Judges

Chapter 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

Judges 5 retells Israel’s victory as a song that begins in praise to the LORD, remembers the land’s fear and collapse, and calls the tribes to be named for courage or hesitation. It celebrates the battle’s turning, blesses Jael for Sisera’s death, and closes by setting his mother’s waiting against the prayer that the LORD’s enemies perish while those who love Him rise like the sun.

After Judges 4 tells the battle in narrative form, this chapter sings it back as memory, praise, and public judgment. It fixes the event in Israel’s imagination and shows how deliverance reveals both the LORD’s power and the varied faithfulness of the tribes.

1 section·208 words·~1 min read

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Judges 5

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vv. 1-31

The Song of Deborah and Barak

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O¹n that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: ²“When the princes take the lead in Israel, ³Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! ⁴O LORD, when You went out from Seir, ⁵The mountains quaked before the LORD,

⁶In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, ⁷Life in the villages ceased; ⁸When they chose new gods, ⁹My heart is with the princes of Israel, ¹⁰You who ride white donkeys, ¹¹ponder the voices of the singers

¹²‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! ¹³Then the survivors came down to the nobles; ¹⁴Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; ¹⁵The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, ¹⁶Why did you sit among the sheepfolds ¹⁷Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. ¹⁸Zebulun was a people who risked their lives;

¹⁹Kings came and fought; ²⁰From the heavens the stars fought; ²¹The River Kishon swept them away, ²²Then the hooves of horses thundered— ²³‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD.

²⁴Most blessed among women is Jael, ²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk. ²⁶She reached for the tent peg, ²⁷At her feet he collapsed, he fell,

²⁸Sisera’s mother looked through the window; ²⁹Her wisest ladies answer; ³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—

³¹So may all Your enemies perish,

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01vv. 1-31The Song of Deborah and BarakDeborah and Barak sing the victory as the LORD’s work, recalling Israel’s distress, summoning hearers to attend, and naming the tribes by their response to the call. The song then blesses Jael, lingers over Sisera’s fall, and ends by asking that all the LORD’s enemies meet the same end.