Judges 5:1

THE SONG OF DEBORAH

James Strahan called this, "The greatest war song of any age or nation."[1] The language used in this poem is identifiable with, "The Canaanite poetry of the second millennium B.C.",[2] and the "presence of Aramaisms here"[3] in this chapter, unanimously held by the critics as dated in the 12th century B. C., confirms the fact that Aramaisms are NOT a sign of a late date, but appear in the oldest Biblical books.

"The historical significance of this chapter consists in its integrity as an incontestable Hebraic document of the twelfth century B.C., composed shortly after the events narrated."[4] George F. Moore also cited Deborah as the undeniable author of the poem, which is, "distinctly confirmed by Judges 5:7."[5] There are many other very significant features of this chapter which we shall cite in the notes below.

The alleged contradictions between the prose account of the rout of the Canaanites in Judges 4 and the poetic report of the same conflict in this chapter are of no importance whatever. "There is little in the two accounts that cannot be comfortably harmonized and nothing that requires an hypothesis of conflicting sources."[6]

The poetic arrangement of this chapter is an excellent demonstration of the early development of the distinctive Hebrew poetry which is characteristic of the Psalms and other portions of the O.T. Hebrew poetry is unique in that it is poetry that was based upon clauses of similar or of contrasting meaning, rather than merely upon the rhyme of various words.

For example, in Judges 5:19, we have:

"The kings came and fought;

Then fought the kings of Canaan."

And in Judges 5:23:

"Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah;

Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants therof."

Sometimes the poetry is that of contrasting thoughts instead of parallel thoughts. An example of this is in Judges 5:8.

"They chose new gods;

Then was war in the gates."

"Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying. For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, for that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah."

"The gender of the Hebrew verb here indicates that Deborah was the composer of this ode and that Barak assisted her in singing it, who perhaps sang the antistrophe."[7] As noted above, Deborah's authorship is confirmed in Judges 5:7.

"For that the leaders took the lead in Israel" (Judges 5:2). Myers mentioned an alternative rendition here, making the words read, "When locks hung loose in Israel,"[8] making this a symbol of the vows which many Israelites had vowed unto the Lord. However, such an idea contradicts the revelation in Judges 5:8 that there was at that time a widespread "choice of new gods" instead of Jehovah, on the part of Israel. Therefore, such a translation should be rejected as a misstatement.