SONG OF DEBORAH. [JUDGES 5]

SONGS CONVEY A WIDE RANGE OF HUMAN EXPRESSION IN THE BIBLE, AND THEY ARE SUNG IN CONNECTION WITH MANY KINDS OF ACTIVITIES. WORKING MEN SING, AS FOR EXAMPLE, THE WORKMEN DIGGING A WELL IN NUMBERS 21:18. LOVERS SING TO EACH OTHER. IN THE SONG OF SONGS (OR SONG OF SOLOMON) THERE IS A COLLECTION OF LOVE SONGS EXPRESSING.ROMANTIC PASSION THROUGH DESCRIPTIONS OF A LOVER'S BODY, SEXUAL IMAGERY, AN PASTORAL OR AGRICULTURAL SCENES. SONGS CAN ALSO EXPRESS MOCKERY AND RIDICULE. THE PROPHET IN THE REVELATION TO JOHN MOCKS THE CITY OF BABYLON AS HE LAMENTS HER FALL (REV.18),  TH SON OF DEBORAH IN JUDGES 5 IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL SONGS IN THE BIBLE. IT DESCRIBES THROUGH POETRY A BATTLE BETWEEN THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF DEBORAH AND BARAK, AND THEIR ENEMY LED BY SISERA. IT IS IN MANY WAYS A DIFFICULT PIECE TO INTERPRET; THE TEXT IS UNCERTAIN AT SEVERAL PLACES, AND THE MEANING OF SOME WORDS REMAINS IN DOUBT. NONETHELESS , IT MAKES EFFECTIVE USE OF MOST ELEMENTS OF BIBLICAL POETRY, AND A COMPARISON BETWEEN DEBORAH'S SONG. AND A PROSE RENDITION OF THE SAME BATTLE IS DESCRIBED THROUGH A SERIES OF SCENES IN JUDGES 4. IT WILL PROVIDE A TRANSITION TO THE ANALYSIS OF STORY IN THE BIBLE. AFTER A LITURGICAL OPENING, CONSISTING OF A BLESSING (5:2-5 vs .2), A HYMNIC INTRODUCTION VS.3), AND A PASSAGE THAT DESCRIBES GOD IN TRADITIONAL THEOPHANIC LANGUAGE. THE SECOND SCENE DESCRIBES THE STATE OF ISRAEL PRIOR TO THE RISE OF DEBORAH. THOSE DAYS ARE EFFECTIVELY PORTRAYED THROUGH PEASANTRY THROUGH THE REPETITION OF THE VERB "DISAPPEAR": " CARAVANS HAD DISAPPEARED,... PEASANTRY HAD DISAPPEARED DISAPPEARED DISAPPEARED IN ISRAEL. BEFORE DEBORAH "AROSE," ISRAEL WAS THREATENED BY EXTINCTION.  IN THE FACE OF THREAT DEBORAH  SHIFT IN ISRAEL'S FORTUNE IS ASSERTED BY THE  REPETITION OF THAT VERB " UNTIL YOU "AROSE" , O DEBORAH YOU AROSE A MOTHER IN ISRAEL. (5:7). THE SITUATIONS BEFORE AND AFTER DEBORAH ARE CLEARLY CONTRASTED. THE CONTRAST IS COMPLETE IN ITSELF.  SCENE THREE THEN SHIFTS BACK TO LITURGICAL EXHORTATION TO HEAR A SONG vs10, vs.3). SCENE FOUR PRESENTS A MOMENT OF ACTION, THE GATHERING OF TRIBES INTO THE VALLEY IN PREPARATION FOR WAR. CONCENTRIC DEVELOPMENT IS ESPECIALLY EVIDENT IN THAT SCENE:VERSES 12-15a  BEGIN AND END WITH REFERENCES  TO DEBORAH AND BARAK: THE TAUGHT SONG AGAINST REUBEN BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE SAME LINE.; AND THE FAILURE OF GILEAD, DAN, AND ASHER TO PARTIS A PARTICIPATE IN THE BATTLE, IS UNDERSCORED  BY THE REPETITION OF THE VERB "REMAIN" IN THE FIRST AND LAST LINES: GILEAD REMAINED BY HIS LANDINGS, SCENE FOUR ENDS, MOREOVER," AS IT BEGAN., WITH PRAISE FOR THOSE TRIBES WHO DID WILLINGLY GAHER FOR BATTLE. THE SONG THEN CONCLUDES WITH A LITURGICAL EJACULATION, A WARNING AND A CURSE TO THOSE WHO WOULD CROSS THE LORD.: " SO PERISH ALL THY ENEMIES, LORD/ BUT THY FRIENDS BE AS A RISING SUN IN HIS MIGHT (vs.31).