Judges 5

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

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

NoteThis chapter is a victory poem retelling the same battle that chapter 4 tells in prose. Its Hebrew is unusually old and in places badly preserved, which is why modern translations differ from one another, and from the King James, more here than almost anywhere else in the Bible.

2Praise the LORD! He paid back Israel's enemies, and the people gladly offered themselves to fight.

2Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

NoteIsrael at this time had no standing army. Fighting men came as volunteers from the tribes, so the fact that people "willingly offered themselves" is the point being praised. The first line is uncertain in Hebrew: it can mean "when the leaders took the lead" or "when men let their hair hang loose" (a warrior's vow) as easily as the King James "for the avenging of Israel."

3Listen, you kings! Pay attention, you rulers! I myself will sing to the LORD. I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.

3Hear, 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.

4LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched out from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the sky poured down rain, and the clouds poured down water.

4LORD, 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.

NoteSeir and Edom are the hill country south-east of Israel, toward Sinai. The poem pictures God coming up from the south, from the desert, bringing a storm with him.

5The mountains flowed down before the LORD, even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.

5The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.

Note"Even that Sinai" translates a Hebrew phrase, "the One of Sinai," which is a title for God rather than a comment about the mountain, though the King James reading, that Mount Sinai itself quaked, is also possible.

6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads sat empty. Travelers went by the back paths.

6In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.

NoteShamgar appears briefly at the end of chapter 3 as an earlier deliverer of Israel. Jael appears in chapter 4 and again at verse 24 here. Roads sitting empty means the main routes were unsafe from raiders, so traffic moved along back trails.

7Life in the villages of Israel came to a stop. It stayed stopped until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose as a mother in Israel.

7The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

Note"A mother in Israel" is an idiom for a woman who protects and holds a community together, not a statement about her own children. The Hebrew word behind "inhabitants of the villages" is rare and disputed; it may mean unwalled village life, or the peasantry, or warriors.

8They chose new gods, and then war came to the city gates. Not a shield or a spear could be seen among forty thousand men in Israel.

8They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

NoteThe gate was the fortified entrance of a walled town and also its public square, where markets were held and disputes settled. War reaching the gates means the enemy was at the town itself. "Forty thousand" may be a round number; the Hebrew word for thousand can also mean a military unit or clan contingent.

9My heart goes out to the leaders of Israel, to the men among the people who gladly offered themselves. Praise the LORD!

9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.

10You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit as judges, and you who walk along the road, think about this.

10Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.

NoteWhite donkeys were expensive and marked out people of rank. The middle phrase is uncertain in Hebrew and may describe rich saddle blankets rather than sitting in judgment. The verse addresses the well-off, the officials and ordinary travelers alike.

11At the places where water is drawn, safe from the noise of the archers, people tell again the right and just acts of the LORD, his just acts for his village people in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.

11They 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.

NoteWells and springs were where women drew water daily and where news was exchanged, so they served as a place for stories to be repeated. The Hebrew behind "the noise of archers" is obscure; it may instead mean the voices of singers, or of those dividing flocks.

12Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, and sing a song! Get up, Barak, and lead away the men you have captured, son of Abinoam!

12Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.

Note"Lead thy captivity captive" is King James English for taking prisoners away, not for anything happening to Barak.

13Then the ones who were left were given rule over the nobles among the people. The LORD gave me rule over the strong.

13Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is damaged and no translation of it is secure; versions differ over who comes down to whom, and whether the speaker is Deborah or the LORD.

14From Ephraim came men whose roots were in Amalek, and behind you, Benjamin, with your own people. From Machir the commanders came down, and from Zebulun came those who carry the officer's staff.

14Out 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.

NoteThese are Israelite tribes. Machir was a son of Manasseh, and his name stands here for that tribe's territory. "They that handle the pen of the writer" does not mean scribes: the Hebrew refers to the staff carried by a muster officer, the man who counted and organized troops.

15The leaders of Issachar were with Deborah. Issachar stood with Barak and was sent into the valley on foot behind him. Among the clans of Reuben there were great resolves of heart.

15And 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.

Note"Divisions of Reuben" means the clans that made up the tribe. "Great thoughts of heart," and "searchings of heart" in the next verse, describe hesitation and argument over whether to join the fight, the poem is criticizing Reuben, not praising its reflection.

