped by its fathers (vid., Deuteronomy 32:17). Then there was war ( לחם , the construct state of לחם , a verbal noun formed from the Piel , and signifying conflict or war) at the gates; i.e., the enemy pressed up to the very gates of the Israelitish towns, and besieged them, and there was not seen a shield or spear among forty thousand in Israel, i.e., there were no warriors found in Israel who ventured to defend the land against the foe. אם indicates a question with a negative reply assumed, as in 1 Kings 1:27, etc. Shield and spear (or lance) are mentioned particularly as arms of offence and defence, to signify arms of all kinds. The words are not to be explained from 1 Samuel 13:22, as signifying that there were no longer any weapons to be found among the Israelites, because the enemy had taken them away (“not seen” is not equivalent to “not found” in 1 Samuel 13:22); they simply affirm that there were no longer any weapons to be seen, because not one of the 40,000 men in Israel took a weapon in his hand. The number 40,000 is not the number of the men who offered themselves willingly for battle, according to Judges 5:2 ( Bertheau ); for apart from the fact that they did not go unarmed into the battle, it is at variance with the statement in Judges 4:6, Judges 4:10, that Barak went into the war and smote the enemy with only 10,000 men. It is a round number, i.e., an approximative statement of the number of the warriors who might have smitten the enemy and delivered Israel from bondage, and was probably chosen with a reference to the 40,000 fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan, who went with Joshua to Canaan and helped their brethren to conquer the land (Joshua 4:13). Most of the more recent expositors have given a different rendering of Judges 5:8. Many of them render the first clause according to the Peshito and Vulgate , “ God chose something new ,” taking Elohim as the subject, and chadashim (new) as the object. But to this it has very properly been objected, that, according to the terms of the song, it was not Elohim but Jehovah who effected the deliverance of Israel, and that the Hebrew for new things is not חדשׁים , but חדשׁות (Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 48:6), or חדשׁה (Isaiah 43:19; Jeremiah 31:22). On these grounds Ewald and Bertheau render Elohim “judges” (they chose new judges), and appeal to Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7-8, where the authorities who administered justice in the name of God are called Elohim . But these passages are not sufficient by themselves to establish the meaning “judges,” and still less to establish the rendering “new judges” for Elohim chadashim . Moreover, according to both these explanations, the next clause must be understood as relating to the specially courageous conflict which the Israelites in their enthusiasm carried on with Sisera; whereas the further statement, that among 40,000 warriors who offered themselves willingly for battle there was not a shield or a lance to be seen, is irreconcilably at variance with this. For the explanation suggested, namely, that these warriors did not possess the ordinary weapons for a well-conducted engagement, but had nothing but bows and swords, or instead of weapons of any kind had only the staffs and tools of shepherds and husbandmen, is proved to be untenable by the simple fact that there is nothing at all to indicate any contrast between ordinary and extraordinary weapons, and that such a contrast is altogether foreign to the context. Moreover, the fact appealed to, that אז points to a victorious conflict in Judges 5:13, Judges 5:19, Judges 5:22, as well as in Judges 5:11, is not strong enough to support the view in question, as אז is employed in Judges 5:19 in connection with the battle of the kings of Canaan, which was not a successful one, but terminated in a defeat.
The singer now turns from the contemplation of the deep degradation of Israel to the glorious change which took place as soon as she appeared: -
9 My heart inclines to the leaders of Israel;
To those who offered themselves willingly in the nation. Praise ye the Lord!
10 Ye that ride upon white asses;
Ye that sit upon covering,
And that walk in the way, reflect!
11 With the voice of the archers among drawers (of water),
There praise ye the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts of His villages in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates!
We must supply the subst. verb in connection with ל לבּי , “ My heart is (sc., inclined) towards the leaders of Israel ,” i.e., feels itself drawn towards them. הוקק for מהוקק (Judges 5:14), the determining one, i.e., the commander or leader in war: as in Deuteronomy 33:21. The leaders and willing ones are first of all to praise the Lord for having crowned their willingness with victory.
