Judges 5:2-31

2 "¹That the leaders led in Israel, That ²the people volunteered, Bless the LORD!

3 "Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! ³I-to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.

4 "⁴LORD, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, ⁵The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, Even the clouds dripped water.

5 "⁶The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD, ⁷This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.

6 "In the days of ⁸Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of ⁹Jael, the highways were deserted, And travelers went by roundabout ways.

7 "The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

8 "¹⁰New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.

9 "My heart goes out to ¹¹the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the LORD!

10 "¹²You who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, And you who travel on the road -sing!

11 "At the sound of those who divide flocks among ¹³the watering places, There they shall recount ¹⁴the righteous deeds of the LORD, The righteous deeds for His peasantry in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down ¹⁵to the gates.

12 "¹⁶Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and ¹⁷take away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

13 "Then survivors came down to the nobles; The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.

14 "From Ephraim those whose root is ¹⁸in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.

15 "And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed ¹⁹at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.

16 "Why did you sit among ²⁰the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

17 "²¹Gilead remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore *, And remained by its landings.

18 "²²Zebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death, And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

19 "²³The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan ²⁴At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; ²⁵They took no plunder in silver.

20 "²⁶The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 "The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. ²⁷O my soul, march on with strength.

22 "²⁸Then the horses' hoofs beat From the dashing, the dashing of his valiant steeds.

23 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD, 'Utterly curse its inhabitants; ²⁹Because they did not come to the help of the LORD, To the help of the LORD against the warriors.'

24 "³⁰Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent.

25 "He asked for water and she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

26 "She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen's hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple.

27 "Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell dead.

28 "Out of the window she looked and lamented, The mother of Sisera through the lattice, 'Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?'

29 "Her wise princesses would answer her, Indeed she repeats her words to herself,

30 '³¹Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil? A maiden, two maidens for every warrior; To Sisera a spoil of dyed work, A spoil of dyed work embroidered, Dyed work of double embroidery on the neck of the spoiler?'

31 "³²Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; ³³But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." And the land was undisturbed for forty years.

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Judges 5:2-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 5

This chapter contains a song of praise on account of the victories obtained over Jabin, and his kingdom; after an exhortation to praise is given, and kings excited to attend to it, the majestic appearance of God at Seir, on Sinai, is observed, to raise in the mind a divine veneration of him, Jud 5:1-5; then the miserable state and condition Israel was in before these victories, and therefore had the more reason to be thankful, Jud 5:6-8; the governors, and judges, and the people that were delivered, together with Deborah and Barak, are stirred up to rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, and bless his name, Jud 5:9-13; and those who willingly engaged in the war are praised, and such who were negligent reproved, and some even cursed, Jud 5:14-23; but Jael, Heber's wife, is particularly commended for her exploit in slaying Sisera, Jud 5:24-27; and the mother of Sisera, and her ladies, are represented as wondering at his long delay, and as assured of his having got the victory, Jud 5:28-30; and the song is concluded with a prayer for the destruction, of the enemies of the Lord, and for the happiness and glory of them that love him, Jud 5:31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 33

1. Judges 5:9
2. Psalms 110:3
3. Psalms 27:6
4. Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 68:7
5. Psalms 68:8, 9
6. Exodus 19:18
7. Psalms 68:8
8. Judges 3:31
9. Judges 4:17
10. Deuteronomy 32:17
11. Judges 5:2
12. Judges 10:4; Judges 12:14
13. Genesis 24:11; Genesis 29:2, 3
14. 1 Samuel 12:7; Micah 6:5
15. Judges 5:8
16. Psalms 57:8
17. Psalms 68:18; Ephesians 4:8
18. Judges 12:15
19. Judges 4:10
20. Num 32:1, 2, 24, 36
21. Joshua 22:9
22. Judges 4:6, 10
23. Joshua 11:1-5; Judges 4:13
24. Judges 1:27
25. Judges 5:30
26. Joshua 10:12-14
27. Exodus 15:2; Psalms 44:5
28. Job 39:19-25
29. Judges 5:13
30. Judges 4:19-21
31. Exodus 15:9
32. Psalms 68:2; Psalms 92:9
33. Psalms 19:4-6; Psalms 89:36, 37

Footnotes 20

[a]. Or "locks hung loose in"
[b]. Lit "flowed"
[c]. Lit "had ceased"
[d]. Lit "walked"
[e]. Lit "twisted"
[f]. Or "tawny"
[g]. Or "declare it"
[h]. Or "rural dwellers"
[i]. Or "utter"
[j]. Lit "the scribe"
[k]. So with ancient versions; Heb "My princes"
[l]. Lit "feet"
[m]. Or "saddlebags"
[n]. Or "dwelt"
[o]. Or "dwelt"
[p]. Lit "mighty ones"
[q]. Lit "devastated"
[r]. Or "window"
[s]. Lit "steps"
[t]. Lit "necks of the spoil"