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Judges 5

Deborah and Barak praise YHWH’s victory, honoring those who joined the battle and condemning those who withheld help.

Deborah and Barak sing after Israel’s victory over Sisera and the kings of Canaan. Their song recalls deserted roads and failed leadership, then praises YHWH for coming to Israel’s aid. It names those who risked their lives and those who stayed away. The battle reaches its grim climax in Jael’s tent, followed by a scene of Sisera’s mother waiting for his return. A prayer for God’s enemies to perish closes the song, and forty years of rest follow.

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1Then 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, be blessed, LORD!
3“Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to the LORD. I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
4“LORD, 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 LORD’s presence, even Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.
6“In 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 the LORD!
10“Speak, 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 they will rehearse the LORD’s righteous acts, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. “Then the LORD’s people went down to the gates.
12‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.’
13“Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. The LORD 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. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was 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. 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.
19“The 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 LORD’s angel. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
24“Jael shall be blessed above women, 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 workmen’s hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples.
27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
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 wait?’
30‘Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’
31“So let all your enemies perish, LORD, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Judges 5:31The closing prayer sets the downfall of God’s enemies beside the strength of those who love him.
Judges 5:4YHWH’s march from Seir frames Israel’s victory as his intervention, with earth and sky responding to his presence.
Judges 5:20The stars joining battle portray creation itself opposing Sisera, placing the conflict under YHWH’s rule.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus shares the imagery of Sinai trembling at YHWH’s presence, while Deuteronomy also describes his coming from Seir, linking divine appearance with Israel’s deliverance. Psalm shares the song’s language of God marching before his people and the earth shaking before him.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the named tribes reveal about the gap between resolving to help and taking action?

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How does the scene of Sisera’s mother shape your reading of the song’s closing prayer?

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Questions people ask about Judges 5

What does it mean that the stars fought against Sisera in Judges 5?

The song portrays the heavens joining the battle against Sisera, then describes the Kishon River sweeping his forces away. This is poetic language for creation serving YHWH’s victory. Rain and flooding may be in view, but the chapter does not explain the stars’ role in physical terms.

Why is Jael called blessed in Judges 5?

The song honors Jael because she kills Sisera, the enemy against whom Israel has fought. Her act stands beside the courage of tribes that risked their lives and contrasts with those who withheld help. The praise belongs to this account of wartime deliverance; it supplies no general command to imitate her violence.

Why does Judges 5 describe Sisera’s mother waiting at the window?

The scene contrasts her expectation of victory with Sisera’s death, which the reader has just heard. She and her attendants explain his delay by imagining divided plunder, including captured women. Their confidence exposes the cruelty expected from his army and makes his failure stark. The song leaves her waiting.

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Judges · 21 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).