Judges 2:5

2:5 They named that place Bokim ¹  and offered sacrifices to the Lord there.

Judges 5:2

5:2 “When the leaders took the lead ²  in Israel,

When the people answered the call to war –

Praise the Lord!

Judges 5:9

5:9 My heart went out ³  to Israel’s leaders,

to the people who answered the call to war.

Praise the Lord!

[2:5]  ¹ sn Bokim means “weeping ones” and is derived from the Hebrew verb בָּכָא (bakha’, “to weep”).

[5:2]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת (bifroa’ pÿra’ot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (חוֹקְקֵי, khoqÿqey) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term פְּרַעוֹת (pÿra’ot, v. 2a) is synonymous with חוֹקְקֵי (khoqÿqey) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).

[5:9]  ³ tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.