Deeper Commentary
Jdg 5:1 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang this song-
It is clearly Deborah's song, and it is very critical of those in
Israel who didn't respond to her prophetic call to arms. And Barak would
have ben humbled by the fact that women like Deborah and Jael had gotten
the glory rather than himself. So the way he sings along with it is a sign
of his humility, which meshed with his faith [although incomplete] which
Paul notes in Hebrews 11.
Jdg 5:2 Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people
offered themselves willingly, blessed be Yahweh!
But the song will go on to lament that the leaders of Israel didn't
take the lead (:7 especially), and neither did Barak. But Deborah, a
woman, took the lead and was the true leader. Elders can shut up, or open, the Kingdom to men. They watch “in
behalf of” the souls of the ecclesia (Heb. 13:7 RV). Their very examples
can influence the flock positively or negatively- for “like priest like
people” is a Biblical idea. When the leaders “offered themselves
willingly”, so did the people (Jud. 5:2,9).
Jdg 5:3 Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to
Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh the God of Israel-
LXX "I will sing, it is I who will sing to the Lord, it is I, I will
sing a psalm" emphasizes "I"; perhaps the song was sung specifically by
Deborah, as she glorifies that she, a woman and despised prophetess who
had to teach under a palm tree as she had no premises to do so, had had
her prophetic word justified. Barak would then show his humility by
singing along with her. "Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes"
sounds like the appeal to the nations that goes out after Christ's victory
(cp. Ps. 2:10).
Jdg 5:4 Yahweh, when You went forth out of Seir, when You marched out of
the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured. Yes, the clouds
poured down water-
LXX "the heaven dropped dews". There was apparently a downpour of
water from Heaven which led to the Kishon swelling and carrying away some
of the enemy (:21). This is the language
of Hab. 3, Ps. 68 and other prophecies of the last days.
Jdg 5:5 The mountains melted at the presence of Yahweh, even Sinai at the
presence of Yahweh the God of Israel-
Heb., as AV, "this Sinai", as if Deborah felt herself back there
standing before Sinai witnessing the great theophany there, in that she
has seen it before her eyes, as it were, in what God has now done in
giving her victory against Sisera. This is the power of Biblical history.
There is a living word which continues to speak to us; the historical
victories of God are replicated, in essence, in our own experiences.
Jdg 5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the
highways were deserted, the travellers walked through byways-
The idea is that the situation in Jael's time is as it was in the
days when Shamgar delivered Israel (Jud. 3:31). Whilst this describes the
broken down infrastructure of the land, with people using byways because
they feared being attacked on the main roads, there is the implication in
LXX of spiritual weakness: "they deserted the ways... they went in crooked
paths". And this may speak of the latter day Israel in a state of
devastation and collapse, with highways unoccupied (cp. motorways wrecked by bombing).
Jdg 5:7 The rulers ceased to rule in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah,
arose; until I arose, a mother in Israel-
Rulers is LXX "the mighty men ceased". Deborah's song is really a
lament at the failure of Israel's leadership, and Barak, who had also
failed to provide this leadership when empowered to do so, was very humble
to have sung this song with her (:1). She was a "mother in Israel",
providing leadership in a family bereft of male headship- because none of
the men provided it.
Jdg 5:8 They chose new gods, therefore war came to the gates-
Gentile nations didn't change their gods; but God's people did, ever
seeking a little extra material benefit from some new religion; see on
Jer. 2:8,11. Israel are therefore likened in Hosea to a sexually addicted
woman, ever seeking new partners. In this sense Israel were worse than the
other nations, who only changed their gods when forced to by the military
dominance of neighbours.
Was there a
shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?-
"Thousand" when used in a military context usually means some
military subdivision rather than a literal 1,000. The idea may be that
although they had shields and spears, none of the 40,000 in view got their
weapons out in response to Deborah's prophetic call.
Jdg 5:9 My heart is with the governors of Israel, who offered themselves
willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh!-
LXX "You that are willing among the people, bless the Lord". Deborah
now praises the few leaders who did respond to her prophetic call to arms. The Hebrew for "governors"
can mean a
law-giver or teacher, literally "an engraver of laws"; she may have in
mind the faithful scribes, who supported her prophetic call to arms.
Perhaps in the latter day context this speaks of a minority of faithful
amongst latter day Israel, with God's law engraved in their hearts as it
was on stone previously (Jer. 31:33). Remember that Elijah will be
calling for a revival of true interest in the Mosaic law during his
ministry, which may well coincide with Israel's period of downtreading (Mal. 4:4-6).
