Judges 5

Deborah and Barak sing a victory song after God defeated Sisera and the Canaanite chariots. The song praises God as the true warrior, honors the tribes that came to fight, shames those who stayed home, and celebrates Jael. It ends with a prayer that God’s enemies perish and that those who love Him shine.

Judges 5:1

After the victory of chapter 4, Deborah and Barak answer with a song. Israel often turned great rescues into music, so that God’s deeds would be remembered and told again. Praise is the fitting response to deliverance.

BSA: sang (“to sing, uttering praise”): The victory is answered with open, spoken praise to God.

See also: Exodus 15:1.

Judges 5:2

The song begins by praising God for willing leaders and a willing people. Israel’s victory began when people freely gave themselves, and the praise goes to the LORD, not to them.

BSA: volunteer (“willingly offer themselves, freely give”): The people were not forced; they offered themselves gladly to God’s cause.

Hebrew: פְּרָעוֹת (pera’ot, H6546) — “loosed hair, or leading.” The Hebrew word probably pictures warriors with flowing, unbound hair, ready for battle. It can also mean taking the lead. Either way, it shows readiness.

Judges 5:3

Deborah calls the kings and princes of the nations to listen. Her song is a public witness to the God of Israel. She resolves to sing to the LORD, who alone deserves the credit.

BSA: Listen (“hear and obey”): She wants more than casual hearing; she wants the rulers to take notice and respond.

Judges 5:4-5

The song looks back to God’s coming from the south, from Seir and Edom, toward Sinai. When He appears, earth shakes, skies pour, and mountains melt. The God who gave the law at Sinai is the same God who fights for His people now.

BSA: quaked (“melted, flowed”): The mountains seem to flow like liquid before the LORD’s presence.

See also: Psalm 68:7-8; Exodus 19:18.

Judges 5:6

The song describes how bad life had become. Shamgar was an earlier deliverer. Under foreign oppression, main roads were empty because travelers feared attack and used hidden paths. Fear shrank everyday life.

BSA: byways (“winding paths, crooked roads”): People had to slip along crooked back routes to stay safe.

See also: Judges 3:31.

Judges 5:7

Village life ended until Deborah arose. She calls herself a mother in Israel, a caring protector who rose to guard her people. God raised her up when the men would not lead.

BSA: villages (“rural areas, unwalled towns”): Unwalled farm settlements were the easiest targets and suffered first. arose (“stood up, rose to power”): Deborah stood up when others held back, and God gave her authority.

Judges 5:8

Here is the root cause. Israel chose new gods, and war then came to their very gates. They were left helpless, with no shield or spear among forty thousand. Turning from God removed their real protection.

BSA: chose (“selected, elected”): Their idolatry was a deliberate choice, not an accident.

See also: Judges 2:12-13.

Judges 5:9

Deborah’s heart goes out to the leaders and people who volunteered. She honors those who answered the call and again directs the praise to the LORD.

BSA: heart (“innermost being, feelings, and will”): Her whole self, feelings and will together, stands with those who stepped forward.

Judges 5:10-11

People of every rank, from the rich on fine donkeys to ordinary walkers, are told to think about this. At the wells, singers will retell the LORD’s righteous acts. Victory belonged to God and also to His villagers, whom He rescued.

BSA: righteous acts (“just deeds, virtuous works”): God’s saving acts are shown to be right and faithful to His people. ponder (“meditate, think deeply, muse”): She asks them to think deeply, not just hear and move on.

Judges 5:12

The call goes out: Awake, Deborah! Arise, Barak! The repeated words show urgency. Deborah is stirred to sing, and Barak is told to lead away his captives. God’s people needed rousing before they could act.

BSA: captives (“lead your captivity captive, prisoners of war”): Barak is called to take hold of the enemy prisoners, since the victory is already won.

Hebrew: עוּרִי (‘uri, H5782) — “awake, rouse yourself.” The doubled command is like a trumpet call, stirring someone out of sleep to act.

Judges 5:13

A small remnant came down to face the strong. The weak went against the mighty, and the people of the LORD came with Deborah. The odds looked hopeless, which makes the victory plainly God’s.

BSA: survivors (“remnants, those who remain”): Only a battered few were left, yet God used them.

Judges 5:14

The song lists the tribes that came: Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir (a leading clan of Manasseh), and Zebulun. Commanders and staff-bearers answered the call. Those who came are honored by name.

BSA: commanders (“governors, lawgivers”): These were trained leaders who held authority among their tribes.

Judges 5:15-16

Issachar’s princes stood with Deborah and rushed into the valley at Barak’s heels. Reuben is rebuked. Its clans debated at length but stayed with their flocks, listening to shepherds’ pipes instead of the call to war. Long thinking without acting left them out.

