Judges 5:20

(20) They fought from heaven.—The “they” is impersonal—the powers above. (Comp. Luke 12:20, Greek, and for the fact, Judges 4:22.)

The stars in their courses.—This is probably a general reference to the providential storms which had secured the victory to Israel. To understand the “stars” as meaning “angels” is a mistaken inference from Job 38:7. There is a striking parallel in Claudian’s poem on the Consulship of Honorius:—

“Oh nimium dilecte Deo, cui militat aetherEt conjurati veniunt ad classica venti.”

Similarly, Æschylus represents “water and fire, in ruin reconciled,” fighting against the Greek fleet.