Judges 5:2

5:2 “When the leaders took the lead ¹  in Israel,

When the people answered the call to war –

Praise the Lord!

Judges 5:23

5:23 ‘Call judgment down on ²  Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic ³  messenger;

‘Be sure ⁴  to call judgment down on ⁵  those who live there,

because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, ⁶ 

to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ ⁷ 

[5:2]  ¹ 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).

[5:23]  ² tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”

[5:23]  ³ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[5:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.

[5:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “[to] curse.”

[5:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”

[5:23]  ⁷ tn Or “along with the other warriors.”