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Judges 5

5
The Victory Song of Deborah and Barak
1Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song: # 5:1 Deborah likely composed this song, and both Deborah and Barak sang it. Utilizing brilliant imagery and forceful expression, this chapter is considered a literary masterpiece. It may also have been included in the Book of the Wars of the Lord (see Num. 21:14) or the Scroll of the Upright One (see Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18).
2Blessings be to Yahweh,
who gave us victory today!
For the people answered the call,
and Israel threw off what once held us back. # 5:2 The Hebrew text is uncertain. One possible translation is “When long locks of hair were worn loose in Israel.” This could be a poetic picture of warriors running to the battle with their hair blowing in the wind. Others translate this as “When the leaders led [cast off restraint] in Israel,” “Revelation was revealed in Israel [LXX],” or “When the breakers broke forth.”
3Listen, you kings!
Open your ears, you princes!
For I will sing a song to Yahweh.
I will make music to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
4Yahweh, when you advanced from Seir, # 5:4 Probably referring to a mountainous region in Edom. See Deut. 33:2.
and when you marched from Edom’s plains,
the earth trembled,
the sky poured,
the clouds burst,
5and the mountains melted,
in the presence of Yahweh, the Glorious One of Sinai,
in the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel!
6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
and in the days of Jael, no one felt safe;
the roads were deserted, # 5:6 Or “caravans ceased.”
and those who dared to travel took back roads.
7Champions were hard to find # 5:7 Or “Villages were deserted.” —
hard to find in Israel,
until I, Deborah, took a stand!
I arose as a mother in Israel! # 5:7 Would that there were “mothers” of God’s people today to lead them in the power of the Spirit into God’s victories!
8The Israelites chose new gods, # 5:8 Or “God chose a new thing [leaders].”
which brought war into the land. # 5:8 Or “there was war [warriors] in [over] the gates.”
Of forty thousand men in Israel,
not a shield or spear was seen. # 5:8 Or “Then there was not seen a shield for five cities, nor a spear among forty thousand in Israel.” Scholars acknowledge this entire verse to be difficult to translate.
9My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the people who gladly volunteered.
Praise Yahweh!
10Declare it, you rich
who ride on your white donkeys,
sitting on your fancy saddles!
Declare it, you poor
who must walk wherever you go! # 5:10 This verse is a merism encompassing the entire population of Israel (both rich and poor).
11Listen to the sound of singers at the well, # 5:11 Some possible translations of this could include “Hear the sound of the archers,” “Hear the sound of thunder,” or “Hear the sound of those who divide the sheep.” The Hebrew is uncertain. See Isa. 12.
as they proclaim the victories # 5:11 Or “righteous acts.” of Yahweh,
the righteous triumph of his villagers in Israel!
Then the people of Yahweh
marched out from their city gates!
12Lead on, O Deborah, lead on!
Awake, awake! Break out in a song!
Arise, O Barak, arise!
Son of Abinoam, arise!
Carry off your captives
and lead them all away!
13The remaining nobles marched out,
Yahweh’s people came to me to fight against the mighty ones.
14You men of Ephraim came out to the valley, # 5:14 Or “From Ephraim their root in Amalek.” The Hebrew meaning is uncertain.
your brother Benjamin joined your ranks.
Leaders came from Manasseh, # 5:14 Or “from Makir [the son of Manasseh].”
and from Zebulun, those who hold the ruler’s staff. # 5:14 Or “the rod of the scribe.”
15Issachar’s princes rallied to Deborah,
Issachar stood fast alongside Barak,
rushing into the valley under Barak’s command,
while among Reuben’s clans there was great searching of heart.
16Reuben, why do you remain by the sheepfolds, # 5:16 Or “by the campfires.”
listening for the shepherds to whistle for their flocks? # 5:16 The men of Reuben loved their flocks (possessions) more than fighting for their brothers.
Among Reuben’s clans there was great searching of heart.
17Gad # 5:17 Or “Gilead.” played it safe and stayed east of the Jordan,
and Dan lingered near their ships,
while Asher kept their distance and stayed by the coast,
safe and secure in their harbors.
18But Zebulun and Naphtali defied death
and risked it all on the heights of the battlefield. # 5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali “triumphed because they did not love and cling to their own lives, even when faced with death” (Rev. 12:11).
19At Taanach foreign kings came and clashed;
they battled by the stream of Megiddo.
The kings of Canaan fought,
but they took away no spoils of silver.
20Even the stars in the sky joined in the fight, # 5:20 Metaphorically, the stars represent the mighty host of heaven’s angels. Deborah declared that the angelic realm wheeled into formation and joined Israel in their fight. See Heb. 11:34.
moving across the sky,
shining as they fought against Sisera.
21The flooding Kishon swept them away—
the ancient Kishon River # 5:21 Or “the stream that had flowed for ages.” The Targums render this “the stream of the ancients.” contended with them.
I shall march and keep marching on.
So be strong, O my soul! # 5:21 Or “I will step on the necks of strength.”
22Then thundered the horses’ hooves, pulling the chariots of the kings of Canaan.
Here they come galloping on,
steeds and stallions # 5:22 Or “their mighty ones,” possibly referring to the captains and princes of the Canaanites who rode in their chariots. stampeding on,
but they all got stuck in the mud! # 5:22 Implied in the context and the Septuagint.
23“Speak a curse over Meroz,” # 5:23 Although unidentified in the text, Meroz may have been a city in the region that Sisera conquered, whose inhabitants did not resist him. says the angel of Yahweh, # 5:23 This angel may have been a reference to Barak, who was warring for God’s people. Or it could be the “angel of Yahweh” that Barak expected to go with him to battle (see Septuagint).
“and speak a double curse over those who live there.
For they did not come to help Yahweh’s cause
nor rally to Yahweh’s side to fight the mighty.”
24The most blessed of all women is Jael,
wife of Heber the Kenite—
the most fortunate of Bedouin women.
25Sisera came to Jael’s tent and asked for water,
but she gave him milk;
she brought him buttermilk in a beautiful bowl.
26With a tent peg in one hand
and a workman’s hammer in the other,
she struck Sisera and pierced his skull;
she drove the peg through his temple. # 5:26 See 4:21 and footnote.
27She shattered his skull,
and he lay still before Jael.
Sprawled on the tent floor,
he bit the dust at her feet—
deader than a doornail!
28Sisera’s mother waited for him at her window;
she gazed from behind the lattice and lamented:
“Why is the clatter of his chariot so late in coming?
Why are his horses so slow to return?”
29The wisest of her princesses replied;
indeed, she even thought to herself:
30“They must be gathering and dividing the spoils:
a slave-girl or two for each man,
colorful cloth and garments as plunder for Sisera,
two colorful garments, embroidered,
and richly embroidered garments for my neck.”
31Yahweh, may all who hate you perish in the same way!
But may those who love you shine like the sun,
bright in its strength as it crosses the sky! # 5:31 Those who love him become like him. See Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43; 17:2.
Then the land had peace for forty years.

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