Jdg 5:10 Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich
carpets and you who walk by the way-
This seems a criticism of those in Israel who were not "willing" to
assist in the battle. LXX "Ye that mount a she-ass at noon-day, ye that
sit on the judgment-seat, and walk by the roads of them that sit in
judgment by the way". It was Deborah who sat by the roadside giving
judgment from God's word, and who was largely ignored (Jud. 4:5).
Jdg 5:11 Far from the noise of archers, in the watering places, there they
will recite the righteous acts of Yahweh, the righteous acts of His rule
in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates-
The idea may be that those who didn't respond to God's command to
fight Sisera would in the future, far from the noise of war, recite at the
wells the great acts which Yahweh had wrought through women. And those who
recited things at the watering places were largely women. We recall how
women were found at wells in the lives of Abraham's servant, Jacob and
Moses. In the latter day context, Ez. 39:3 stresses how
Gog will rely on his archery to terrorize Israel in the last days: "I will
smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall
out of your right hand". Assyrian bas-reliefs
frequently show them posing with their bows. The importance of
archery in warfare can easily be overlooked by us, who tend to lump bows,
arrows, swords and shields etc. together as obsolete weaponry. Yet
the ability to strike from a distance without personal combat was a vital
innovation. The highlighting of the fact that the enemies
of Jud. 4 and Gog of Ez. 38 both used archery suggests that this may have
a latter day equivalent - which must surely be in the use of missile
power?
The vials of Revelation being poured out from the air onto the earth (land
- of Israel) may also indicate that latter day judgments literally descend
from the air.
Jdg 5:12 ‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak,
and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam’-
Perhaps the first sentence in this verse was sung by Barak (see on
:1), and the second by Deborah, in a kind of part singing. Ps. 68:18
quotes this verse with reference to the latter day work of the Lord Jesus.
Taking captivity captive (Heb.) means 'take prisoner those who took you
prisoner'. This is the language of the latter day victory over Babylon
(Is. 14:2).
Jdg 5:13 Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. Yahweh
came down to me against the mighty-
She laments that only a remnant had responded to her call to arms.
LXX "Then went down the remnant to the strong". But this again is a theme
of God's workings with men. The left handed, the women, the minorities,
those whom man despises, are used by Him to work His great victories.
Jdg 5:14 Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim after you,
Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors came down out of Machir-
LXX "Ephraim rooted them out in Amalek, behind thee was Benjamin
among thy people: the inhabitants of Machir came down with me searching
out the enemy". Machir may recall the daughters of Zelophehad, who joined
Deborah in personally fighting the enemy.
Those who
handle the writer’s quill came out of Zebulun-
The idea is that instead of drawing their quills from their pouches,
they drew swords.
God asked goldsmiths to do the manual work of building the wall of Jerusalem, bruising their sensitive fingers against lumps of rock (Neh. 3:8,31); and Barak’s victorious warriors were civil servants and writers (Jud. 5:14), not military men. Paul was sent to the Gentiles and Peter to the Jews, when we’d have thought that naturally speaking, they would have been far more comfortable in the reverse roles. Judas was put in charge of the money amongst the twelve; when Matthew the tax collector would presumably have been the obvious man for the job. Naaman wanted to do some great act, but was asked to do the hardest thing for him- to dip in Jordan.
Jdg 5:15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so
was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet-
LXX "And princes in Issachar were with Deborah and Barak, thus she
sent Barak on his feet in the valleys into the portions of Reuben".
Deborah comes over as in command in the field, sending Barak on foot to
find Sisera (Jud. 4:22).
By the watercourses of Reuben there were great divisions of heart-
She rightly mocks how the men of Reuben claimed to struggle in their
hearts as to whether or not to support her call to arms. So often we hear
the phrase "It's difficult to decide" or talk about struggles of heart-
when the call to rise up in obedience is obvious and clear. But God's
unambiguous calls are often made difficult by our struggles of the heart
against them.
Jdg 5:16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for
the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there was much searching of
heart-
As noted on :15, they were claiming that the decision to follow God's
calling was 'so difficult' and required much internal agony of heart
searching. In reality, it involved them sitting amongst their sheep,
listening to the bleating of the flocks (LXX). She asks "Why...?". And the
answer was, because they didn't have faith and devotion to God's clear
prophetic word which had called them to arms. Or we can read as GNB "Yes,
the tribe of Reuben was divided; they could not decide to come". They
operated on the false basis that there had to be unanimity before they
could agree; and because they were divided over the matter, even those
willing to fight actually didn't. Because they put their own desire for
unanimity or "unity" with their brethren above the need to be loyal to
God's word personally.