BSA: indecision (“thoughts of heart, inner turmoil”): Reuben had deep inner debate, but it never became action. sheepfolds (“sheep pens, folds for flocks”): Comfort and daily routine held them back from the cause.

Judges 5:17

More tribes are named for staying away. Gilead stayed east of the Jordan, Dan stayed with his ships, and Asher stayed by the coast. They preferred their own interests to helping their brothers in need.

BSA: linger (“remain, sojourn”): Dan stayed put, as if the battle did not concern him.

Judges 5:18

In contrast, Zebulun and Naphtali risked their lives, fighting to the point of death on the heights. Real commitment to God’s cause may cost everything, and the song honors that.

BSA: risked their lives (“unto death, to the point of death”): They put their very lives on the line for the cause.

Judges 5:19

The Canaanite kings fought at Taanach near Megiddo, expecting silver and spoil. They went home with nothing. Their strength and chariots failed them against the LORD’s help.

BSA: plunder (“unjust gain, spoils”): They came for loot and left empty-handed.

Judges 5:20

The stars fought against Sisera. This poetic language says that heaven itself took God’s side. It may point to the storm that came with the battle, but the point is that creation served the LORD against His enemies.

BSA: stars (“round or shining celestial bodies”): The heavenly lights are pictured as God’s army arrayed against Sisera.

See also: Judges 4:15.

Judges 5:21

The Kishon, swollen, swept Sisera’s army away. Chariots that were strong on dry ground were helpless in mud and flood. Deborah urges her own soul to march on in strength, remembering what God has done.

BSA: soul (“the essence of a person, a living being”): She speaks to her whole self, calling her own being to keep going boldly.

Judges 5:22

The sound of horses’ hooves thunders in a wild, panicked gallop. What had been Sisera’s pride became a scene of rout, with horses fleeing in confusion.

BSA: galloping (“prancings, stampeding”): The pounding hooves describe a panicked flight, not an orderly charge.

Judges 5:23

Meroz is cursed. Its people did not come to help the LORD against the mighty. The angel of the LORD speaks sternly: standing aside when God’s cause needs help is not neutral. Staying silent was a grave failure.

BSA: help (“assist, aid”): The failure was in withholding help, not in doing active harm.

Hebrew: אוֹרוּ (‘oru, H779) — “curse.” This is a strong word for a curse, a solemn judgment that sets someone apart under God’s displeasure.

Judges 5:24

Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, is called most blessed of tent-dwelling women. She was not an Israelite by birth, yet she took God’s side when Sisera sought refuge in her tent. Her courage is celebrated.

BSA: blessed (“highly favored, praised”): God’s people praise her above other women for what she did.

See also: Judges 4:17-21.

Judges 5:25

Sisera asked for water, and she gave him milk, even curds in a fine bowl. It looked like generous hospitality and lulled him into feeling safe. The song tells the story with sharp, quiet irony.

BSA: curds (“butter, curdled milk”): A rich, soothing drink that helped put the weary general at ease.

Judges 5:26

With a tent peg and a hammer, tools of a tent-dweller’s daily work, Jael struck Sisera down. The song piles up the verbs to show the blow was sure and decisive. God used an unexpected person and unexpected means.

BSA: tent peg (“a small, pointed piece of metal”): An everyday tool of camp life became the instrument of victory.

See also: Judges 4:21.

Judges 5:27

The repeated words slow the scene down, as if replaying Sisera’s fall. The mighty commander lies dead at a woman’s feet. The proud general who led nine hundred chariots ends in a stranger’s tent.

BSA: collapsed (“bowed, in reverence or defeat”): The word for bowing is used with bitter irony: he bows low at her feet in death.

See also: Judges 4:3.

Judges 5:28

The scene turns to Sisera’s mother, watching at her window for a son who will never come home. Her anxious question brings the human cost of war into view. Waiting for what will not arrive.

BSA: lattice (“a crisscross pattern, a decorative screen”): She watches through a screened window, shut in with her hopes.

Judges 5:29-30

Her wise ladies reassure her, and she repeats it to herself: he must be dividing spoil, with girls and fine embroidered cloth. Their imagined plunder shows the cruelty of Sisera’s world, and the comfort they cling to is false.

BSA: spoil (“plunder, booty”): They expect loot, but the real outcome is defeat. embroidered (“needlework, intricate designs”): The picture of rich cloth makes their hope sound greedy and empty.

Judges 5:31

The song closes with a prayer. May all God’s enemies perish, and may those who love Him shine like the sun at full strength. The land then had rest for forty years. God’s victory brings lasting peace.

BSA: love (“have affection for, are devoted to”): The people of God are defined by devoted love for Him, not just by obedience. shine (“be radiant, glow”): God’s people are pictured as radiant, like the rising sun at full strength.

See also: Matthew 13:43; Proverbs 4:18.