Judges 5:28

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window,.... Which perhaps looked towards the high road, in which she expected Sisera to return in his chariot with his victorious army; and she was looking out

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

Looked out at a window, expecting to see him returning; for she concluded that he went forth not so much to fight as to take the spoil.

Judges 5:28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot [so] long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?Ver. 28. The mother of Sisera.] Per hypotyposin, Mulierum hostilium iactationes cum sarcasmo traducit.

(28) The mother of Sisera.—With a bold poetic impetuosity the scene is changed, and the prophetess, with a few broad touches, sets before us the last scene of the strange eventful history. The mother of Sisera and her attendant princesses had looked for the triumph and return of the host as confidently as the ladies of Spain expected the return of the Armada, or as the ladies of Aberdeen sat, “with their fans into their hand,” looking out for the sails of Sir Patrick Spens. We have a similar scene in the Persians of Æschylus, where the great Atossa wails over the miserable flight of her defeated son Xerxes. In that, however, there is more of pity and less of derision, though, no doubt, the spectacle was meant to be pleasing to the victorious Athenians. This exulting description of the cruel but blighted hopes of the women of Sisera’s family is an inimitable touch of genuineness; it shows a woman’s authorship (Ewald). Looked out at a window.—Watching for the first glimpse of her son’s return. In Eastern courts the queen-mother is a more important person than the wife. And cried.—Rather, wailed (Vulgate, ululavit, an onomatopœia, like the Hebrew yabhabh). It is the wail of impatience passing into anxiety.

Verse 28. Cried through the lattice] This is very natural: in the women's apartments in the East the windows are latticed, to prevent them from sending or receiving letters, c. The latticing is the effect of the jealousy which universally prevails in those countries. Why is his chariot so long in coming?] Literally, Why is his chariot ashamed to come? Dr. Lowth has very justly observed, that this is a striking image of maternal solicitude, and of a mind divided between hope and fear. "The mother of Sisera looked out at a window She cried through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?' "Immediately, impatient of delay, she prevents the comfort of her companions; elate in mind, and bursting forth into female levity and jactation, impotent to hope for any thing, and drunk with her good fortune, "Her wise ladies earnestly answered her; Yea, she immediately returned answer to herself; 'Have they not sped? have they not divided the spoil?' "We see how consonant to the person speaking is every idea, every word. She dwells not upon the slaughter of the enemies, the number of the captives, the valour and great exploits of the victor, but, burning with the female love of spoils, on those things rather which captivate the light mind of the vainest woman; damsels, gold, garments. Nor does she dwell upon them only; but she repeats, she accumulates, she augments every thing. She seems, as it were, to handle the spoils. dwelling as she does on every particular. 'Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey? A damsel, yea, two damsels to every man: To Sisera, a prey of divers colours; A prey of divers colours of needlework, Finely coloured of needlework on both sides, A spoil for adorning the neck.' To enhance the beauty of this passage, there is, in the poetic conformation of the sentences, an admirable neatness in the diction, great force, splendour, accuracy; in the very redundance of the repetitions the utmost brevity; and, lastly, the most striking disappointment of the woman's hope, tacitly insinuated by that sudden and unexpected apostrophe, 'So let all thine enemies perish, O JEHOVAH! is expressed more fully and strongly by this silence than could have been painted by any colouring of words." See Dr. Lowth, 13th Prelection, Proverbs 4:18-19. "We cannot do better," says Dr. Dodd, "than conclude this chapter with the words of Pelicanus: 'Let a Homer, or a Virgil, go and compare his poetry, if he be able, with the song of this woman; and, if there be anyone who excels in eloquence and learning, let him celebrate the praises and learning of this panegyric, more copiously than I am able.'" FOR other matters relative to this song I must refer to the two translations which immediately follow; and their authors' notes on them. Dr. Kennicott says, "This celebrated song of triumph is most deservedly admired; though some parts of it are at present very obscure, and others unintelligible in our English version.

28–30. The mother of Sisera. The last scene is a fine piece of dramatic irony. The king’s mother is pictured as waiting eagerly for her son’s return; her disappointment is left to the imagination.

The scene is changed to the palace of Sisera.

28. The mother of Sisera — The poetess passes from one female character to another — from Jael to Sisera’s mother. This abrupt and striking prosopopoeia is one of the most masterly passages in this truly grand poem.