Jdg 5:17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships?
Asher remained still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks-
Asher "lived" or [LXX] 'remained in his tabernacles', perhaps
implying devotion to false gods; see on :18.
Jdg 5:18 Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death;
Naphtali also, on the high places of the field-
The reference to the paganic high places could be in contrast to the
hint in :17 that Asher remained serving idols, whilst Naphtali won
victories for Yahweh on the paganic high places.
Jdg 5:19 The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo-
Taanach was in either Issachar or Asher (Josh. 17:11,12,25; Jud. 5:19).
But this town was also given to Ephraim (1 Chron. 7:29). As each Israelite
was promised some personal inheritance in the land, rather than some
blanket reward which the whole nation received, so we too have a personal
reward prepared. But the precise nature of that reward is as it were
negotiable by us now, according to our spiritual ambition. Just as Caleb
chose Hebron and secured it for himself.
The battle was fought "at Taanach by the waters of
Megiddo". 'Taanach' meaning 'place of fasting' is another
hint at repentant Israel taking part in the final defeat of their
latter day enemies. Joel describes a call to fasting during the period when
the land lies totally devastated during the initial period of enemy
domination (Joel 2:15).
"Megiddo" and the descriptions of Sisera gathering his chariots and God drawing them into battle must link with the nations being gathered to Armageddon, the valley of Megiddo (Rev. 16:16). If this connection is valid, then " the kings of the earth (land - of Israel?) and of the whole world" which are gathered (Rev. 16:14) would primarily refer to the kings of the eretz promised to Abraham, those within the 'land' at its maximum promised extent between the Nile and Euphrates.
They took no plunder of silver-
If the "they" is the victorious Israelites, the idea may be that
unlike Achan, they devoted the spoil to Yahweh. Or LXX "they took no gift
of money" might imply they refused to be bought off by the Canaanites, but
rather slew them. If the "they" is the Canaanites, then Deborah may be
rejoicing that the faithful Israelites refused to pay tribute to them.
Jdg 5:20 From Heaven the stars fought. From their courses they fought
against Sisera-
Israel’s fighting is paralleled with the Heavens and stars [=Angels]
fighting for them. The Lord of Hosts of Angels was working in tandem with
the hosts of Israel. And it’s the same for the new Israel. Heb. 12:22
speaks of how we, the hosts of the church, are paralleled with hosts of
Angels: “…to innumerable hosts, the general assembly of angels, and the
church of the firstborn” (RVmg.). See on :22.
Deborah in Jud. 4:14 quotes the words of Dt. 9:3 concerning the Angel going before Israel to drive out the nations to Barak, to inspire him with courage in fighting them. She recognized that the work the Angels did when they went out many years ago to do all the groundwork necessary for Israel to destroy all the tribes of Canaan was done for all time. It was not too late to make use of that work by making a human endeavour in faith. So with us, the smaller objectives in our lives as well as our main goal of reaching the Kingdom have all been made possible through the work of Christ and the Angels in the past. Deborah's recognition of this is shown in her song- Jud. 5:20: "They (the Angels) fought from Heaven; the stars (Biblical imagery for Angels) in their courses fought against Sisera". In passing, note that the Hebrew for 'courses' is almost identical with that for 'ladder' in the account of Jacob's vision of a ladder of Angels. Strong specifically defines it as meaning 'staircase'. See on Ex. 14:24.
Jdg 5:21 The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river
Kishon. My soul, march on with strength-
The "ancient river" recalls the historical associations of Kishon
with the repentance of Israel at Elijah's time. It seems some of the enemy
were swept away trying to ford it. LXX "my mighty soul will trample him
down" presents Deborah as a glorious warrior on horseback; although we
wonder if she is not being a tad lifted up in pride in speaking like this
(see on :28). There was apparently a downpour of water from Heaven which
led to the Kishon swelling and carrying away some of the enemy (:4).
Jdg 5:22 Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the
prancing of their strong ones-
LXX "When the hoofs of the horse were entangled", recalling the
horses of the Egyptians entangled in the mud of the Red Sea. The idea is
that the horses and chariots of Sisera, like those of Pharaoh, were in
conflict with those of the Angel cherubim.
