Judges 5:1

_THEN SANG DEBORAH AND BARAK THE SON OF ABINOAM ON THAT DAY, SAYING,_ Then sang Deborah and Barak ... on that day. Nothing is said respecting the authorship of this noble triumphal ode; but modern criticism has established it, by a chain of strong circumstantial evidence, to be beyond a doubt an effusion of the patriotic and pious mind of Deborah herself. The freshness of feeling that pervades the entire composition-the strong hate evinced toward the enemy, as of one smarting under his insults and oppression-the details given respecting the severity and extent of his tyrannical exactions, and the reign of terror existing in the country-the names and number of the confederate tribes that obeyed the war-summons of Barak-the ascent of the Canaanite hosts, with, their defeat, and the course of their disastrous flight-the description given of the different situations of Jael and of Sisera's...

CHAPTER V _The triumphant song of Deborah and Barak, after the defeat of_ _Sisera, captain of the armies of Jabin, king of Canaan_. NOTES ON CHAP. V Verse Judges 5:1. _THEN SANG DEBORAH, AND BARAK_] There are many difficulties in this very sublime song; and learned men have toiled much to remove them. That there are several gross mistakes in our version will be instantly acknowledged by all who can critically examine the original. Dr. _Kennicott_ has distributed it into _parts_, assigned to Deborah and Barak alternately. But his division is by far too _artificial_. Dr. _Hales_ has also given a version of it which, perhaps, comes nearer to the _simplicity_ of the original; but it also leaves

Deborah, as “a prophetess,” both composed and sang this noble ode, which, for poetic spirit and lyric fire, is not surpassed by any of the sacred songs in the Bible. And, as Miriam took up the first verse of the song of Moses Exodus 15:21, and sang it as an antiphony, so Barak, with the chorus of men, answered the song of Deborah by singing Judges 5:2, which is also exactly suited for an antiphon, summing up as it does the subject matter of the whole ode. Compare David’s example 2 Samuel 6:15....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 5:1 THEN SANG DEBORAH, etc. The ode which follows was doubtless the composition of Deborah the prophetess, and was sung by her (as the gender of the Hebrew verb indicates), assisted by Barak, who perhaps sang the antistrophe (cf. Exodus 15:1, Exodus 15:21). It is a song of wonderful beauty and lyric power, somewhat difficult, as all Hebrew poetry is. JUDGES 5:2 Her first feeling was one of patriotic joy that her countrymen had been roused to the venture of war, and of gratitude to God that it was so. "For the bold leading of the leaders of Israel, for the

THEN SANG DEBORAH AND BARAK THE SON OF ABINOAM,.... Deborah is first mentioned, because she was, as Kimchi says, the root or foundation of the work, the chief person in it, both in the direction of the war, and in the composition of this song; and indeed, as Ben Gersom observes, she alone composed it, see Judges 5:7; and the verb is singular: "then sang Deborah"; and after her, and in her words, sung also Barak; he joined with her, not in making the song, but in singing it; and so likewise the people of Israel joined with her in singing it, as they did with Moses at the Red sea; and this song was sung ON THAT DAY; not on the precise day on which the victory was obtained over Sisera and his army, but on occasion of that memorable day, and what followed upon it: SAYING; the following divine hymn or song, penned by Deborah, under divine inspiration, as the subli

CHAPTER 5 The Song of Deborah and Barak _ 1. The praise of Jehovah (Judges 5:1)_ 2. The condition of the people and their deliverance (Judges 5:6) 3. The celebration of the victory and the victors (Judges 5:12) 4. The fate of the enemy (Judges 5:23) This is one of the prophetic songs of the Bible. It is full of the fire of passion and enthusiasm, reflecting the character of the woman through whom the deliverance had been wrought. It has been classed with the barbaric outbursts of the battle-hymns and odes of triumph of heathen nations, likened to some wild chant of a victor, whose blood-thirst has been que

JUDGES 5. THE SONG OF DELIVERANCE. The Song of Deborah so called because of the words I, Deborah, arose (Judges 5:7) is a splendid battle-ode, evidently contemporaneous with the events which it celebrates. It breathes the patriotic fervour and religious enthusiasm which inspired the loftiest minds in Israel, and proves that a great faith was already working wonders in the tribes which till lately had been desert nomads. It is a work of genius, and therefore a work of that highest art which is not studied and artificial, but spontaneous and inevitable (Moore, 135). R. H. Hutton calls it the greatest war-song of any age or nation. Unfortunately the text has suffered a good deal, and in some passages we can do no more than guess the sense. Judges 5:1 f. Yahweh is praised for two reasons: because the leaders of

THEN SANG. No singing till after victory. Compare Exodus 15:1. Only weeping before. Compare Judges 2:4 with Exodus 2:23; Exodus 2:24. See note on Exodus 15:1 for the ten songs....

The title says that the Ode was sung by Deborah and Barak, no doubt on account of the 1st person in Judges 5:3_; Judges 5:9; Judges 5:13_, and the verb rendered _I arose_in Judges 5:7. But in Judges 5:12 Deborah herself is addressed by name (cf. Judges 5:15), and in Judges 5:7 the verb can just as correctly be rendered _thou didst arise_; while the 1st person in...

_THE SONG OF DEBORAH AND BARAK._ _Before Christ 1294._ _JUDGES 5:1. THEN SANG DEBORAH,_ &C.— According to the usual custom of those times, a triumphant _song_ or ode was composed by the prophetess Deborah, and sung by her and Barak, the people, most probably, bearing their part with them. Dr. Lowth produces this as an example of the most sublime ode; and as such it has always been admired. Like the other pieces of sacred poetry which we have heretofore reviewed, it is composed in metre, to which, among other learned men, the Reverend Mr. Green has ingeniously reduced it. An attention to this particular will enable us to understand it the better. It consists of three parts; an exordium, a relation of events which preceded as well as accompanied the victory, and a more complete description of the last event, adorned with all the elegancies of poetry, namel