And all classes of the people, both high and low, have reason to join in the praise. Those who ride upon white, i.e., white-spotted asses, are the upper classes generally, and not merely the leaders (cf. Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14). צהר , lit . dazzling white; but since there are no asses that are perfectly white, and white was a colour that was highly valued both by Hebrews and Arabs, they applied the term white to those that were only spotted with white. Those who sit upon coverings ( מדּין from מד , a covering or carpet, with the plural termination ין , which is to be regarded as a poetical Chaldaism) are the rich and prosperous; and those who walk on the way, i.e., travellers on foot, represent the middle and lower classes, who have to go about and attend to their affairs. Considered logically, this triple division of the nation is not a very exact one, as the first two do not form a true antithesis. But the want of exactness does not warrant our fusing together the middle term and the first, and understanding by middin either saddles or saddle-cloths, as Ewald and Bertheau have done; for saddle-cloths are still further from forming an antithesis to asses, so that those who ride upon white asses could be distinguished, as the upper classes and leaders, from those who sit upon saddles, or are “somewhat richer.” Moreover, there is no reason for regarding these three classes as referring simply to the long line of warriors hastening from the victory to the triumphal fête. On the contrary, all classes of the people are addressed, as enjoying the fruits of the victory that had been obtained: the upper classes, who ride upon their costly animals; the rich resting at home upon their splendid carpets; and the poor travellers, who can now go quietly along the high-road again without fear of interruption from the foe (Judges 5:6). שׂיחוּ is rendered “ sing ” by many; but this rendering cannot be sustained from Psalms 105:2 and Psalms 145:5, and it is not necessary on the verse before us, since the well-established meaning of the word “ponder,” reflect, sc., upon the acts of the Lord, is a perfectly suitable one.
The whole nation had good reason to make this reflection, as the warriors, having returned home, were now relating the mighty acts of the Lord among the women who were watering their flocks, and the people had returned to their towns once more. This is in all probability the idea of the obscure verse before us, which has been interpreted in such very different ways. The first clause, which has no verb, and cannot constitute a sentence by itself, must be connected with the following clause, and taken as an anakolouthon , as יתנּוּ שׁם does not form a direct continuation of the clause commencing with מקּול . After the words “ from the voice of the archers ,” we should expect the continuation “ there is heard ,” or “there sounds forth the praise of the acts of the Lord.” Instead of that, the construction that was commenced is relinquished at יתנּוּ שׁם , and a different turn is given to the thought. This not only seems to offer the simplest explanation, but the only possible solution of the difficulty. For the explanation that מן is to be taken as signifying “away from,” as in Numbers 15:24, etc., in the sense of “far from the voice of the archers, among the watering women,” does not suit the following word שׁם , “there,” at all. It would be necessary to attribute to מן the meaning “no more disquieted by,” a meaning which the preposition could not possibly have in this clause. מחצצים are not sharers in the booty, for חצץ simply means to cut, to cut in pieces, to divide, and is never applied to the sharing of booty, for which חלּק is the word used (vid., Judges 5:30; Psalms 68:13; Isaiah 9:2). מחצּץ is to be regarded, as the Rabbins maintain, as a denom . from חץ , to hold an arrow, signifying therefore the shooter of an arrow. It was probably a natural thing for Deborah, who dwelt in Benjamin, to mention the archers as representatives of warriors generally, since this was the principal weapon employed by the Benjaminites (see 1 Chronicles 8:40; 1 Chronicles 12:2; 2 Chronicles 14:7; 2 Chronicles 17:17). The tarrying of the warriors among the drawers of water, where the flocks and herds were being watered, points to the time of peace, when the warriors were again occupied with their civil and domestic affairs. יתנּוּ is a simple aorist. תּנּה , lit . to repeat, then to relate, or praise. “ The righteousness of Jehovah ,” i.e., the marvellous acts of the Lord in and upon Israel for the accomplishing of His purposes of salvation, in which the righteousness of His work upon earth was manifested (cf. 1 Samuel 12:7; Micah 6:5). פּרזונו צדקות has been rendered by modern expositors, either “the righteous acts of His guidance or of His decision” ( Ewald and Bertheau ), or “the righteous acts of His commanders,” or “the benefits towards His princes (leaders) in Israel” ( Ros . and others). But neither of these can be sustained. We must take פּרזון here in just the same sense as in Judges 5:7; the country covered with open towns and villages, together with their inhabitants, whom Jehovah had delivered from the hostile oppression that had rested upon them, by means of the victory obtained over Sisera. After that victory the people of the Lord went down again to their gates, from the mountains and hiding-places in which they had taken refuge from their foes (Judges 5:6, Judges 5:7), returning again to the plains of the land, and the towns that were now delivered from the foe.
