Judges 5:29

_THE MOTHER OF SISERA LOOKED OUT AT A WINDOW, AND CRIED THROUGH THE LATTICE, WHY IS HIS CHARIOT SO LONG IN COMING? WHY TARRY THE WHEELS OF HIS CHARIOTS?_ In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear-impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory, and the rewards of rich booty. Verse 28. THE MOTHER OF SISERA LOOKED OUT AT A WINDOW, AND CRIED THROUGH THE LATTICE. The window in an Eastern house is made of wood in the latticed form, to serve as a folding door, and is large, extending from the ceiling to the floor, for the purpose of being fully opened, not only for the admission of light, but for the circulation of air. Windows commonly look into the quadrangular court, while the side of the house next the street is a dead, bare wall. But there were anciently, as there s...

24-31 Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes vain-glory, for that was what she here doted on. What a picture does she present of an ungodly and sensual heart! How shameful and childish these wishes of an aged mother and her attendants for her son! And thus does God often bring ruin on his enemies when they are most puffed up. Deborah concludes with a prayer to God for the destruction of all his foes, and for the comfort of all his friends. Such shall be the honour, and joy of all who love God in sincerity, they shall shine for ever as the sun in the firma...

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

HER WISE LADIES ANSWERED HER,.... Every one in their turn endeavouring to comfort her and make her easy. The Vulgate Latin version is, "one that was wiser than the rest of his wives;'' but they seem rather to be her maids of honour, or ladies of her acquaintance, who were come to pay her a visit, and share in the pleasing sight they expected to have of Sisera: YEA, SHE RETURNED ANSWER TO HERSELF; before they could well give theirs, she soon recollected herself what might be, and must be, the occasion of this delay; and this, according to the Targum, she made in her wisdom, what her great wisdom quickly suggested to her was certainly the case, and with which she comforted and quieted herself....

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

THE MOTHER OF SISERA. There is irony almost matchless irony in the closing lines of the poem, but it is not cruel mocking irony. The words were neither written, nor meant to be recited or sung, in a spirit of derision. Can any one read them now without emotions of pity and fear? With inimitable art, in the manner of the highest tragedy, the poet depicts a group of high-born, light-hearted women, upon whom is falling, unseen, the shadow of death. The scene in the _harim_ of Sisera's palace the face at the lattice-window, the feverish waiting for the homecoming hero, the chiding of lingering chariot wheels, the questions of fretful impatience, the quick and confident rejoinders, the feeding of fancy with visions of conquest and spoil how vividly all this has been conceived! And, having painted his picture, the artist leaves it. A lesser poet, like the writer of a famous French war-song wou...

The mother of Sisera. The last scene is a fine piece of dramatic irony. The king's mother is pictured as waiting eagerly for her son's return; her disappointment is left to the imagination....

THE MOTHER OF SISERA LOOKED OUT, &C.— Dr. Lowth produces this passage as a most beautiful example of the prosopopoeia: "We have, in the first place," says he, "the most striking image of maternal solicitude, and of a mind divided between hope and fear, both in the behaviour and words of Sisera's mother: The mother of Sisera looked out at a window; She cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Immediately, impatient of delay, she prevents the comfort of her companions, elate in mind, and bursting forth into female levity and jactation, impotent to hope for any thing, and drunk with her good fortune Her wise ladies earnestly answered her, Yea, she immediately returned answer to herself; Have they not sped? Have they not divided the spoil? We see how consonant to the person speaking is every idea, every word. She dwells not upon...

_The Song of Deborah and Barak Judges 5:1-31_ Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2 Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. 4 Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5 The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel,

DEBORAH'S TRIUMPH SONG This song celebrates the victory of Judges 4 but from the point of view, not of a later annalist, but of a contemporary poet—very possibly (though see Judges 5:12) the prophetess herself. The lyric outburst is one of the finest in any language; its style (though many of the words are now very obscure) is typical of the best Hebrew poetry. Its independence of Judges 4 may be inferred from the variations it exhibits. Sisera is represented as king: the majority of the tribes, not Zebulun and Naphtali only, are summoned: and the manner of Sisera's death is different. It says much for the fidelity of the compiler that he did not attempt to 'edit' these apparent discrepancies. 1-5. Introductory....