The chariots of Egypt and Sisera will finally be seen as a poor match for the Angel-cherubim "chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof". "Then were the horsehoofs (of Sisera's chariots) broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones", i.e. the Angel-cherubim. If there was a manifestation of the Cherubim on that occasion, this would accord well with the gentle hint that there will be a Cherubim appearance associated with the second coming (Mt. 24:30), and this would also be the means of putting the latter day Arab 'chariots' out of business.
Jdg 5:23 ‘Curse Meroz’, said the angel of Yahweh. ‘Curse bitterly its
inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh
against the mighty’-
Deborah was a prophetess and may have been given her prophetic words
directly by an Angel. In one sense God 'requires not help from man'. But
in another sense, 'God is in need of man', as Avraham Heschel put it. He
never forces His ways upon us, and always acts with respect to human
freewill. In this sense He 'needs' our "help"; even if it is the "help"
which a father asks from his young son in doing a job. Meroz may have been
a village through which Sisera or his men had fled, and they feared to
join in the fight. The same situation was to recur when Succoth and Penuel
refused to help Gideon (Jud. 8:5-9). The history of Meroz and the
Israelites who refused to help Deborah was a lesson not learnt by Succoth
and Penuel.
Jdg 5:24 Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite;
blessed shall she be above women in the tent-
Deborah's words reflect some bitterness at the way that women were
secluded "in the tent" with apparently no role in public life. But Jael
had risen above that. When unexpectedly Sisera came stumbling into her
tent, she paid no respect to the league her husband had made with him and
his king Jabin. She deceived him and slew him. She rose above all the
apparent constraints upon serving Yahweh which were upon her.
Jdg 5:25 He asked for water and she gave him milk. She brought him butter
in a lordly dish-
She did this in sarcasm, recognizing him for who he was, and treating
him as a lord- until she slew him.
Jdg 5:26 She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the
workmen’s hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through
his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples-
LXX "She stretched forth her left hand to the nail" would be another
example of left handed people, or ambidextrous, being used by God; or at
best, the victory is ascribed to the use of the left hand. Left handed
people were considered strange and often relegated to the periphery of
society in primitive societies; we see again how almost all the judges had
something which made them despised and rejected. And yet it was exactly
that group which God delighted to use to save His people (Jud. 3:15). We
notice how God used left handed people to give David victory (1 Chron.
12:2), and to punish their hypocritical brethren (Jud. 20:16). He seems to
rejoice in using those whom man despises.
We note again how Jael uses the man's hammer. She does the work a man was supposed to do. This is clearly intended to be understood as the seed of the woman smiting the seed of the serpent in the head.
Jdg 5:27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he
fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead-
Jdg 5:28 Through the window she looked out and cried; Sisera’s mother
looked through the lattice. ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do
the wheels of his chariots delay?’-
Whilst Deborah was full of faith and God's word, there is a
discernible element of bitterness and arrogance in her, now she has won
the victory; see on :21. And we must beware of this kind of thing. From a
distance, she mocks Sisera's mother and rejoices in that woman's pain and
bitter disappointment.
Jdg 5:29 Her wise ladies answered her, yes she answered herself-
This again is a mocking at the supposed wisdom of the enemy. Their
wise women were sure Sisera delayed because he was busy gathering the
spoil. And their wisdom is derided as foolishness.
Jdg 5:30 ‘Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A girl,
two girls for every man; to Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, a spoil of
dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on
the necks of the spoil?’-
Deborah mocks this woman and her female friends, as women who
would glorify the way Sisera was delaying because he was busy raping
pretty girls and dragging them back with him. In the latter day context, "Prey... spoil" is Ez. 38 language: "To take a
spoil and to take a prey... Are you come to take a spoil... a prey?" (Ez.
38:12,13). Thus the motivation for the average invader is quite clear- although this will most likely be wrapped up
behind some pseudo-religious reasoning provided by a latter day 'Jabin'
(see on Jud. 4:2). Such total confidence in victory is yet to be seen in a
Middle East scarred with the memories of Israel's victories over the
last decades.
Jdg 5:31 So let all Your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love
Him be as the sun when it rises forth in its strength-
This takes
on an ultimate fullness of meaning when this battle is read as typical of
Armageddon, when all God's enemies will perish once and for all. "But
let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might"
is using the common figure of the dawn as being representative of
Messiah's second coming (Mal. 4:2; 2 Sam.
23:4; Ps. 19:4,5). Those who truly love the appearing of
that sunrise will themselves be a light to this dark world of flesh; they
shall personally go forth as the rays of sunlight, in whatever way,
just as the light of knowledge of the person of Jesus will do.
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