Judges 5:12 forms the introduction to the second part, viz., the description of the conflict and the victory. Throwing herself into the great event which she is about to commemorate, Deborah calls upon herself to strike up a song, and upon Barak to lead off his prisoners:
12 Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, utter a song!
Rise up, Barak, and lead captive thy captives, O son of Abinoam!
עוּרי has the tone upon the last syllable on the first two occasions, to answer to the rapid summoning burst of the Lord in the opening address ( Bertheau ). שׁבי שׁבה , to lead away captives, as the fruit of the victory; not merely to lead in triumph. On the form וּשׁבה with Chateph-patach , see Ewald , §90, b . In the next three strophes of this part (Judges 5:13-21) the progress of the conflict is described; and in the first two the part taken in the battle by the different tribes ( Judges 5:13-15 , and Judges 5:15-18).
13 Then came down a remnant of nobles of the nation;
Jehovah came down to me among the heroes.
14 Of Ephraim, whose root in Amalek;
Behind thee Benjamin among thy peoples.
From Machir came down leaders,
And from Zebulun marchers with the staff of the conductor.
15 a And princes in Issachar with Deborah,
And Issachar as well as Barak,
Driven into the valley through his feet.
Looking back to the commencement of the battle, the poetess describes the streaming of the brave men of the nation down from the mountains, to fight the enemy with Barak and Deborah in the valley of Jezreel; though the whole nation did not raise as one man against its oppressors, but only a remnant of the noble and brave in the nation, with whom Jehovah went into the battle. In Judges 5:13 the Masoretic pointing of ירד is connected with the rabbinical idea of the word as the fut . apoc . of רדה : “ then (now) will the remnant rule over the glorious ,” i.e., the remnant left in Israel over the stately foe; “Jehovah rules for me (or through me) over the heroes in Sisera's army,” which Luther has also adopted. But, as Schnurr . has maintained, this view is decidedly erroneous, inasmuch as it is altogether irreconcilable with the description which follows of the marching of the tribes of Israel into the battle. ירד is to be understood in the same sense as ירדוּ in Judges 5:14, and to be pointed as a perfect ירד .
(Note: The Cod . Al . of the lxx contains the correct rendering, τότε κατέβη κατάλειμμα . In the Targum also ירד is correctly translated נתת , descendit , although the germs of the rabbinical interpretation are contained in the paraphrase of the whole verse: tunc descendit unus ex exercitu Israel et fregit fortitudinem fortium gentium. Ecce non ex fortitudine manus eorum fuit hoc; sed Dominus fregit ante populum suum fortitudinem virorum osorum eorum .)
“ There came down ,” sc., from the mountains of the land into the plain of Jezreel, a remnant of nobles. לאדּירים is used instead of a closer subordination through the construct state, to bring out the idea of שׂריד into greater prominence (see Ewald , §292). עם is in apposition to לאדּירים , and not to be connected with the following word יהוה , as it is by some, in opposition to the accents. The thought is rather this: with the nobles or among the brave Jehovah himself went against the foe. לי is a dat. commodi , equivalent to “for my joy.”
