Judges 4-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
Deborah and Barak. 1 (A)The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim.(B) 3 (C)But the Israelites cried out to the Lord; for with his nine hundred iron chariots Jabin harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
4 At that time the prophet Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under Deborah’s palm tree, between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain region of Ephraim, where the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6 She had Barak, son of Abinoam,(D) summoned from Kedesh of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands: Go, march against Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 I will draw Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, out to you at the Wadi Kishon,(E) together with his chariots and troops, and I will deliver them into your power.” 8 But Barak answered her, “If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go.” 9 “I will certainly go with you,” she replied, “but you will not gain glory for the expedition on which you are setting out, for it is into a woman’s power that the Lord is going to sell Sisera.” So Deborah arose and went with Barak and journeyed with him to Kedesh.
10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him.(F) Deborah also went up with him. 11 [a]Now Heber the Kenite had detached himself from Cain, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law,(G) and had pitched his tent by the terebinth of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
12 It was reported to Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera called out all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all his forces from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Deborah then said to Barak, “Up! This is the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your power. The Lord marches before you.” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his ten thousand men. 15 And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and forces into a panic before Barak.(H) Sisera himself dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot, 16 but Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goiim. The entire army of Sisera fell beneath the sword, not even one man surviving.
17 Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside with me; do not be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink. I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him.(I) 20 “Stand at the entrance of the tent,” he said to her. “If anyone comes and asks, ‘Is there someone here?’ say, ‘No!’” 21 Jael, wife of Heber, got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand. When Sisera was in a deep sleep from exhaustion, she approached him stealthily and drove the peg through his temple and down into the ground, and he died.(J) 22 Then when Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg through his temple.
23 Thus on that day God humbled the Canaanite king, Jabin, before the Israelites; 24 their power weighed ever more heavily on him, until at length they finished off the Canaanite king, Jabin.
Chapter 5
Song of Deborah. 1 (K)On that day Deborah sang this song—and Barak, son of Abinoam:
2 [b]When uprising broke out in Israel,
when the people rallied for duty—bless the Lord!
3 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I will sing, I will sing to the Lord,
I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 [c](L)Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the plains of Edom,
The earth shook, the heavens poured,
the clouds poured rain,
5 The mountains streamed,
before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,(M)
in the days of Jael, caravans ceased:
Those who traveled the roads
now traveled by roundabout paths.(N)
7 Gone was freedom beyond the walls,
gone indeed from Israel.
When I, Deborah, arose,
when I arose, a mother in Israel.[d]
8 New gods were their choice;
then war was at the gates.
No shield was to be found, no spear,
among forty thousand in Israel!
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the dedicated ones of the people—bless the Lord;
10 Those who ride on white donkeys,
seated on saddle rugs,
and those who travel the road,
Sing of them
11 to the sounds of musicians at the wells.
There they recount the just deeds of the Lord,
his just deeds bringing freedom to Israel.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, strike up a song!
Arise, Barak!
Take captive your captors, son of Abinoam!
13 Then down went Israel against the mighty,
the army of the Lord went down for him against the warriors.
14 [e]From Ephraim, their base in the valley;
behind you, Benjamin, among your troops.
From Machir came down commanders,
from Zebulun wielders of the marshal’s staff.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah,
Issachar, faithful to Barak;
in the valley they followed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
great were the searchings of heart!
16 Why did you stay beside your hearths
listening to the lowing of the herds?
Among the clans of Reuben
great were the searchings of heart!
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
Why did Dan spend his time in ships?
Asher remained along the shore,
he stayed in his havens.
18 Zebulun was a people who defied death,
Naphtali, too, on the open heights!(O)
19 The kings came and fought;
then they fought, those kings of Canaan,
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;
no spoil of silver did they take.
20 From the heavens the stars[f] fought;
from their courses they fought against Sisera.(P)
21 The Wadi Kishon swept them away;
the wadi overwhelmed them, the Wadi Kishon.(Q)
Trample down the strong![g]
22 Then the hoofs of the horses hammered,
the galloping, galloping of steeds.
23 “Curse Meroz,”[h] says the messenger of the Lord,
“curse, curse its inhabitants!
For they did not come when the Lord helped,
the help of the Lord against the warriors.”
24 Most blessed of women is Jael,(R)
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
blessed among tent-dwelling women!
25 He asked for water, she gave him milk,
in a princely bowl she brought him curds.(S)
26 (T)With her hand she reached for the peg,
with her right hand, the workman’s hammer.
She hammered Sisera, crushed his head;
she smashed, pierced his temple.
27 At her feet he sank down, fell, lay still;
down at her feet he sank and fell;
where he sank down, there he fell, slain.
28 [i]From the window she looked down,
the mother of Sisera peered through the lattice:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?”
29 The wisest of her princesses answers her;
she even replies to herself,
30 “They must be dividing the spoil they took:
a slave woman or two for each man,
Spoil of dyed cloth for Sisera,
spoil of ornate dyed cloth,
a pair of ornate dyed cloths for my neck in the spoil.”
31 So perish all your enemies, O Lord!(U)
But may those who love you be like the sun rising in its might!
And the land was at rest for forty years.(V)
Footnotes
- 4:11 It was characteristic of the Kenites that they encamped alongside or among other nomadic groups, such as the Amalekites (cf. 1:16; 1 Sm 15:6). They are most often mentioned in connection with tribes living in the southern part of Judah, but Heber’s group seems to have moved north and pitched its tents in the lower Galilee. Cain: in this case a collective term for the Kenites. For Hobab, see 1:16.
- 5:2–31 This canticle is an excellent example of early Hebrew poetry, even though some of its verses are now obscure.
- 5:4–5 The Lord himself marches to war in support of Israel. Storm and earthquake are part of the traditional imagery of theophany; cf. Ex 19:16, 18–20; Dt 33:2–3; Ps 18:7–15; 77:17–20; 144:5–7.
- 5:7 A mother in Israel: the precise meaning of the term “mother” is unclear, except that it seems to indicate Deborah’s position of leadership, and so may be a title (cf. 2 Sm 20:19).
- 5:14–22 The poet praises the tribes that participated in the war against Sisera: Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir (later regarded as a clan of Manasseh), Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali, the tribe of Barak (cf. 4:6). By contrast, the tribes of Reuben, Gilead (elsewhere a region occupied by Reubenites and Gadites), Dan, and Asher are chided for their lack of participation. The more distant tribes of Judah and Simeon are not mentioned, and some historians believe they were not part of Israel at this time.
- 5:20–21 Stars: the heavenly host, or angelic army. The roles played by the stars and the flash floods underscore the divine involvement in the battle (cf. 5:4–5).
- 5:21 Trample down the strong!: the meaning of these words is obscure. If this interpretation is correct, Deborah is the one addressed.
- 5:23 Meroz: an unknown locality in which Israelites probably resided, since its inhabitants are cursed for their failure to participate in the battle.
- 5:28–30 The scene shifts to the household of the slain Canaanite general, where the anxious foreboding of Sisera’s mother is countered by the assurances of the noblewomen.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.