Judges 5:1-5

Celebrating the Victory in Song

5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song: ¹ 

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

When the people answered the call to war –

Praise the Lord!

5:3 Hear, O kings!

Pay attention, O rulers!

I will sing to the Lord! ³ 

I will sing ⁴  to the Lord God of Israel!

5:4 O Lord, when you departed ⁵  from Seir,

when you marched from Edom’s plains,

the earth shook, the heavens poured down,

the clouds poured down rain. ⁶ 

5:5 The mountains trembled ⁷  before the Lord, the God of Sinai; ⁸ 

before the Lord God of Israel.

[5:1]  ¹ tn The words “this victory song” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[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).

[5:3]  ³ tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Or “make music.”

[5:4]  ⁴ tn Or “went out.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “water.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Or “quaked.” The translation assumes the form נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) from the root זָלַל (zalal, “to quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum also understood the word this way. (See Isa 63:19 and 64:2 for other occurrences of this form.) Some understand here the verb נָזַל (nazul, “to flow [with torrents of rain water]”).

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.