THE SONG OF DEBORAH
A. Blessing God for the deliverance He brings
1. (Judges 5:1-2) Theme of the song: The joy and blessing in being a willing instrument of God
Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
"That the leaders led in Israel,
That the people volunteered,
Bless the LORD!"
Deborah and Barak: The first verse speaks of Deborah and Barak singing this song. This does not mean that Barak helped to compose it. Rather, it is only that Barak was an equal partner with Deborah in this victory; so, Barak gets equal billing. Other verses make it abundantly clear that Deborah wrote this song. In fact, Barak is often included as a Judge, right along with Deborah.
The leaders led in Israel: In verse two, we get some strange words that are usually translated into little more than a good guess at what it means. In most Bibles, the phrase is translated as "The leaders led in Israel" or "The leaders in Israel dedicated themselves." Actually, the literal translation says, "When men let grow their hair in Israel." In Hebrew, the phrase is biphroa peraoth. I am not sure that "leaders" is what is meant here and neither are many of the Hebrew sages. The phrase definitely has something to do with hair, but exactly what it is getting at is difficult to discern. It does not fit any standard or understood Hebrew idiom. This strange phrase is representative of the reason for the lengthy preface about how it is key to recognize that the meaning of a song is singularly dependent on the narrow slice of time in which it was created. Obviously, hair was carrying some kind of commonly understood meaning among the northern Israelite tribes at the time of this composition.
Hair has always been a symbol of strength and purity among the Hebrews. We see this especially demonstrated in the vows of the Nazarite which must not cut his/her hair during the entire period of the vow. (For complete details on the Nazarite vow, please read Numbers 6:1-21.) When the vow was complete, they closely cropped their hair and offered it as part of a purification sacrifice at the altar in the Tabernacle and Temple. (This was still the tradition in Jesus' day and continued until the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. We find the Apostle Paul participating in this vow in the Book of Acts chapter 21:23-24.) I do not believe it is coincidence that also in the Book of Judges we read of the Judge Samson and his hair during this same era. Hair on men was apparently still carrying some type of heightened spiritual or religious meaning among the northern tribes.
We also know that the Canaanite men tended at the time to keep short hair and trimmed beards. So it would have been logical that Israel ought to do the opposite so as to maintain a distinct and separate visual identity. Unfortunately, just as Believers today tend to be outwardly indistinguishable from Non-Believers, so it was during this time of the Judges with the Hebrews, who sought to look and behave just like their Canaanite neighbors.
I see this matter of the hair as a reference by Deborah to extoll the virtues of the northern Israelite tribes who showed up to do battle by adopting a Nazarite-like dedication (uniquely Torah orientated) to renewed Holy War. This is also a reference to shunning the appearance of the Canaanites that Israelite society in general had adopted and thus moving back towards God and away from the Canaanites in doing so. Since such a vow is completely voluntary, I think the association between the hair and a Nazarite orientation also fits with the next phrase that speaks of the people volunteering, or better translated, offering themselves willingly, which again is precisely a Nazarite-like trait.
Bless the LORD: Some courageous Hebrew men saw the problem with Israelite society and realized that by behaving in such a wicked manner, God would leave them to their troubles. So, they repented, took on more pious ways (akin to Nazarite) and volunteered and rose up in religious fervor to go against the tide. In doing so, they led the way to reviving God's favor with Israel (and then the LORD responded by leading them to victory over their Canaanite oppressors). Therefore, Deborah's conclusion is that the general population of Israel should bless the LORD for setting all of this into motion and bringing about victory for Israel.
The word which is translated as "bless" is misleading. Really, it means to kneel in praise and adoration. So, Israel should submit with bowed heads before God in praise for what He has done. Deborah is giving God all the credit for their deliverance from Jabin King of Hazor and Sisera, the military leaders of the Canaanite allied forces.
2. (Judges 5:3-5) God's preservation of Israel
"Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!
I--to the LORD, I will sing,
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
"LORD, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Even the clouds dripped water.
"The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD,
This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.
Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers: In verse three, Deborah turns her attention to the gentiles. The kings and princes mentioned were gentiles because Israel had no royalty at this time. Essentially, Deborah is telling her audience that while gentile kings and princes give praises to their false gods and deities, (and the gentiles were likely wondering which of the Mystery Babylon gods sided with Israel in their victory), Deborah was appropriately praising God, the one-God of Israel. There is an implication that the gentiles ought to learn from this and do the same.
LORD, when You went out from Seir: Next, Deborah sings of the LORD going out from Seir in Edom. There has always been an interesting connection between God and the area of Mount Seir in Edom. Edom was the territory of Jacob's twin brother, Esau. The connection is often that Mount Sinai is said to be located in the direction of Seir.
"The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them." (Deuteronomy 33:2)
(Side Note: This is evidence that Mount Sinai is not located at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula as marked by Saint Katherine's Monastery, which has been a Christian tradition since around 350 A.D. Rather, all archeological and Biblical evidence is that Mount Sinai is actually somewhere on the western end of the Arabian Peninsula. And Seir and Edom are on the northwestern-most portion of the Arabian Peninsula. In any case, we have here in about the 12th Century B.C. this clearly stated connection with Mount Sinai being in the general direction of Edom.)
The image created by verses four and five is of God as a Divine warrior who so powerfully comes out to fight for His people Israel that the earth quakes, and the skies shake. While the earth quaking and the sky shaking is probably a poetic hyperbole, it is in reference to the ancient question of WHY the clouds poured down torrents of rain. The heavy rain was certainly not normal; it was an unexpected cloudburst that swayed the battle in Barak's favor and was the Canaanites and Sisera's undoing. The earth quaking and the skies shaking may have been that it was from a violent thunderstorm directly overhead.
The battle at the Kishon River most likely took place in the summer, when the river was dry. This is also the time when you can get amazingly powerful flash floods as a result. Those of us who have lived in desert regions of this country have experience the earth quaking, the sky lighted up with incredible lightening and the canon-like thunder of a severe thunderstorm which can dump 4-5 inches of rain in less than an hour.
Recently, Israel has been experiencing incredible rain storms. I saw a video in which a flash flood suddenly wiped out a substantial bridge and about 100 yards of the main highway that routed along the Dead Sea. Boulders the size of trucks were rolled down what had been up to that moment a wadi, a dry river bed, from the mountains where the rain fell a couple miles away. It appear this is what happened to Sisera and his army near the base of Mount Tabor.
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