←Judges 5→BSB

In This Chapter 12 people 14 places 32 terms 2 themes 8 resources

People

Israel 16 Barak 7 Deborah 5 Sisera 5 Abinoam 4 Jael 4 Shamgar 2 Anath 2 Heber 2 Jacob (Patriarch) Jeshurun (Israel) Machir

Places

    Key Terms

    Bless (Approval) 6 Justice (Right) 6 Love 6 Curse (Consign to Death) 3 Blessing (Act) Bless (Favor) Blessing (Content) Blessed Bless (Request Favor) Be (Or Show Oneself) Just Acquit Righteousness (Standard) Righteousness (Act) Just Put Right With Make Righteous Deserved Justify (Vindicate) Justify Justly Justice Righteousness (Quality) Decree Fixed Allowance Fixed Quota Curse (Invocation of Harm) To Curse Curse (Formula) Curse (Enchant) Curse (Pronouncement Against) To Love Love (Appreciation)

    Themes

    Music in Ancient Israel Social Chaos in Judges

    Resources

    Book of Jashar Articles Deborah Articles Hebrew Language Articles Judah, Tribe of Articles Music Articles Poetry, Biblical Articles Simeon, Tribe of Articles Song of Deborah Articles

    The Song of Deborah and Barak

    (Exodus 15:1–21)

    ⓘ This song, a victory hymn usually credited to...

    This song, a victory hymn usually credited to Deborah, offers a poetic version of the battle, adding details to the prose account. It is one of the oldest Hebrew poems. It praises the Lord, the tribes who joined the fight, and Jael. It curses those who stayed home, Sisera, and his mother's followers. It contrasts life before Barak's victory, when the Lord's curse was on the land, with the blessings after the warriors' righteous acts. It ends with a prayer that the Lord's enemies will perish like Sisera (Judges 5:31).

    1On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

    2“When the princes take the lead in Israel,when the people volunteer,bless the LORD.3Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes!I will sing to the LORD;I will sing praise to the LORD,the God of Israel.
    ⓘ In the poem, the Lord marches from his...

    • In the poem, the Lord marches from his home in the mountains of Edom (compare Habakkuk 3:3) or Mount Sinai. One tradition places Sinai east of the Jordan Valley, in Edom (compare Galatians 4:25). The fire and earthquake that terrified Israel during the giving of the law (see Exodus 19:18) symbolize God's power and anger on the battlefield against his enemies.

    • Torrential rain would have turned the ground into mud, making Sisera’s chariots a problem instead of an advantage (see Judges 4:15–16).
    4O LORD, when You went out from Seir,when You marched from the land of Edom,the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain,and the clouds poured down water.5The mountains quaked before the LORD,the One of Sinai,before the LORD,the God of Israel.
    6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,in the days of Jael,the highways were desertedand the travelers took the byways.7Life in the villages ceased;it ended in Israel,until I, Deborah, arose,a mother in Israel.8When they chose new gods,then war came to their gates.Not a shield or spear was foundamong forty thousand in Israel.9My heart is with the princes of Israel,with the volunteers among the people.Bless the LORD!
    10You who ride white donkeys,who sit on saddle blankets,and you who travel the road,11the voices of the singers† at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers† in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:
    12‘Awake, awake, O Deborah!Awake, awake, sing a song!Arise, O Barak,and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’
    13Then the survivors came down to the nobles;the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.
    ⓘ These verses honor those who volunteered and shame...

    • These verses honor those who volunteered and shame those who did not.

    • Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh (represented by Makir) came from the south. Issachar, where the battle took place, was joined by Zebulun and Naphtali, the two tribes closest to Barak’s home base.

    • The tribes that were too hesitant and fearful to join the fight included Reuben, Gad (represented by Gilead), Dan, and Asher.
    14Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek;Benjamin came with your people after you.The commanders came down from Machir,the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun.
    15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah,and Issachar was with Barak,rushing into the valley at his heels.In the clans of Reubenthere was great indecision.†16Why did you sit among the sheepfoldsto hear the whistling for the flocks?In the clans of Reubenthere was great indecision.
    17Gilead remained beyond the Jordan.Dan, why did you linger by the ships?Asher stayed at the coastand remained in his harbors.18Zebulun was a people who risked their lives;Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.
    ⓘ The battle is described. The brave warriors who...

    The battle is described. The brave warriors who followed Deborah and Barak became less important as the Lord called upon the stars of heaven and the Kishon River to destroy Sisera's army.
    19Kings came and fought;then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanachby the waters of Megiddo,but they took no plunder of silver.
    20From the heavens the stars fought;from their courses they fought against Sisera.21The River Kishon swept them away,the ancient river, the River Kishon.
    March on, O my soul, in strength!
    22Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions.23‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD.‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants;for they did not come to help the LORD,to help the LORD against the mighty.’
    ⓘ The story of Sisera's end includes a short...

    The story of Sisera's end includes a short celebration of Jael.
    24Most blessed among women is Jael,the wife of Heber the Kenite,most blessed of tent-dwelling women.25He asked for water, and she gave him milk.In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.26She reached for the tent peg,her right hand for the workman’s hammer.She struck Sisera and crushed his skull;she shattered and pierced his temple.27At her feet he collapsed, he fell,there he lay still;at her feet he collapsed, he fell;where he collapsed, there he fell dead.
    28Sisera’s mother looked through the window;she peered through the lattice and lamented:‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’
    ⓘ The wise women revealed Sisera's evil plans while...

    • The wise women revealed Sisera's evil plans while trying to comfort his mother.

    • The poet did not need to explain how the story ended.
    29Her wisest ladies answer;indeed she keeps telling herself,30‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior,a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera,the spoil of embroidered garmentsfor the neck of the looter?’
    31So may all Your enemies perish,O LORD!But may those who love Youshine like the sun at its brightest.”

    And the land had rest for forty years.