“ From ( מנּי , poetical for מן ) Ephraim ,” sc., there came fighting men; not the whole tribe, but only nobles or brave men, and indeed those whose roots were in Amalek, i.e., those who were rooted or had taken root, i.e., had settled and spread themselves out upon the tribe-territory of Ephraim, which had formerly been inhabited by Amalekites, the mount of the Amalekites, mentioned in Judges 12:15 (for the figure itself, see Isaiah 27:6; Psalms 80:10, and Job 5:3). “ Behind thee ,” i.e., behind Ephraim, there followed Benjamin among thy (Ephraim's) people ( עממים , a poetical form for עמּים , in the sense of hosts). Benjamin lived farther south than Ephraim, and therefore, when looked at from the stand-point of the plain of Jezreel, behind Ephraim; “but he came upon the scene of battle, either in subordination to the more powerful Ephraimites, or rushing on with the Ephraimitish hosts” ( Bertheau ). “ From Machir ,” i.e., from western Manasseh, there came down leaders (see at Judges 5:9), sc., with warriors in their train. Machir cannot refer to the Manassite family of Machir, to which Moses gave the northern part of Gilead, and Bashan, for an inheritance (comp. Joshua 17:1 with Joshua 13:29-31), but it stands poetically for Manasseh generally, as Machir was the only son of Manasseh, from whom all the Manassites were descended (Genesis 50:23; Numbers 26:29., Numbers 27:1). The reference here, however, is simply to that portion of the tribe of Manasseh which had received its inheritance by the side of Ephraim, in the land to the west of the Jordan. This explanation of the word is required, not only by the fact that Machir is mentioned after Ephraim and Benjamin, and before Zebulun and Issachar, but still more decidedly by the introduction of Gilead beyond Jordan in connection with Reuben, in Judges 5:17, which can only signify Gad and eastern Manasseh. Hence the two names Machir and Gilead , the names of Manasseh's son and grandson, are poetically employed to denote the two halves of the tribe of Manasseh; Machir signifying the western Manassites, and Gilead the eastern. “ From Zebulun marchers ( משׁך , to approach in long processions, as in Judges 4:6) with the staff of the conductor .” ספר , writer or numberer, was the technical name given to the musterer-general, whose duty it was to levy and muster the troops (2 Kings 25:19; cf. 2 Chronicles 26:11); here it denotes the military leader generally.
שׂרי , “ my princes ,” does not furnish any appropriate meaning, as neither Deborah nor Barak was of the tribe of Issachar, and it is not stated anywhere that the Issacharites gathered round Deborah as their leaders. The reading שׂרי ( stat. constr .), adopted by the old versions, must be taken as the correct one, and the introduction of the preposition בּ does not preclude this (compare בגּלבּע הרי , 2 Samuel 1:21, and Ewald , §289, b .). עם , which is used to denote an outward equality, as in 1 Samuel 17:42, and is substantially the same as the כּן which follows (“ just as ”), is construed without כּ in the first clause, as in Psalms 48:6. בּעמק : into the valley of Jezreel, the plain of Kishon. בּרגליו שׁלּח , as in Job 18:8, to be sent off, i.e., incessantly impelled, through his feet; here it is applied to an irresistible force of enthusiasm for the battle. The nominative to שׁלּח is Issachar and Barak.
15 b At the brooks of Reuben were great resolutions of heart.
16 Why remainest thou between the hurdles,
To hear the piping of the flocks?
At the brooks of Reuben were great projects of heart.
17 Gilead rests on the other side of the Jordan;
And Dan ... why tarries he by ships?
Asher sits on the shore of the sea,
And by his bays he reposes.
18 Zebulun, a people that despises its soul even to death,
And Naphtali upon the heights of the field.
