What does Judges chapter 5 mean?

The previous chapter uses a straightforward style to explain the story of Deborah and Barak. Through Deborah's prophetic leadership (Judges 4:4–5) and the obedience of Barak (Judges 4:6–10), Israel defeated the Canaanites in a convincing victory (Judges 4:12–16). The enemy general, Sisera, fled and was ultimately killed by a nomad woman named Jael (Judges 4:17–21). This chapter contains the prophetess Deborah's victory song about these events, told through poetic imagery, while adding detail and vibrant emotion to the same scenes from Judges chapter 4.

The song begins with a blessing for the Lord. That includes praise for God providing willing leaders and fighting men who offered themselves to join Barak in battle against the Canaanites. It is the Lord who gives victory through those who are willing to follow His lead (Judges 5:1–2).

Deborah directly addresses the defeated kings and princes of Canaan. Her song is not "to" them, but it is meant for them to hear. She sings this song to the Lord, the God of Israel. Hers is a taunt—a deliberate mocking and dismissing of the enemy—ensuring everyone knows that God brought about this victory. And, that this success has freed Israel from oppression to Canaan (Judges 5:3).

Next, Deborah's song describes the Lord as active. He came to guide Israel as the nation moved from outside of the Promised Land to take action within its borders. This entry into Canaan was accompanied by miracles, signs, and wonders of many kinds (Deuteronomy 6:22–23). The references to natural events, such as earthquakes and storms, is likely a direct counter to the Canaanite religion, which thought of Baal as a deity of storms (Judges 5:4–5).

Deborah depicts the time of Sisera's oppression (Judges 4:1–3) in dark terms. Likely due to the Canaanites' iron chariots, major roads were all but deserted. Israel lacked even the tools to defend herself. Out of this hardship, Deborah was called as a prophetess of God (Judges 4:4–5). She describes herself as a "mother," consistent with her leadership and role as a judge over the nation (Judges 5:6–8).

Despite the danger and a lack of equipment, the commanders of Israel willingly volunteered to join Barak in attacking Sisera and Canaan's army. Deborah calls for all who hear her song to spread the story of this event. She mentions communal places, such as wells and springs, where people would be prone to meet. They must repeat the triumphs of the Lord and His villagers in Israel. She makes this call to rich and poor alike—including the tradesmen and merchants whose businesses would have been especially disrupted (Judges 5:9–11).

Israel's path to victory began when the Lord "woke up" Deborah to give a message to Barak. He was commanded to raise an army. Willing leaders and fighters came from the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir—a part of Manasseh— Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali. All willingly risked their lives (Judges 5:12–15).

However, Deborah also asks why the people of other tribes refused to come. She specifically calls out Reuben, Gilead—a part of Dan—and Asher. Reuben's depiction as wavering strongly resembles a prediction given by Jacob on his deathbed (Genesis 49:3–4). These rebukes are rhetorical questions (Judges 5:16–18).

Despite the lack of support from some Israelites, the battle was won. On the battlefield, Deborah poetically claims that nature, itself, went to war against Sisera. Part of this is the River Kishon as swelling to a torrent. This swept the enemy away and would probably have turned the fields below mount Tabor into a muddy trap for chariots. That Deborah gave an urgent command to attack, just as Sisera's men approached, suggests God arranged for the perfect combination of strategy and natural disaster to overwhelm the Canaanite forces (Judges 5:19–22).

In much stronger, more direct terms than were used for Israel's tribes, Deborah curses a town called Meroz for not helping the Lord against the mighty Canaanites. This might have been an area though which Sisera fled (Judges 4:15, 17), but was not stopped or challenged (Judges 5:23).

Deborah boldly blesses Jael for cleverly killing Sisera after he ran from the battle and attempted to hide. The moment is depicted in this song using repeated phrases and an echoing style. This is something like a "slow-motion replay" used to profound effect. The song describes the moment in detail, lingering on the body of Sisera and his utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of a woman (Judges 5:24–27).

Next, the song turns to imagine the reaction of Sisera's mother, as she waits for him at home. These details shed some light on Sisera's reputation. His mother and other noble women assume he is so busy dividing up loot from battle that he's running late. Part of that assumption seems to be the soldiers enjoying the women of Israel—crassly referred to as "wombs"—suggesting Sisera had a reputation for that kind of cruelty. The unspoken implication is that Sisera's friends and family will soon learn the unthinkable has happened: he has been defeated and killed (Judges 5:28–30).

Finally, Deborah prays for God to bring similar defeat to all His enemies. She pleads for those who honor God to be strengthened, and become like the sun: bright, invincible, and powerful. The final phrase of the chapter returns to the typical narrative style of the book of Judges, noting that Deborah and Barak won forty years of peace in Israel (Judges 5:31).

As the start of the next chapter shows (Judges 6:1), Israel will then fall into the same cycle of sin and oppression seen before (Judges 2:11–19). This will bring about the next judge, Gideon, whose story takes up all of chapters 6, 7, and 8.