¹tn The words “this victory song” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
²tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression tour*P= u^r{p=B! (B!pr{u^ P=r*uot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (yq@q=oj, joq=q@y) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term tour*P= (P=r*uot, v. 2a) is synonymous with yq@q=oj (joq=q@y) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).
³tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.
⁴tn Or “make music.”
⁵tn Or “went out.”
⁶tn Heb “water.”
⁷tn Or “quaked.” The translation assumes the form WLz)n` (n`z{LW) from the root ll^z` (z`l^l, “to quake”; see HALOT 1:272). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum also understood the word this way. (See Isa 63:19 and 64:2 for other occurrences of this form.) Some understand here the verb lz~n` (n`z~l, “to flow [with torrents of rain water]”).
⁸tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.
⁹tc The translation assumes the form tojr+a( (a(r=jot, “caravans”) rather than tojr`a( (a(r*jot, “roadways”) because it makes a tighter parallel with “travelers” in the next line.
<sup>10</sup>tn Or “ceased.”
<sup>11</sup>tn Heb “Ones walking on paths.”
<sup>12</sup>tn The meaning of the Hebrew noun /ozr*p= (p=r*zo/) is uncertain. Some understand the meaning as “leaders” or “those living in rural areas.” The singular noun appears to be collective (note the accompanying plural verb). For various options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 237-38.
<sup>13</sup>tn Or “ceased.”
<sup>14</sup>tn The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, “I arose” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV).
<sup>15</sup>tn Heb “mother.” The translation assumes that the image portrays Deborah as a protector of the people. It is possible that the metaphor points to her prophetic role. Just as a male prophet could be called “father,” so Deborah, a prophetess, is called “mother” (B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239).
<sup>16</sup>tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.
<sup>17</sup>tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, <j#l* (l*j#<), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle <j@O (Oj@<, from the verbal root <j^l* [l*j^<], “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of <j^l*, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)
<sup>18</sup>tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle <a! (a!<) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC §149.e).
<sup>19</sup>tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term [l#a# (a#l#[) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).
<sup>20</sup>tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
<sup>21</sup>tn The meaning of the Hebrew word /yD!m! (m!D!/, “saddle cloths”) is uncertain.
<sup>22</sup>tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
<sup>23</sup>tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate “those who distribute the water” (HALOT 1:344). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 246-47.
<sup>24</sup>tn Or perhaps “repeat.”
<sup>25</sup>tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.
<sup>26</sup>tn Heb “take captive your captives.” (The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative here.)
<sup>27</sup>tn This probably refers to those who responded to the call for war. They were “survivors” of the Canaanite oppression (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 250).
<sup>28</sup>tn The translation assumes a repointing of the verb as a perfect or imperfect/preterite form of dr^y` (y`r^d, “to go down”). The form as pointed in the MT appears to be from hd*r* (r*d*h, “to rule”). See GKC §69.g. The same form, translated “came down,” occurs in the next line as well.
²⁹sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.
³⁰sn The speaker may be Deborah here.
³¹tn The translation assumes the preposition b (beth) prefixed to “warriors” has the force of “in the capacity of.” For this use of the preposition, see GKC §119.i.
³²tn Heb “From Ephraim their root in Amalek” (the words “they came” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons). Because of the difficulty of the MT, many prefer to follow one of the ancient versions or emend the text. For various proposals see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 252-53. The present translation repoints <v*r=v* (v*rv*<, traditionally translated “their root”) as a Piel verb form with enclitic mem. The preposition b (beth) on ql@m*u& (u&m*l@q) introduces the object (see Job 31:12 for an example of the construction). Ephraim’s territory encompassed the hill country of the Amalekites (Judg 12:15).
³³tn The words “They follow” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
³⁴tn The word “came” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
³⁵tn Or possibly “who carry.”
³⁶tn Heb “Issachar.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
³⁷tn Or “was true to.”
³⁸tn Heb “at his feet.”
³⁹tn Heb “great was.”
⁴⁰tc The great majority of Hebrew mss have “resolves of heart,” but a few mss read “searchings of heart,” which is preferable in light of v. 16.
⁴¹tn The meaning of the Hebrew word <y]t^P=v=m! (m!vP=t^y]<) is uncertain. Some understand the word to mean “campfires.”
⁴²tn Or “whistling.”
⁴³tn Heb “listening to the pipe playing for the flocks.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”
sn Apparently the people of Gilead remained on the other side of the river and did not participate in the battle.
⁴⁵tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb rWG (GWr) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.
⁴⁶tn Heb “lived.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”
⁴⁸tn The meaning of the Hebrew word Jr*p=m! (m!pr*J) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”
⁴⁹tn Heb “Zebulun was a people which despised its life even unto death.”
⁵⁰tn Heb “Naphtali was on the heights of the field.”
⁵¹map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.
⁵²tn The contrastive conjunction “but” is interpretive.
⁵³tn Or “from heaven.” The same Hebrew term, <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
⁵⁴tn The MT takes “the stars” with what follows rather than with the first colon of v. 20. But for metrical reasons it seems better to move the athnach and read the colon as indicated in the translation.
⁵⁵tn The words “in the heavens” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
⁵⁶tn Possibly “the ancient river,” but it seems preferable in light of the parallel line (which has a verb) to emend the word (attested only here) to a verb (<d^q*, q*d^<) with pronominal object suffix.
⁵⁷tn This line is traditionally taken as the poet-warrior’s self-exhortation, “March on, my soul, in strength!” The present translation (a) takes the verb (a second feminine singular form) as addressed to Deborah (cf. v. 12), (b) understands vp#n\ (n\p#v) in its well-attested sense of “throat; neck” (cf. Jonah 2:6), (c) takes the final yod on yv!p=n~ (n~pv!y) as an archaic construct indicator (rather than a suffix), and (d) interprets zu{ (u{z, “strength”) as an attributive genitive (literally, “necks of strength,” i.e., “strong necks”). For fuller discussion and various proposals, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 270-71.
⁵⁸tc The MT as it stands has a singular noun, but if one moves the prefixed mem from the beginning of the next word to the end of sWs (sWs), the expected plural form is achieved. Another possibility is to understand an error of scribal haplography here, in which case the letter mem should appear in both places.
⁵⁹tn The words “the ground” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁶⁰tn Heb “galloped, galloped.” The repetition is for emphasis and is more appropriately indicated in English with an adverb.
⁶¹tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”
⁶²tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
⁶³tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.
⁶⁴tn Heb “[to] curse.”
⁶⁵tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”
⁶⁶tn Or “along with the other warriors.”
⁶⁷tn Or “blessed.”
⁶⁸tn Or “mighty ones.”
⁶⁹tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.
⁷⁰tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.
⁷¹tn Or “head.”
⁷²tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁷³tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”
⁷⁴tn Heb “he fell.” The same Hebrew expression occurs two more times in this verse.
⁷⁵tn Heb “and he lay.
⁷⁶tn Or “dead, murdered.”
⁷⁷tn Heb “chariots.”
⁷⁸tn Or “princesses.”
⁷⁹tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”
⁸⁰tn 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. <j^r^), 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.
⁸¹tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”
⁸²tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”
⁸³tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”
⁸⁴tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”