Judges 5 · WEB
The Song of Deborah
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Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2"Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, bless Yahweh!
3Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
4Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
5The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh, even Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
6In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.
7The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; until I arose a mother in Israel.
8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh!
10Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.
11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh, even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.
12Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.
13Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. Yahweh came down for me against the mighty.
14Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Out of Zebulun they who handle the marshal's staff came.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.
16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17Gilead lived beyond the Jordan River. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks.
18Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.
19The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.
20From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera.
21The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength!
22Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the prancing of their strong ones.
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.'
24Jael shall be blessed above women, she who is the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
25He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
26She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workman's hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temple.
27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28Through 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 wait?'
29Her wise ladies answered her, yes, she returned answer to herself,
30'Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A girl, two girls to every man; to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck of the plunder?'
31So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had rest forty years.
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Summary
Deborah and Barak's victory song is one of the oldest poems in the Hebrew Bible, celebrating God's triumph over Sisera's forces at the Kishon River near Megiddo. The song praises the tribes that willingly fought (Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar, Naphtali) and rebukes those who stayed behind (Reuben, Gilead, Dan, Asher). It climaxes with Jael's killing of Sisera, contrasted poignantly with the image of Sisera's mother waiting at the window — not knowing her son is already dead.
Themes
- Praise and worship as a response to God's deliverance
- Willing sacrifice versus passive withdrawal in God's service
- Cosmic participation in God's victory (stars, river)
- The irony of a great general's defeat through a woman's hand
- Blessing on those who act courageously; curse on those who stand aside
Key verses
- Judg 5:20 — “From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera.”
- Judg 5:31 — “So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.”
- Judg 5:7 — “The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; until I arose a mother in Israel.”
Context & background
The events of Judges take place throughout Canaan — modern Israel, West Bank, and parts of Jordan and Lebanon. The battle at "Taanach by the waters of Megiddo" (v. 19) took place on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley (modern northern Israel), near Tel Megiddo and Tel Taanach — sites excavated by modern archaeologists. The Kishon River drains the Jezreel Valley westward to the Mediterranean near modern Haifa. The song's geographic references — from Seir (Edom, modern Jordan) to the northern tribes — span virtually the entire land. The contrast between Meroz's curse and Jael's blessing highlights communal solidarity as a covenant obligation.
Cross-references
- Ex 15 — The Song of Moses after the Red Sea crossing, the closest parallel in genre and theology
- Hab 3:11 — Stars and celestial bodies participating in divine warfare
- Judg 4 — The prose account of the same events that this poem celebrates
- Ps 68:7-8 — God marching from Sinai, similar imagery to Judg 5:4-5
- Rev 16:16 — Armageddon (Har Megiddo) echoes the battles at Megiddo in Israel's history