In this strophe Deborah first of all mentions the tribes which took no part in the conflict ( Judges 5:15-17), and then returns in Judges 5:18 to the Zebulunites, who staked their life along with Naphtali for the deliverance of Israel from the yoke of the enemy. The enumeration of the tribes who remained at a distance from the conflict commences with Reuben ( Judges 5:15 and Judges 5:16). In this tribe there did arise a lively sympathy with the national elevation. They held meetings, passed great resolutions, but it led to no practical result; and at length they preferred to remain quietly at home in their own comfortable pastoral life. The meaning brooks for פּלגּות is well established by Job 20:17, and there is no reason whatever for explaining the word as equivalent to פּלגּות , מפלגּות , divisions (2 Chronicles 35:5, 2 Chronicles 35:12; Ezra 6:18). The territory of Reuben, which was celebrated for its splendid pastures, must have abounded in brooks. The question, Why satest thou, or remainedst thou sitting between the hurdles? i.e., in the comfortable repose of a shepherd's life, is an utterance of amazement; and the irony is very apparent in the next clause, to hear the bleating of the flocks, i.e., the piping of the shepherds, instead of the blast of the war-trumpets.
Gilead, Dan, and Asher took no part at all. By Gilead , the tribes of Gad and half Manasseh are intended. The use of the term הגּלעד to denote the whole of the territory of the Israelites on the east of the Jordan probably gave occasion to this, although גלעד (without the article) does not refer to the land even here, but refers primarily to the grandson of Manasseh, as the representative of his family which dwelt in Gilead. (For further remarks, see at Judges 5:14.) Dan also did not let the national movement disturb it in its earthly trade and commerce. גּוּר , to keep one's self in a place, is construed here with the accusative of the place, as in Psalms 120:5. The territory of Dan included the port of Joppa (see at Joshua 19:46), where the Danites probably carried on a trade with the Phoenicians. Asher also in his land upon the coast did not allow himself to be disturbed from his rest, to join in the common war of its nation. ימּים חוף is used, as in Genesis 49:13, for the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. מפרצים , ἁπ. λεγ. , literally a rent, and hence applied to a bay, as an incision made in the sea-shore.
Zebulun and Naphtali acted quite differently. Zebulun showed itself as a people that despised its life even to death, i.e., that sacrificed its life for the deliverance of its fatherland. Naphtali did the same in its mountain home. The two tribes had raised 10,000 fighting men at Barak's call ( Judges 4:10), who constituted at any rate the kernel of the Israelitish army.
If we run over the tribes enumerated, it seems strange that the tribes of Judah and Simeon are not mentioned either among those who joined in the battle, or among those who stayed away. The only way in which this can be explained is on the supposition that these two tribes were never summoned by Barak, either because they were so involved in conflict with the Philistines, that they were unable to render any assistance to the northern tribes against their Canaanitish oppressors, as we might infer from Judges 3:31, or because of some inward disagreement between these tribes and the rest. But even apart from Judah and Simeon, the want of sympathy on the part of the tribes that are reproved is a sufficient proof that the enthusiasm for the cause of the Lord had greatly diminished in the nation, and that the internal unity of the congregation was considerably loosened.
In the next strophe the battle and the victory are described: -
19 Kings came, ... they fought;
The kings of Canaan fought At Taanach, at the waters of Megiddo.
A piece of silver they did not take.
20 From heaven they fought,
The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The brook of Kishon swept them away,
The brook of the olden time, the brook Kishon.
Go on, my soul, in strength!
The advance of the foe is described in few words. Kings came on and fought. They were the kings of Canaan, since Jabin, like his ancestor ( Joshua 11:1.), had formed an alliance with other kings of northern Canaan, who went to the battle under the command of Sisera. The battle took place at Taanach (see at Joshua 12:21), by the water of Megiddo, the present Lejun (see at Joshua 12:21), i.e., by the brook Kishon (cf. Judges 4:7). Taanach and Megiddo were not quite five miles apart, and beside and between them there were several brooks which ran into the southern arm of the Kishon, that flowed through the plain to the north of both these towns. The hostile kings went into the battle with the hope of slaying the Israelites and making a rich capture of booty. But their hopes were disappointed. They could not take with them a piece of silver as booty. בּצע , which generally signifies booty or gain, is probably to be taken here in its primary sense of frustum , from בּצע , to cut off or cut in pieces, a “piece of silver,” equivalent to a single piece of valuable booty.
