Judges

Judges 5

31 verses · History · Old Testament

1Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

2“Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, 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 out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. 5The mountains quaked Yahweh’s presence, even 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. 7The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel. 8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? 9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh!
10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way. 11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse Yahweh’s righteous acts, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.
“Then Yahweh’s people 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 a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. Yahweh came down for me against the mighty. 14Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun. 15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart. 16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart. 17Gilead lived beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks. 18Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver. 20From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera. 21The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. 22Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the prancing of their strong ones. 23‘Curse Meroz,’ said Yahweh’s angel. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.’
24“Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 25He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a lordly dish. 26She put her hand to the tent peg, and 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. 27At 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 out, and cried: Sisera’s mother looked through the lattice. ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?’ 29Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, 30‘Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’
31“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.”

Then the land had rest forty years.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 79 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17144

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–5

The former chapter let us know what great things God had done for Israel; in this we have the thankful returns they made to God, that all ages of the church might learn that work of heaven to praise God. I. God is praised by a song, which is, 1. A very…

v. 6–11

Here, I. Deborah describes the distressed state of Israel under the tyranny of Jabin, that the greatness of their trouble might make their salvation appear the more illustrious and the more gracious (Jdg 5:6): From the days of Shamgar, who did something…

v. 12–23

Here, I. Deborah stirs up herself and Barak to celebrate this victory in the most solemn manner, to the glory of God and the honour of Israel, for the encouragement of their friends and the greater confusion of their enemies, Jdg 5:12. 1. Deborah, as a…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176331

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam,.... Deborah is first mentioned, because she was, as Kimchi says, the root or foundation of the work, the chief person in it, both in the direction of the war, and in the composition of this song; and indeed, as…

v. 2

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel,.... The injuries done to Israel by any of their enemies, and particularly what wrongs had been done them by Jabin, king of Canaan, for twenty years past; though some understand it of the vengeance God took on…

v. 3

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes,.... Not only the neighbouring ones, but all the kings and princes of the earth, far and near, then and in succeeding ages; Deborah desires and wishes that all potentates might hear of the wonderful works of God done…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187526

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1

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…

v. 2

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…

v. 3

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…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187118

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2–3

The meaning is obscurely seen in our version; it has been better rendered thus, "Praise ye Jehovah; for the free are freed in Israel--the people have willingly offered themselves" [ROBINSON].

v. 4–5

Allusion is here made, in general terms, to God's interposition on behalf of His people. Seir . . . the field of Edom--represent the mountain range and plain extending along the south from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf. thou wentest out--indicates the…

v. 6–8

The song proceeds in these verses to describe the sad condition of the country, the oppression of the people, and the origin of all the national distress in the people's apostasy from God. Idolatry was the cause of foreign invasion and internal inability to…

World English Bible — Public domain