Глава 5

Song of Deborah regarding the defeat of Sisera and his army. Judges 5:1. On that day Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang with these words: The victory over Sisera was the occasion for Deborah to sing a song, which represents the most beautiful work of Hebrew poetry. According to its construction, this song is divided into three parts: the 1st part embraces Art. 3–11, 2nd part – art. 13–21, 3rd part – art. 22–30. The opening verse of the song (verse 2) constitutes the epilogue, the 12th verse the introduction, and the 31st verse the conclusion. Gessner (Das Zählen der Wörter in hebräischen Dichtungen, 1875) divides the song of Deborah into five parts, of which the 1st contains 80 words, the 2nd also 80 words, the 3rd - 32 words, the 4th - 32 words and the 5th - 128 words. Judges 5:2. Israel is avenged, the people have shown zeal; glorify the Lord! At the beginning of the song, Deborah calls for praising the Lord for the manifestation of zeal among the people of Israel for the deliverance of the fatherland from oppressors. Judges 5:3. Hear, O kings, Hear, O nobles: I am to the Lord, I sing, I jingle to the Lord God of Israel. Addressing the kings and nobles, by which the Targum of Jonathan means the kings who came with Sisera to war, and the nobles of Jabin, Deborah invites them to listen to her victory song. Judges 5:4. When You, O Lord, came out from Seir, when You came from the field of Edom, then the earth shook, and the sky dripped, and the clouds shed water; Judges 5:5. the mountains melted at the presence of the Lord, even this Sinai at the presence of the Lord God of Israel. Judges 5:6. In the days of Samegar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were empty, and those who had formerly walked on straight paths then walked by circuitous roads. Judges 5:7. There were no inhabitants in the villages of Israel, until I, Deborah, rose up, until I, the mother of Israel, rose up. Judges 5:8. They chose new gods, and that is why war is at the gates. Was the shield and spear visible to the forty thousand of Israel? At the beginning of her song, Deborah recalls the greatness of the Lord, the supreme Leader and Protector of the people of Israel, whose appearance on Sinai was accompanied by wondrous signs of nature (Ex. 19:18), and, in contrast to this greatness of the God of Israel, depicts the humiliated state of the Israeli people during Samegar, when the Israelites, for their deviation from the right path and infatuation with the gods of other nations (Deut. 32:17), suffered humiliation and oppression from the Canaanites. This humiliated state of the people continued until Deborah rebelled, and with her the other commanders of Israel, who were zealous for the glory of the Lord and the freedom of the people. Under Jael (“chamois”) in v. 6 Böttcher and Kessler do not mean Jael the Kenite, but Samegar, who had such a nickname. Judges 5:9. My heart goes out to you, O leaders of Israel, to the zealots among the people; glorify the Lord! Judges 5:10. You who ride on white donkeys, who sit on carpets, and who walk on the road, sing a song! Judges 5:11. Among the voices that gather the flocks at the wells, there let them sing the praise of the Lord, the praise of the leaders of Israel! Then the people of the Lord came to the gate. Addressing the leaders of the people of Israel and the people themselves, Deborah calls them to glorify the Lord for the liberation of the people of Israel. Judges 5:12. Arise, arise, Deborah! rise up, rise up! sing a song! Arise, Barak! and lead your captives, son of Abinoam! The immediate cause of the liberation of the people of Israel from the Canaanite yoke was the awakening of national feeling in the prophetess Deborah and the leader Barak, who addressed an appeal to the people. Judges 5:13. Then He brought the people into subjection to a few of the mighty; The Lord has subjected the brave to me. Judges 5:14. From Ephraim came those who took root in the land of Amalek; Benjamin is behind you in the midst of your people; from Machir came the rulers, and from Zebulun those who wielded the scribe's cane. Judges 5:15. And the princes of Issachar with Devorah, and Issachar, like Barak, rushed into the valley on foot. There is great discord among the tribes of Reuben. Judges 5:16. Why are you sitting between the sheepfolds, listening to the bleating of the flocks? There is great discord among the tribes of Reuben. Judges 5:17. Gilead lives quietly beyond the Jordan, and why should Dan be afraid of the ships? Asher sits on the seashore and lives calmly at his piers. Judges 5:18. Zebulun is a people who doomed their soul to death, and Naphtali is on the heights of the field. Deborah depicts how the different tribes of Israel reacted to the call to rebel against the Canaanites. While some tribes, like Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh (the western part of it, named after the eldest family of the tribe Machirov, Joshua 17:1-2), Zebulun, Naphtali and Issachar, treated him with complete sympathy, others, like Reuben, the eastern part of Manasseh (called Gilead), Asher and Dan, treated him without due due sympathy, and during the people's battle they calmly indulged in their activities. Judges 5:19. The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought in Panaach by the waters of Megiddon, but did not receive any silver. Judges 5:20. They fought from heaven, the stars fought from their ways with Sisera. Judges 5:21. The stream Kishon carried them away, the stream Kedumim, the stream Kishon. Trample, my soul, strength! Deborah depicts the actual battle between the Israelites and the Canaanites. In poetic delight, it seems to her that even the stars of heaven fought with Sisera and the very stream of Kishon remained not indifferent to the bodies of the killed soldiers, but quickly carried them away. The cities of Taanach and Megiddon, near which the battle of the Israelites with Sisera took place, were located in the valley of Ezdrelon, in the middle of which the Kishon (modern Nar-el Muqatta) flowed. Judges 5:22. Then the horse's hooves broke from the escape, from the escape of his strong ones. The flight of the Canaanite horsemen after their defeat in the battle with the Israelites is depicted. Judges 5:23. Curse Meroz, says the Angel of the Lord, curse, curse its inhabitants for not coming to the aid of the Lord, to the aid of the Lord with the brave. Judges 5:24. May Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be blessed among the wives; may she be blessed among the women in the tents! Judges 5:25. He asked for water: she gave him milk, and in a nobleman’s cup she brought the best milk. Judges 5:26. She stretched out her [left] hand to the stake, and her right hand to the hammer of the workers; struck Sisera, bruised his head, broke and pierced his church. Judges 5:27. He bowed at her feet, fell and lay down, bowed at her feet, fell; where he bowed down, there he fell slain. Judges 5:28. Sisera's mother looks out the window and screams through the bars: why does his cavalry take so long, why do the wheels of his chariots tarry? Judges 5:29. The smartest of her women answer her, and she herself answers her words: Judges 5:30 . It’s true, they found, they divided the booty, one maiden at a time, two maidens for each warrior, Sisera’s multi-colored clothing received as booty, multi-colored clothing received as booty, embroidered on both sides, taken from the captive’s shoulders. Deborah, in the name of the angel of the Lord, curses the inhabitants of the unknown city of Meroz, who did not want to take part in the persecution of the Canaanite warriors, praises Jael the Kenite woman for killing Sisera, and artistically depicts the hopes and painful fears of Sisera’s mother, awaiting the return of her son from the battlefield along with rich booty. Judges 5:31. So let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! Let those who love Him be like the sun rising in all its strength! “And the earth rested for forty years.” The conclusion of the song of Deborah: destruction awaits all the enemies of the Lord, but glorification awaits those who love Him. After the overthrow of the Canaanite yoke, the country of Israel rested for forty years. You might be interested in: