Judges 5 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Judges 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

2   “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
    that the people offered themselves willingly,
    bless the LORD!
3   “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
    to the LORD I will sing;
    I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.
4   “LORD, when you went out from Seir,
    when you marched from the region of Edom,
  the earth trembled
    and the heavens dropped,
    yes, the clouds dropped water.
5   The mountains quaked before the LORD,
    even Sinai before the LORD,¹ the God of Israel.
6   “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
    in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,
    and travelers kept to the byways.
7   The villagers ceased in Israel;
    they ceased to be until I arose;
    I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8   When new gods were chosen,
    then war was in the gates.
  Was shield or spear to be seen
    among forty thousand in Israel?
9   My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
    who offered themselves willingly among the people.
    Bless the LORD.
10   “Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
    you who sit on rich carpets²
    and you who walk by the way.
11   To the sound of musicians³ at the watering places,
    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,
    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.
  “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD.
12   “Awake, awake, Deborah!
    Awake, awake, break out in a song!
  Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
    O son of Abinoam.
13   Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
    the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.
14   From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,⁴
    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
  from Machir marched down the commanders,
    and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s⁵ staff;
15   the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
    and Issachar faithful to Barak;
    into the valley they rushed at his heels.
  Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
16   Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,
    to hear the whistling for the flocks?
  Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
17   Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
    and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
  Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
    staying by his landings.
18   Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
    Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19   “The kings came, they fought;
    then fought the kings of Canaan,
  at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
    they got no spoils of silver.
20   From heaven the stars fought,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21   The torrent Kishon swept them away,
    the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
    March on, my soul, with might!
22   “Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs
    with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23   “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,
    curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
  because they did not come to the help of the LORD,
    to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
24   “Most blessed of women be Jael,
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,
    of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25   He asked for water and she gave him milk;
    she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.
26   She sent her hand to the tent peg
    and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
  she struck Sisera;
    she crushed his head;
    she shattered and pierced his temple.
27   Between her feet
    he sank, he fell, he lay still;
  between her feet
    he sank, he fell;
  where he sank,
    there he fell—dead.
28   “Out of the window she peered,
    the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:
  ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29   Her wisest princesses answer,
    indeed, she answers herself,
30   ‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—
    A womb or two for every man;
  spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
    spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
    two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31   “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!
    But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”

And the land had rest for forty years.

Footnotes

[1] 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord
[2] 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets
[3] 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
[4] 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek
[5] 5:14 Hebrew commander’s

Commentary

v1: It is clear that Deborah was the leader, with Barak second.

v2: When the leaders lead, and the people serve willingly, then there is victory and blessing. We are all called to play our part in God' service, and be willing to serve in whatever He calls (1 Thess 2.8).

v3: The response of the people was praise to God; the Lord, the God of Israel had fought on behalf of His people. Even through battles and suffering, the people of God can sing praises to Him.

v4-5: Deborah referred to past victories; the inference was that such victories were past, not present!

v6-8: Difficult times in Israel; see Lev 26.22. The people were afraid, living in cities, not villages (cities were walled, villages were not); travel became dangerous; and the people had fallen into idolatry. They were not prepared for war (compare 1 Sam 13.19-22), which left them vulnerable to enemy attack. They abandoned the highways of truth, and walked the byways of false doctrine!

The answer came with Deborah, "a mother in Israel" (v7), and with the rulers who offered themselves with the people, they were "willing volunteers"(v9). Deborah's heart rejoiced at their willingness.

v10-12: Deborah refers to the nobility, those riding white horses; she refers to judges and princes, who sit on saddle blankets; she also refers to the ‘ordinary’ people, who walk along the road. All have reason to praise God for their restored liberty.

v13: The men who were left were few, for most of Israel did not join the battle; they came to faced an army of nobles, led by Sisera. But they were the people "of the Lord", and where their trust was in God, there would be a great victory, even against the mighty.

v14-18: Excuses and Examples! Some served and some stayed; some were faithful and some were fearful. We may test our own willingness to serve God.

v14-15: Men joined from Ephraim, Benjamin, Makir (part of Manasseh), Zebulun and Issachar; even those who carried a "recruiter's staff", who were not used to fighting.

v15-16: Reuben was strong on meditation and weak on action. Their concerns lay at home with the well-being of their flocks.

v17: Others stayed in safety; Gilead remained beyond the Jordan, Dan stayed with his ships, and Asher remained by the sea. We can always find excuses for not serving.

v18: The people of Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives in God's service (also in 6.35), and here they were honoured for their faithfulness. Later, in Matt 4.15-16, Jesus Christ lived in their land. We may also say that our failure to serve can discourage others.

v19-20: Deborah speaks of the kings of Canaan fighting, but also the stars of heaven; she saw the reality of warfare in the heavenly places.

v23: Meroz was cursed bitterly, because its people did not come to help. Presumably, it was close to the place of battle. Their failure was not that they did not help Deborah, but they did not help the Lord. The town of Meroz is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible; such was the curse that fell upon it.

v24: God used a weak but willing instrument to shame the mighty; Barak should have earned this blessing, but he missed out; 4.9.

v29-30: Sisera had expected victory; he had won many before; but not this time!