Judges 5:30

_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...

Render the latter part of the verse “a booty of dyed garments for Sisera, a booty of dyed garments and of party-colored cloth, a dyed garment and two party-colored clothes for the necks of the booty,” the spoil or booty being either captive damsels, or captive cattle on whose necks these clothes are to be placed (either as ornament or as a burden; compare Judges 8:21, Judges 8:26). But possibly “the necks of the booty” may mean the backs or shoulders (of men or beasts) laden with booty....

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

HAVE THEY NOT SPED?.... Or "found" u the enemy, Barak and his army, or the spoil of them? no doubt they have: HAVE THEY NOT DIVIDED THE PREY? doubtless they have, which being large, and the captives many, has taken up much of their time to look over, and make an equal and proper division of, and that most certainly is the cause of the delay: TO EVERY MAN A DAMSEL OR TWO? or "a womb or two w", using both unchaste and contemptuous language x, and pleasing themselves with the virgins of Israel being abused by the common soldiers, which was too frequently the case with the Heathens at gaining a victory: TO SISERA A PREY OF DIVERS COLOURS, A PREY OF DIVERS COLOURS OF NEEDLEWORK, OF DIVERS COLOURS OF NEEDLEWORK ON BOTH SIDES; suits of clothes of different colours, such as were the works of the women of Sidon y, and those curiously interwoven or wrought with a needle, and that on both sides...

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...

HAVE... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ SPED. found; i.e. the damsels they were fighting for: and while doing so they were defeated by. woman. TO EVERY MAN. to every head of. man; "head" put by Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of the Part), for the whole person. MAN. Hebrew. _geber_ (App-14. IV). a strong man. DAMSEL. Hebrew womb. Put by Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of the Part) for the whole person, to emphasize the motive underneath. This was the one object of Jabin's oppression. See notes on Judges 4:4; Judges 4:17; Judges 5:7; Judges 5:11;...

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...