Judges 5:24-30

5:24 The most rewarded ¹  of women should be Jael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite!

She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.

5:25 He asked for water,

and she gave him milk;

in a bowl fit for a king, ² 

she served him curds.

5:26 Her left ³  hand reached for the tent peg,

her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

She “hammered” ⁴  Sisera,

she shattered his skull, ⁵ 

she smashed his head, ⁶ 

she drove the tent peg through his temple. ⁷ 

5:27 Between her feet he collapsed,

he fell limp ⁸  and was lifeless; ⁹ 

between her feet he collapsed and fell limp,

in the spot where he collapsed,

there he fell limp – violently murdered! ¹⁰ 

5:28 Through the window she looked;

Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?

Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses ¹¹  delayed?’

5:29 The wisest of her ladies ¹²  answer;

indeed she even thinks to herself,

5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder ¹³  –

a girl or two for each man to rape! ¹⁴ 

Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, ¹⁵ 

he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, ¹⁶ 

two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,

for the neck of the plunderer!’ ¹⁷ 

[5:24]  ¹ tn Or “blessed.”

[5:25]  ² tn Or “for mighty ones.”

[5:26]  ³ tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.

[5:26]  ⁴ tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.

[5:26]  ⁵ tn Or “head.”

[5:26]  ⁶ tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”

[5:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “he fell.” The same Hebrew expression occurs two more times in this verse.

[5:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he lay.

[5:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “dead, murdered.”

[5:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “chariots.”

[5:29]  ¹² tn Or “princesses.”

[5:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”

[5:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a womb or two for each man.” The words “to rape” are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated “girl” means literally “womb” (BDB 933 s.v. I. רַחַם), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera’s mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.

[5:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”

[5:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”

[5:30]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”