CHAP. V.
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, namely, the death of Sisera, and the disappointed expectations of his mother. See Bishop Lowth's 28th Praelection.

Judges 5:2. Praise ye the Lord— Full of gratitude for this signal mark of divine favour, Deborah begins her song with a noble acknowledgment of God's assistance, and, as usual in poems of this kind, bursts forth in the next verse into a fine apostrophe, with all that variety of change in numbers and persons, which so eminently distinguishes the Hebrew poetry. Houbigant renders this clause,
Because the leaders of Israel undertook the war, Because the people willingly offered themselves, praise ye the Lord.
In which version, as he observes, the clauses correspond, as is usual in this kind of poetry.

Judges 5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir— The argument of this ode is, the delivery of the people of Israel, by the assistance of God, from bondage; which the sacred writer briefly proposing at the beginning, and having summoned the kings and princes of the neighbouring nations to take note of so great an event, she enters upon the praises of God, not from the recent benefit, but from the miracles performed of old, at their departure out of Egypt.
O JEHOVAH! when thou wentest out of Seir, When thou marched'st out of the land of Edom, The earth trembled; the heavens thundered; The clouds dropt down water.

Judges 5:5. The mountains flowed down at the presence of Jehovah, Even Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
See Habakkuk 3:6. Isaiah 64:1; Isaiah 64:12.Psalms 68:8-9; Psalms 68:8-9. Deuteronomy 1:19-20. An introduction so unexpectedly made from such great topics, breathes the free and fervent spirit of the ode. Nor is there, notwithstanding, the least obscurity, either in the connection or the tacit comparison of the benefit now received with that stupendous delivery from Egypt. We would just observe, that the word which we render March, signifies literally to march with pomp, with majesty; and in like manner, the Hebrew word which is rendered wentest out, signifies emphatically to go out with eclat, with glory. See the Dissert. of Mr. G. J. Lette, p. 16. and Seneca's Troades, v. 171.
REFLECTIONS.—The grateful heart of Deborah, big with thankfulness, in strains more sublime, more tender, than Sappho or Homer ever sung, under the guidance of the true inspirer, dictates and leads the song among the victorious hosts of Israel on that day, either the very day of battle, or on the occasion of it in some future solemnity; Barak and the people with joy united their voices, and praised with the glorious God of hosts. Note; Praise is comely, and as pleasing to God as comfortable to ourselves.
1. She opens with exultation, Praise ye the Lord; and abundant reason is given, in the wondrous interposition which appeared when vengeance overtook their enemies. As God, after such a length of deserved servitude, had in mercy again stirred up the people's heart to shake off the galling yoke; therefore, to Him, the Lord Jehovah, the God of irresistible Power, the Lord God of Israel, their Covenant-God, I, so bound in duty, so filled with gratitude, I, even I, will sing. Note; God must have all the glory of his own work; for, although he uses instruments, yet the praise for the success is purely his own.
2. She demands attention from the great ones of the earth; whether the neighbouring kings and princes, who should hear and tremble; or the great men of Israel, who should rejoice with her.
3. She describes the glorious appearances of God in time past; when at Sinai the mount trembled, and a mighty tempest was stirred up round about him; or when, invading the country of Sihon, such terror went before them, and the hearts of the people shook with fear: their nobles, compared to the heavens, were weak as water; and the kings of Canaan, though high as the mountains, melted before the ark of God. He is still the same, wonderful in power, and glorious in majesty, his people's safeguard, his enemies' destroyer.

Judges 5:8. They chose new gods— This verse is differently rendered. Some interpreters suppose that the meaning simply is, that in consequence of the Israelitish idolatry, war and destruction overtook them: forsaking God, they were forsaken of him, and given up into the hand of their enemies; who, to prevent them from regaining their liberty, disarmed them, as the Philistines did afterwards in the days of Saul; (see 1Sa 13:19 and Caesar's Comment. lib. 2: cap. 31:) or rather, that the Israelites were disarmed by their own pusillanimity, and so dispirited, that a shield or spear was not seen in their hands to oppose their enemies. If I might hazard a conjecture, I should conceive, that this verse refers to the present delivery by Deborah, and not to the past state of things. In the two former verses Deborah has set forth the melancholy condition of Israel till she arose its deliverer: it is reasonable, therefore, to expect, that she should immediately speak of that deliverance; and in this view the verse might be rendered;
The Lord hath chosen new things, [a renovation of his former mercies] Then, or accordingly, there is war in the gates. Shall not a spear and a shield be among the forty thousand in Israel?
After which she proceeds in the next verse to applaud those warriors, who thus, at the call of the Lord, seized the shield and the spear, and offered themselves willingly for the rescue of their country. It may be necessary to remark, that the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions render the first clause of this verse, the Lord hath chosen or will choose, new wars, or a new thing.