For not only did the Israelites fight against them, but he powers of heaven also. “ From heaven ” is more minutely defined by “ the stars from their courses .” These words explain the statement in Judges 4:15, “the Lord discomfited Sisera;” though in our opinion not so clearly as to enable us to define more precisely the natural phenomenon by which God threw the enemy into confusion. In all probability we have to think of a terrible storm, with thunder and lightning and hail, or the sudden bursting of a cloud, which is poetically described as though the stars of heaven had left their courses to fight for the Lord and His kingdom upon earth.
The kings of Canaan could do nothing against these powers. They were smitten; the brook Kishon washed them (i.e., their corpses) away. The meaning “to wash away” is well established by the dialects and the context, though the verb itself only occurs here. As the battle was fought between Taanach and Megiddo, i.e., to the south of the brook Kishon, and the smitten foe fled towards the north, many of them met with their death in the waves of the brook, which was flowing over its banks at the time. The brook is called קדוּמים נחל , i.e., the brook of the old world or the olden time (according to the lxx Cod . Vat . χειμάῤῥους ἀρχαίων ), as the stream that had been flowing from time immemorial, and not, as the Chaldee interprets it, the stream that had been celebrated from olden time on account of the mighty acts that had been performed there. The meaning suggested by Ewald and others, “brook of attacks, or slaughters,” is not well sustained, although קדּם is sometimes used to denote a hostile encounter. The last clause interrupts the description of the slaughter and the victory. Borne away by the might of the acts to be commemorated, Deborah stimulates her soul, i.e., herself, to a vigorous continuation of her song. תּדרכי is jussive, and עז an accusative governed by the verb, in strength, vigorously; for she had still to celebrate the glorious results of the victory. This is done in the third part of the song (Judges 5:22-31), the first strophe of which (Judges 5:22-24) describes in brief drastic traits the flight of the foe, and the treatment of the fugitives by the people of the land.
22 Then did the hoofs of the horses stamp
With the hunting, the hunting of his strong ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, saith the angel of the Lord;
Curse ye, curse ye the inhabitants thereof!
Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah among the mighty.
24 Blessed before women be Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite,
Blessed before women in the tent!
The war-chariots of the enemy hunted away in the wildest flight (Judges 5:22). The horses stamped the ground with the continuous hunting or galloping away of the warriors. דהרה , the hunting (cf. דּהר , Nahum 3:2). The repetition of the word expresses the continuance or incessant duration of the same thing (see Ewald , §313, a .). אבּירים , strong ones, are not the horses, but the warriors in the war-chariots. The suffix refers to סוּס , which is used collectively. The mighty ones on horses are not, however, merely the Canaanitish princes, such as Sisera, as Ewald maintains, but the warriors generally who hunted away upon their war-chariots.
The enemy, or at all events Sisera, might have been destroyed in his flight by the inhabitants of Meroz; but they did not come to the help of the Israelites, and brought down the curse of God upon themselves in consequence. That this is the thought of Judges 5:23 is evident from the context, and more especially from the blessing pronounced upon Jael in Judges 5:24. The situation of Meroz, which is not mentioned again, cannot be determined with certainty Wilson and v. Raumer imagine that it may be Kefr Musr on the south of Tabor, the situation of which at all events is more suitable than Marussus , which was an hour and a half to the north of Beisan, and which Rabbi Schwarz supposed to be Meroz (see V. de Velde , Mem. p. 334). The curse upon the inhabitants of this place is described as a word or command of the angel of the Lord, inasmuch as it was the angel of the Lord who fought for Israel at Megiddo, as the revealer of the invisible God, and smote the Canaanites. Deborah heard from him the words of the curse upon the inhabitants of Meroz, because they did not come to help Jehovah when He was fighting with and for the Israelites. “ Among the heroes ,” or mighty men, i.e., associating with the warriors of Israel.