16Why did you stay among the sheep pens, listening to the whistling for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

16Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

NoteSheepfolds are stone-walled pens. The sound named here is the piping or whistling shepherds used to call flocks. The charge is that Reuben stayed home tending animals while others fought.

17Gilead stayed on the far side of the Jordan River. And Dan, why did you stay by the ships? Asher stayed at the seashore and remained at his landing places.

17Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.

NoteGilead is the Israelite territory east of the Jordan. "Abode in his breaches" means Asher stayed in the coastal inlets and harbors where its people worked. All four names are tribes or tribal regions that did not send men.

18Zebulun was a people who risked their lives even to the point of death, and Naphtali did the same, on the high ground of the battlefield.

18Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

Note"High places" here simply means the heights of the battlefield. It does not have the sense it carries elsewhere in the Old Testament, where a high place is a hilltop shrine.

19Kings came and fought. The kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver.

19The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.

NoteTaanach and Megiddo were fortified Canaanite cities guarding the Jezreel valley, the main east–west route across northern Israel. "They took no gain of money" means the defeated kings carried off no plunder, an insult, since plunder was the expected reward of a victorious army.

20From the sky the stars fought; from their set paths they fought against Sisera.

20They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

NoteStars fighting "in their courses" is battle imagery drawn from the sky: the heavenly bodies leave their fixed paths to join the fight. In context it runs together with the storm and flood of the surrounding verses.

21The Kishon River swept them away, that ancient river, the Kishon. March on, my soul, with strength!

21The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

NoteThe Kishon is a seasonal stream that runs low or dry much of the year and floods violently after heavy rain, turning the valley floor to mud, which is fatal to chariots. "That ancient river" renders a Hebrew word of uncertain meaning; it may instead mean onrushing or overwhelming.

22Then the hooves of the horses hammered the ground from the hard galloping, the galloping of his strong horses.

22Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.

Note"Prancings" is King James English for hard galloping. The picture is of horses pounding the ground as they try to escape.

23"Curse Meroz," said the angel of the LORD. "Curse the people who live there bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty."

23Curse 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.

NoteMeroz is otherwise unknown; it was presumably a town that owed troops and sent none. A curse here is a formal public declaration made against a community, not a private wish.

24May Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, be blessed above all women. May she be blessed above all the women who live in tents.

24Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

NoteThe Kenites were a nomadic group long associated with Israel by marriage and treaty. Chapter 4 notes that Heber's clan was at peace with Sisera's king, which is why Sisera thought her tent safe. In this culture a guest who entered a tent was under the host's protection, and a woman's tent was somewhere no man would be searched for, both of which make the act that follows a violation of custom as well as a killing.

25He asked for water, and she gave him milk. She brought him thick curdled milk in a bowl fit for a noble.

25He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.

Note"Butter" here is curdled milk, something like thick yoghurt: a herder's staple offered to an honored guest. A "lordly dish" is a bowl of the sort used for nobility.

26She reached out her hand for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his head; she smashed and drove the peg through the side of his head.

26She 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.

NotePitching and striking tents was women's work among nomads, so the peg and mallet were tools Jael would have handled every day. "She smote off his head" is misleading: the Hebrew says she shattered or crushed his head, and the next clause describes the peg driven through his temple.

27At her feet he sank down, he fell, he lay still. At her feet he sank down, he fell. Where he sank down, there he fell dead.

27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

28Sisera's mother looked out through a window. She cried out through the wooden screen, "Why is his chariot taking so long to come? Why are the wheels of his chariots so slow?"

28The 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?

NoteA lattice is a pierced wooden screen set in a window, which let a woman see the street without being seen from it.

29Her wisest ladies answered her, and she kept saying the same thing to herself:

29Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,

30"Are they not finding loot and dividing it up? A girl or two for every man; for Sisera, cloth dyed in many colors, colored cloth with needlework, colored needlework on both sides, all of it for the necks of those who take the spoil."

30Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?

NoteThis is the mother imagining the delay is caused by her son dividing the spoils of victory. "A damsel or two" translates a coarse Hebrew word, literally "a womb, two wombs," for captive women taken as part of the plunder. "Divers colours" means dyed and embroidered cloth, a luxury good.

31So may all your enemies die, LORD! But may those who love him be like the sun when it comes up in its full strength. And the land had rest for forty years.

31So 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.

Note"Forty years" is a conventional round figure in Judges for a generation of peace, and closes this episode the way similar phrases close the others.