Judges 5: The Song of Deborah and Barak

In plain English: On that day Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang this song:

Good to know: Verses 2 to 31 tell the story of chapter 4 again as a song. It is Hebrew poetry, and many of its words are rare or found nowhere else, so it is hard to read, and the old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) often reads it differently. Where the Hebrew can be read two ways, the plain lines give both; where it is unclear, the notes say so.

In plain English: "When the leaders led (or: when hair was let loose) in Israel, when the people offered themselves willingly, bless Yahweh (this Bible: be blessed, Yahweh)!

The Hebrew words: "The leaders took the lead" is bifroa peraot, from a word the dictionary gives as "to loosen; by implication, to expose, dismiss". The dictionary gives the second word as "leadership (plural concretely, leaders)"; it is found only here and in Deuteronomy 32:42, where this Bible says "the leaders of the enemy". The same letters make pera, which the dictionary gives as "the hair (as dishevelled)": the long "locks of the hair" of Numbers 6:5.

What changes: Read as "when the leaders led", the song opens by praising the leaders who stepped forward. Read as "when hair was let loose", it pictures long, loose hair in Israel, and the text does not say more. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) reads it another way again: "A revelation was made in Israel". Either way, the line goes on: the people offered themselves willingly.

In plain English: Hear, you kings! Listen, you rulers (this Bible: princes)! I, yes I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

In plain English: Yahweh, when you went out from Seir, when you marched out of the land (literally: the field) of Edom, the earth shook, the sky poured down (this Bible: dropped), and the clouds poured down water.

In plain English: The mountains quaked (or: flowed down) before Yahweh, even Sinai (or: the One of Sinai), before Yahweh, the God of Israel.

The Hebrew word: "Quaked" is nazal, which the dictionary gives as "to drip, or shed by trickling". This Bible says "flow" or a longer form in 6 of the 16 verses that use nazal, and "quaked" only here.

What changes: Read as "quaked", the mountains shake before Yahweh, as the earth does in verse 4. Read as "flowed", they seem to melt and run down, as the clouds pour down water in verse 4.

Good to know: "Even Sinai" is literally "this Sinai". It can be read as Mount Sinai itself, or as a name for Yahweh, "the One of Sinai". Psalm 68:8 has very nearly the same words as verses 4 and 5 and says "the God of Sinai".

In plain English: In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty (or: the caravans stopped). Travelers went by winding side roads (this Bible: byways).

In plain English: The leaders (or: the village people) were gone in Israel. They were gone until I, Deborah, arose (or: until Deborah arose), until I arose as a mother in Israel.

The Hebrew word: "Rulers" is perazon, found only here and in verse 11. The dictionary gives it as "magistracy, i.e. leadership (also concretely, chieftains)". The word-by-word meaning on the Hebrew cards gives "rural people", people of the open villages.

What changes: Read as "rulers", Israel had no leaders until Deborah arose. Read as "village people", life in the open villages had stopped, as travel on the roads had in verse 6. Either way, it changed when Deborah arose.

Good to know: The old Greek (Brenton) does not have Deborah speak of herself here: it reads "until Debbora arose, until she arose a mother in Israel".

In plain English: They chose new gods (or: God chose new ones). Then war was at the gates. Was a shield or a spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?

Good to know: This verse is hard to read in Hebrew. "They chose new gods" is literally "he chose new elohim", and elohim is the word for "God" and also for "gods". So it can be read "they chose new gods", as Israel did in 2:12, or "God chose new ones". "War" is a word found only in this verse, which the dictionary gives as "battle". The old Greek (Brenton) reads "then the cities of rulers fought". The text does not make clear which reading is meant.

In plain English: My heart goes out to the commanders (this Bible: governors) of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh!

In plain English: You who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk along the road, tell of it (or: think on it)!

In plain English: Away from (literally: from) the noise of the archers (or: of those who share out the water), at the watering places, there they will tell again the righteous acts of Yahweh, the righteous acts of his rule (or: of his village people) in Israel. Then Yahweh's people went down to the gates.

Good to know: The first words of this verse are unclear in Hebrew. "Archers" is from a word the dictionary gives as "to chop into, pierce or sever", "to distribute (into ranks)" and "to shoot an arrow". So the line can be read "the noise of archers" or "the noise of those who share out" the water at the watering places. "His rule" is perazon again, the word of verse 7.

In plain English: 'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Get up, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.'

In plain English: Then the few who were left of the nobles and of the people came down (or: Then the few who were left came down to the nobles). Yahweh came down for me (or: Yahweh's people came down for me) against the mighty.

Good to know: The Hebrew of this verse can be divided and read in more than one way. The first line can be read as the few who were left of the nobles and the people coming down, or as the few who were left coming down to the nobles. The second line says "Yahweh came down for me", but the same words can be read "the people of Yahweh came down for me", as the old Greek (Brenton) reads them: "the people of the Lord went down for him". The plain line gives both.