Jael behaved altogether differently, although she was not an Israelite, but a woman of the tribe of the Kenites, which was only allied with Israel (see Judges 4:11, Judges 4:17.). For her heroic deed she was to be blessed before women ( מן as in Genesis 3:14, literally removed away from women). The “ women in the tent ” are dwellers in tents, or shepherdesses. This heroic act is poetically commemorated in the strophe which follows in Judges 5:25-27.
25 He asked water, she gave him milk;
She handed him cream in the dish of nobles.
26 She stretched out her hand to the plug,
And her right hand to the workmen's hammer,
And hammered Sisera, broke his head,
And dashed in pieces and pierced his temples.
27 Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down:
Between her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
Assuming that the fact itself is well known, Deborah does not think it necessary to mention Sisera's name in Judges 5:25. חמאה , which generally signifies thick curdled milk, is used here as synonymous with חלב , in the sense of good superior milk. ספל is only used here and in Judges 6:38, and signifies a bowl or vessel for holding liquids (see Arab ., Chald , and Talm .; also Bochart , Hieroz, i. pp. 625ff., ed. Ros .). The dish of nobles is a fine costly bowl, such as they are accustomed to hand to noble guests. The whole verse is simply intended to express the thought, that Jael had given to her guest Sisera a friendly reception, and treated him honourably and hospitably, simply in order to make him feel secure.
“ Her hand ,” i.e., the left hand, as is shown by the antithesis, “her right hand,” which follows. On the form תּשׁלחנה , the third pers. fem. sing. with נה attached, to distinguish it the more clearly from the second pers., see the remarks on Exodus 1:10. עמלים הלמוּת , hammer or mallet of the hard workers , is a large heavy hammer. For the purpose of depicting the boldness and greatness of the deed, the words are crowded together in the second hemistich: הלם , to hammer, or smite with the hammer; מחק , ἁπ. λεγ. , to smite in pieces, smite through; מחץ , to smite or dash in pieces; חלף , to pierce or bore through. The heaping up of the words in Judges 5:27 answers the same purpose. They do not “express the delight of a satisfied thirst for revenge,” but simply bring out the thought that Sisera, who was for years the terror of Israel, was now struck dead with a single blow. כּרע בּאשׁר , at the place where he bowed, there he fell שׁדוּד , overpowered and destroyed. In conclusion, the singer refers once more in the last strophe (Judges 5:28-30) to the mother of Sisera, as she waited impatiently for the return of her son, and foreboded his death, whilst the prudent princesses who surrounded her sought to cheer her with the prospect of a rich arrival of booty.
28 Through the window there looks out and cries aloud
The mother of Sisera, through the lattice work,
Why does his chariot delay its coming?
Why tarry the steps of his team?
29 The wise of her princesses reply:
- But she repeats her words to herself -
30 Surely they are finding and sharing booty:
A maiden, two maidens to the head of a man,
Booty of variegated cloths for Sisera:
Booty of variegated cloths, garments worked in divers colours,
A variegated cloth, two garments worked in divers colours for his neck as booty.
Sisera's mother looks out with impatience for the return of her son, and cries aloud out of the window, Why is he never coming?-foreboding the disastrous result of the war. תּיבּב , ἁπ. λεγ. , signifies to cry; in Aramaean it is used for הריע and רנּן , to denote a loud joyful cry; here it evidently signifies a loud cry of anxiety. For the repeated question, Why does his chariot delay its coming? is evidently expressive of anxiety and alarm. The form אחרוּ , perf . Piel for אחרוּ , may be attributed to the influence of the aleph, which favours the seghol sound, like יחמוּ in Genesis 30:39. The combination of מרכּבותיו פּעמי , “steps of his chariots,” cannot be explained, as it is by Bertheau , on the ground that the word פעמי , as a general expression for intermittent movement, might also be applied to the jerking of the wheels in rolling, but simply on the supposition that מרכּבות , as a synonym for רכב , is used for the horses yoked to the chariot in the sense of team, like רכב in 2 Samuel 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:18, etc.
