Judges 5:1

1. Then sang Deborah and Barak. As Moses and Miriam led Israel in singing the triumphal song of Exodus 15:0, so in this case Barak probably led the men, and Deborah the women, and at the appropriate periods these responded to one another. Compare also 1 Samuel 18:6-7. No one will pretend that both Deborah and Barak were jointly the authors of this poem. An all but universal opinion ascribes it to Deborah herself, and in support of this opinion we may urge (1.) Various evidences that it was composed by a contemporary of the scenes described. (2.) The thought, again and again suggested in the song itself, that the author was a woman. “A man,” says one writer, “would have portrayed the boldest deeds of arms, the most striking scenes of the struggle, which the woman only designates by a single pencil-stroke, while she dwells with delight upon the flight of the enemy. Only a woman could praise the deed of Jael as Deborah did. To none other than a woman’s mind would the cares and anxieties of the mother be suggested, as the chariot of Sisera long delayed its coming.” (3.) A comparison of Judges 5:3; Judges 5:7 clearly shows that Deborah is the professed authoress. Of all the Judges only Deborah prophesied, and she expressed herself in lyric song. And she sang, not as Miriam, who merely led the singing of a song another had composed, but as Moses, the victor, and the creator of the song.

On that day That day when Israel returned from the battle, flushed with enthusiasm over their great national triumph. This song was doubtless composed by the prophetess immediately after the victory, and this most naturally explains the freshness and emotionality apparent in nearly every line.