In plain English: Out of Ephraim came those whose root is in Amalek (or: Ephraim rooted them out in Amalek), after you, Benjamin, among your people. From Machir came down commanders (this Bible: governors; or: scribes), and from Zebulun those who carry the officer's staff (this Bible: the marshal's staff; or: the scribe's pen).

The Hebrew words: "Governors" is from chaqaq, which the dictionary gives as "properly, to hack, i.e. engrave", and for this verse "to be a scribe simply". "The marshal's staff" is literally "the staff (or: rod) of the one who counts": the dictionary gives the second word as "to score with a mark as a tally or record, i.e. ... inscribe, and also to enumerate".

What changes: Read as "governors" and "the marshal's staff", the song names leaders who called up and counted the fighting men. Read as "scribes" and "the scribe's pen", it names men who wrote and kept the lists. The old Greek (Brenton) has "they that draw with the scribe's pen of record".

Good to know: "Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim" is also unclear. Brenton reads "Ephraim rooted them out in Amalec". Machir was the son of Manasseh whose descendants took Gilead (Numbers 32:39 and 32:40).

In plain English: The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As Issachar was, so was Barak: they rushed (literally: he was sent) into the valley behind him (literally: at his feet). Among the clans (this Bible: by the watercourses) of Reuben there were great resolves of heart.

In plain English: Why did you stay sitting among the sheepfolds (or: the cattle stalls), to hear the piping (this Bible: whistling) for the flocks? Among the clans (this Bible: at the watercourses) of Reuben there was great searching of heart.

The Hebrew words: "Resolves" in verse 15 is chiqqe, and "searchings" here is chiqre. The two words differ by one letter in Hebrew. The dictionary gives the first as "an enactment, a resolution" and the second as "examination ... deliberation". "The watercourses" in both verses is a word the dictionary gives as "a section"; in 2 Chronicles 35:5 this Bible says "divisions" for it.

What changes: Read as "watercourses", the song places Reuben by its streams. Read as "clans" or "divisions", it speaks of the clans of Reuben. Either way, this verse asks why Reuben sat among the sheepfolds.

In plain English: Gilead stayed (this Bible: lived) beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he stay by the ships (or: live as a stranger on ships)? Asher sat still on the seacoast and stayed by his landing places (this Bible: creeks).

In plain English: Zebulun was a people who risked their lives to the death (literally: scorned their life to die), and Naphtali too, on the heights of the field.

In plain English: Kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo. They took no silver as plunder (literally: no gain of silver).

In plain English: The stars fought from the sky. From their paths (this Bible: courses) they fought against Sisera.

In plain English: The river (or: the stream valley) Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, with strength (or: My soul, you trod down the strong)!

Good to know: "My soul, march on with strength" is short and unclear in Hebrew: "you tread, my soul, strength". The word for "march" is darak, which the dictionary gives as "to tread; by implication, to walk". It can be read as the singer calling on his or her own soul to march on boldly, or as "my soul, you trod down the strong". Brenton has "my mighty soul will trample him down".

In plain English: Then the horses' hooves hammered (this Bible: stamped) with the galloping, the galloping of their mighty horses (this Bible: strong ones).

In plain English: 'Curse Meroz,' said Yahweh's angel. 'Curse its people bitterly (literally: curse, cursing), because they did not come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.'

Good to know: Meroz is named only in this verse, and the text says nothing more about it. The song quotes "Yahweh's angel" for this curse, but the text does not tell when or how the angel said it.

In plain English: Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, will be blessed above women. Above the women in the tent she will be blessed.

In plain English: He asked for water; she gave him milk. In a bowl fit for nobles (this Bible: a lordly dish) she brought him curds (this Bible: butter).

In plain English: She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera. She crushed his head. She shattered and pierced his temple.

In plain English: At her feet he sank down (this Bible: bowed), he fell, he lay there. At her feet he sank down, he fell. Where he sank down, there he fell, destroyed (this Bible: dead).

In plain English: Sisera's mother looked out through the window and cried out (literally: wailed); she looked through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are the hoofbeats (this Bible: wheels) of his chariots so late?'

In plain English: Her wise ladies (or: The wisest of her noble ladies) answered her, and she too answered herself (literally: brought back her words to herself):

In plain English: 'Are they not finding and sharing out the plunder? A girl, two girls (literally: a womb, two wombs) for every man; for Sisera plunder of dyed cloth, plunder of dyed cloth embroidered, dyed cloth embroidered on both sides, for the necks of the plunder?'

The Hebrew word: "A lady" is racham, the word for "womb". The dictionary gives it as "compassion (in the plural); by extension, the womb ...; by implication, a maiden". This is the only verse in Judges that uses it.

What changes: Read as "a womb, two wombs", the words picture each man taking one or two captive girls. Brenton reads the same letters as "compassion": "he will surely be gracious to every man". The end of the verse, "on the necks of the plunder", is also unclear in Hebrew.

In plain English: So may all your enemies perish, Yahweh! But may those who love him be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had rest (or: was at peace) for forty years.