Judges 5:10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses— These are supposed to have been asses of the Zebra kind צחר zachar. The author of the Observations, however, (p. 268.) is of opinion, "that these asses are not called white on account of their natural colour, but rather from their caparisons, according to the custom among the Arabs to this day, who use saddles of wood in riding, and have always, as a part of their riding furniture, a cloth which they call the hiran, about six ells long, which they fold up and put upon the wooden saddle, in order to fit with greater ease; and which they use when they bait, as a sort of mattrass to repose themselves upon." The clause, ye that sit in judgment, explains the preceding. Ye who walk by the way, seems evidently to mean the merchants or traffickers, who might now safely travel about their business, which they could not do before this deliverance, (Judges 5:6.) and for which Deborah calls upon them to speak, i.e. give thanks to God. Thus the passage may be interpreted, as it stands in our Bible. But as the word rendered speak ye, שׂיחו Sichu, is the last in this sentence, and as many words are obliged to be inserted at the beginning of the 11th verse, I apprehend that there should be no stop; and that the passage might be rendered in some such manner as this: ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and ye who walk by the way, pursue your meditations, free from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water. There [in those places late so hostile and dangerous] they shall relate the righteous acts of the Lord; his righteous acts for the villages in Israel; and then shall the people of the Lord [safely] go down to their cities. I would just observe, that the word שׂיחו rendered speak ye, signifies properly to meditate, reflect deeply; and that in the eastern countries the places of drawing water being much frequented, and of the greatest utility, the prophetess could not express herself more strongly, than by saying, that they might meditate free from danger there, where the enemy would in times of danger be sure constantly to plant themselves. Dr. Shaw, p. 20 tells us of a beautiful rill in Barbary, which is received into a large bason, called Shrub we krub, i.e. drink and away, from there being great danger of meeting there with rogues and assassins. If such places are proper for the lurking of murderers in time of peace, they must be proper for the lying in ambush in times of war; the circumstance of which Deborah here takes notice. In the Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 27, the writer, speaking of the want of water which the Croisade army felt so severely at the siege of Jerusalem, gives us a still more perfect comment on the present passage; for he complains, that, besides being forced to use stinking water and barley bread, their people were in continual danger from the Saracens, who, lying hid near all the fountains and places of water, every where destroyed numbers of them, and carried off their cattle. See Observations, p. 341.
REFLECTIONS.—Deborah now mentions with delight the deliverance that God had wrought by her means; not out of pride or vain conceit of her work or agency in it, but to the glory of God, who had enabled her for, and called her to, the blessed service. Herein she acknowledges the ready assistance of those governors who willingly offered themselves to fight the Lord's battles. Her heart was towards them in love for their fidelity, and drawn out to God in praise for having incited them to follow her. Note; They who boldly stand up for the cause of God, justly deserve the regard of Man 1:2. She enjoins the several ranks of men to praise God for the happy change. The nobles, who were distinguished by riding on white asses; the judges, who sat in the gate; the plowman, that now securely broke the sod; the traveller, who safely trod the lately unoccupied path; the drawer of water, who drank before at the peril of his life; all must unite their hearts and voices to adore the great Deliverer, and to bless the Lord, who had done for them such marvellous things. Note; Every man in his station has peculiar mercies to be thankful for.

Judges 5:19. The kings came and fought— Several kings of Canaan, most probably, had united themselves with Jabin in this expedition. Taanach and Megiddo were two cities belonging to the Manassites, Joshua 17:11. They took no gain of money, is variously interpreted. "The simple sense," says Bishop Patrick, "seems to be, that they were kings of such bravery, as fought not for money, but for glory and dominion." Houbigant, after the Vulgate, understands it, that they got nothing but blows; no prey or spoil at all, as they expected: and agreeably hereto, Mr. Green renders it, for lucre of money, which they carried not off. The prophet, says he, uses the figure called meiosis, by which more is intended than expressed. Her meaning is, that the kings of Canaan were so far from carrying off the booty they came for, that they did even escape with their lives; and if we consider how sarcastically the prophetess makes the Israelitish spoil engage the attention of Sisera's mother, we may probably think that she meant this too as a sarcasm upon the kings of Canaan for their lucrative views in fighting against Israel. See Calmet.

Judges 5:20. They fought from heaven— This would be rendered more properly, the stars fought from heaven: they fought from their orbits [their paths or courses] against Sisera. See on ch. Judges 4:14-15. It is no unusual thing for the sacred writers to speak of inanimate things as engaged in war against the enemies of Jehovah. See Habakkuk 3:11. Concerning the river Kishon, mentioned in the next verse, we refer to the note on chap. Judges 4:6. Some have supposed, that by the stars here are meant the angels, see Job 38:7. Perhaps, as the Canaanites were worshippers of the Host of Heaven, the prophetess may mean to say, that the stars in the firmament, recognizing their great Master, declared at his command for the Israelites; and, in some extraordinary manner, assisted at the discomfiture of their false worshippers. The beautiful energy of the repetition in the next verse scarcely need be hinted, any more than the fine apostrophe at the close; wherein we see, that Deborah was so full of the important subject, that she is no longer able to pursue a regular train, but bursts forth into that elegant exclamation, to which, perhaps, there is nothing superior in the finest writings of the heathen poets.

Judges 5:22. Then were the horse-hoofs broken— The word prancings destroys the whole force of this passage. The sacred writer means to inform us of the extreme haste and precipitation with which the vanquished fled. The word דהר dahar is used but once more in Scripture, Nah 3:2 where, from the words it is joined with, it must mean the clattering of the horse on full speed. The prophetess, denouncing God's judgments, tells the people, that they should themselves be given up a prey to the Chaldeans, whose army God would send against them; and that then they should hear the noise of the charioteer's whip, of the rattling wheels, the clattering horse, and jumping chariot. The rendering of the margin, trampling, or plunging, is better than the text. Perhaps the meaning of it cannot be better expressed than by this celebrated line of Virgil's,
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. AEn. 8: ver. 5:596.
Dr. Waterland, very properly, for of their mighty ones, reads of their mighty horses; an expression which greatly adds to the force of the passage, as they were not common horses, but their best and strongest, whose hoofs were broken on this occasion. See Green on the place, and Bochart Hieroz. p. i. l. ii. c. 6. We should just remark, that anciently it was not the custom to shoe their horses; nay, indeed, at present in Arabia and Tartary they have excellent horses which are never shod. See Tavernier, vol. i. b. ii. c. 5. and Montfaucon, tom. i. p. 79. Houbigant renders this verse, Then were the horse-hoofs broken, their riders flying away with precipitate speed.