The princesses in attendance upon Sisera's mother sought to console her with the remark, that Sisera would have to gather together rich booty, and that his return was delayed in consequence. In the expression “the wisest of her princesses” (see Ges . §119, 2), the irony is very obvious, as the reality put all their wise conjectures to shame. תּעננּה , third pers. plur. fem. for תּענינה . The second hemistich of Judges 5:29 contains a clause inserted as a parenthesis. אף־היא is adversative: “ but she ;” אף is only an emphatic copula; the antithesis lies in the emphatic change of subject indicated by היא . אמריה השׁיב , lit . to bring back her words, i.e., to repeat. להּ is used in a reflective sense, “to herself.” The meaning is: But Sisera's mother did not allow herself to be quieted by the words of her wise princesses; on the contrary, she kept repeating the anxious question, Why does Sisera delay his coming? In Judges 5:30 there follows the answer of the wise princesses. They imagine that Sisera has been detained by the large amount of booty which has to be divided. הלא , nonne , is he not, in the sense of lively certainty. They will certainly discover rich booty, and divide it. רחם , uterus , for puella . “ A girl (or indeed probably) two girls to the head of the man, ” i.e., for each man. צבעים , coloured things , cloths or clothes. רקמה , worked stuff , or garments worked in divers colours (see the remarks on Exodus 26:36), is attached without the vav cop . to צבעים , and is also dependent upon שׁלל . The closing words, שׁלל לצוּארי , “ for the necks ,” or (as the plural is also frequently used to signify a single neck, e.g., Genesis 27:16; Genesis 45:14) “ for the neck of the booty ,” do not give any appropriate sense, as שׁלל neither signifies animals taken as booty nor the taker of booty. The idea, however, that שׁלל is used for שׁלל אישׁ , like הלך in 2 Samuel 12:4 for הלך אישׁ , viator , and חתף in Proverbs 23:28 for חתף אישׁ , seems inadmissible, since שׁלל ecni has just before been used three times in its literal sense. There is just the same objection to the application of שׁלל to animals taken as booty, not to mention the fact that they would hardly have thought of having valuable clothes upon the necks of animals taken as booty. Consequently the only explanation that remains, is either to alter לצוּארי into לצוּארו or לצוּאריו , or else to change שׁלל into שׁגל , the royal spouse. In the former case, שׁלל would have to be taken as in apposition to רקמתים צבע : a variegated cloth, two worked in divers colours for his (Sisera's) neck as booty, as the lxx have rendered it ( τῷ τραχήλῳ αὐτοῦ σκῦλα ). Ewald and Bertheau decide in favour of the second alteration, and defend it on the ground that שׁלל might easily find its way into the text as a copyist's error for שׁגל , on account of שׁלל having been already written three times before, and that we cannot dispense with some such word as שׁגל here, since the repetition of שׁלל three times, and the threefold use of ל , evidently show that there were three different kinds of people among whom the booty was to be distributed; and also that it was only a fitting thing that Sisera should set apart one portion of the booty to adorn the neck of his wife, and that the wisest of the noble ladies, when mentioning the booty, should not forget themselves.
31 a So shall all Thine enemies perish, O Jehovah!
But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
This forms the conclusion of the song. כּן , so , refers to the whole of the song: just in the same manner as Sisera and his warriors. The rising of the sun in its strength is a striking image of the exaltation of Israel to a more and more glorious unfolding of its destiny, which Deborah anticipated as the result of this victory. With the last clause, “ And the land had rest forty years ” (cf. Judges 3:11, Judges 3:30; Judges 8:28), the account of this event is brought to a close.