Chapter 5

The song of Deborah on the occasion of the defeat of Sisera and his army.

Judges 5:1. Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, The victory over Sisera gave occasion for Deborah to sing a song, which represents the most beautiful production of Hebrew poetry. In its structure this song is divided into three parts: the first part comprises verses 3–11, the second part—verses 13–21, the third part—verses 22–30. The opening verse of the song (v. 2) constitutes an epilogue, the twelfth—an introduction, and the thirty-first—a conclusion. Gesner (Das Zählen der Wörter in hebräischen Dichtungen, 1875) divides Deborah’s song into five parts, of which the first contains eighty words, the second also eighty words, the third thirty-two words, the fourth thirty-two words, and the fifth one hundred twenty-eight words.

Judges 5:2. Israel is avenged, the people showed zeal; praise the Lord! At the beginning of her song Deborah calls for praise of the Lord for the manifestation in the Israelite people of zeal for the deliverance of their homeland from oppressors.

Judges 5:3. Hear, O you kings; give ear, O you princes; I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. Turning to the kings and princes, under which the Targum of Jonathan understands the kings who came with Sisera to war and the princes of Jabin, Deborah invites them to listen to her victorious song.

Judges 5:4. Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched out from 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 empty, and the travelers 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; hence war came to the gates. Was a shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? At the beginning of her song Deborah recalls the greatness of the Lord, the supreme Leader and Protector of the Israelite people, whose appearance on Sinai was accompanied by wonderful signs of nature (Exod 19:18), and, in contrast to this greatness of the God of Israel, depicts the humbled state of the Israelite people in the time of Shamgar, when the Israelites, because of their turning from the right path and attraction to the gods of other peoples (Deut 32:17), suffered humiliation and oppression from the Canaanites. Such a humbled state of the people lasted until Deborah arose, and with her other leaders of Israel, who were zealous for the glory of the Lord and the freedom of the people. Under Jael (“gazelle”) in verse 6, Bettcher and Kessler understand not Jael the Kenite woman, but Shamgar, who had such a nickname.

Judges 5:9. My heart is with you, leaders of Israel, with those who were zealous among the people; praise the Lord! 10. You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk along the road—sing a song! 11. Among the voices of those gathering the flocks at the wells, there let them sing praise to the Lord, praise to the leaders of Israel! Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates. Turning to the leaders of the Israelite people and to the people themselves, Deborah invites them to praise the Lord for the liberation of the Israelite people from Canaanite oppression.

Judges 5:12. Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead your captives away, son of Abinoam. The liberation of the Israelite people from Canaanite oppression had as its immediate cause the awakening of national feeling in the prophetess Deborah and the leader Barak, who turned with an appeal to the people.

Judges 5:13. Then he subjected the people to a few of the mighty; the Lord subjected the valiant to me. 14. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after you, Benjamin, among your people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the scribe. 15. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; Issachar, like Barak, rushed into the valley on foot. Among the tribes of Reuben there was great discord. 16. Why do you sit among the sheepfolds, listening to the bleating of the flocks? Among the tribes of Reuben there was great discord. 17. Gilead stayed at peace beyond the Jordan; and why should Dan fear, with his ships? Asher stayed at peace on the seashore, and remained by his harbors. 18. Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that risked their lives to the point of death in the high places of the field. Deborah depicts how the various Israelite tribes responded to the call to rise up against the Canaanites. While some tribes, such as Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh (its western part, named after the oldest clan of Manasseh, the Machir, Josh 17:1-2), Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, responded to it with full sympathy, others, such as Reuben, the eastern part of Manasseh (called Gilead), Asher, and Dan, responded to it without proper sympathy, and during the people’s battle peacefully devoted themselves to their occupations.

Judges 5:19. 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 Kishon swept them away, the river Kedumim, the river Kishon. Trample, my soul, strength! Deborah depicts the battle itself between the Israelites and the Canaanites. In poetic rapture it seems to her that even the heavenly stars fought against Sisera and the river Kishon itself was not indifferent to the bodies of the slain warriors, but rushed them away swiftly. The cities of Taanach and Megiddo, near which the battle between the Israelites and Sisera took place, were in the Esdraelon Valley, through the middle of which flowed the Kishon (modern Nahr-el Muqatta).

Judges 5:22. Then were the hooves of the horses broken by the means of the prancing, the prancing of their mighty ones. The flight of the Canaanite horsemen after their defeat in the battle with the Israelites is depicted.

Judges 5:23. Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse 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 among women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, be; blessed shall she be among women in the tents! 25. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a lordly bowl she brought the finest milk. 26. She stretched out her hand to the peg, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck off his head, when she had pierced and struck 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, she also answered herself, 30. Surely, they have found and divided the spoil: a girl or two for every warrior; for Sisera, colorful clothing as spoil, colorful embroidered clothing, embroidered on both sides, taken from the shoulders of the captive. In the name of the angel of the Lord, Deborah curses the inhabitants of the unknown city of Meroz, who refused to take part in the pursuit of the Canaanite warriors, praises Jael the Kenite woman for the slaying of Sisera, and artistically depicts the hopes and painful fears of Sisera’s mother, waiting for the return of her son from the field of battle together with rich spoils.

Judges 5:31. So let all your enemies perish, O Lord; but let them that love Him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. Conclusion of Deborah’s song: all enemies of the Lord shall perish, while those who love Him shall be glorified. After the overthrow of Canaanite oppression, the land of Israel enjoyed peace for forty years.