Judges 5:12
in Judges 5‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
KJV
Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
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This verse in Judges 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Judges 5:12) Rise, rise Deborah; rise, speak the Song. It is noteworthy that in Hebrew it is read 'exspergisce,' that is, 'exspergisce' in the spirit of prophecy. Therefore, by the voices of the aforementioned teachers, Deborah is urged to be 'exspergisce' in the spirit of prophecy and praise, and not to cease from praising God. Hence, it follows: Speak the Song. Rise, Barak, and take your captives, son of Abinoam. In Hebrew, it is said: 'Praedare praedam, tuam fili Abinoem.'
This site's exposition
awake, awake, utter a song
on Judges 5:12-13
The song calls on itself to wake, four imperatives inside one verse, and then turns and calls Barak by his father's name. Lead thy captivity captive is the phrase Psalm 68:18 uses of God ascending on high, and Paul quotes that psalm of Christ at Ephesians 4:8. Verse 13 says the remnant was given dominion over the nobles, so the force that won was the smaller party and the poem states it rather than hiding it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Awake - Stir up thyself and all that is within thee, to admire and praise the Lord. This work needs and well deserves the utmost liveliness and vigour of soul. Lead captivity captive - How could this be done, when there was none of them left? chap. iv, 16.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
on Judges 5:11-14
The wells which are at a little distance from towns in the East, are, in unsettled times, places of danger. But in peace they are scenes of pleasant and joyous resort.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Awaken, awaken. The inference is, "awaken to praise," as plainly indicated. "Intensify your singing." However, the Rabbis remark, 17 Pesachim,:b. because she was self lauditory and said, "Until I rose, Devorah," 18 Thereby favoring herself over the leaders who preceded her.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Battle formations. Menachem interprets "strategists, military tactitians." 13 Meaning “the battle formations organized by strategists and tactitians.” He relates this to "The locust has no king, yet he advances entirely 'in formation'." 14 Mishlei,:27. The meaning is 'battle formations." Another interpretation, 15 Both interpretations appear in Targum Yonasan.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עוּרִ֤י | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| עוּרִי֙ | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| דְּבוֹרָ֔ה | devorah | O Deborah | H1683 → | 10 times |
| ע֥וּרִי | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| ע֖וּרִי | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| דַּבְּרִי־ | daberi- | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| שִׁ֑יר | shir | a song | H7892 → | |
| ק֥וּם | kum | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| בָּרָ֛ק | barak | O Barak | H1301 → | 13 times |
| וּֽשֲׁבֵ֥ה | ushaveh | and take captive | H7617 → | |
| שֶׁבְיְךָ֖ | shevyekha | captive[s] your | H7628 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲבִינֹֽעַם׃ | ʾavinoam | Abinoam | H42 → | 4 times |
עוּרִ֤יawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
עוּרִי֙awake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
דְּבוֹרָ֔הO Deborah
devorahH1683 →10 times
ע֥וּרִיawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
ע֖וּרִיawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
דַּבְּרִי־speak
daberi-H1696 →1141 times
שִׁ֑ירa song
shirH7892 →
ק֥וּםarise
kumH6965 →628 times
בָּרָ֛קO Barak
barakH1301 →13 times
וּֽשֲׁבֵ֥הand take captive
ushavehH7617 →
שֶׁבְיְךָ֖captive[s] your
shevyekhaH7628 →
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֲבִינֹֽעַם׃Abinoam
ʾavinoamH42 →4 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 5:14So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 13:11–12
And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Isaiah 26:19
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.
- Isaiah 60:1
Through
Ephesians 4:8This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”
it leads to
- Psalms 68:18
You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
- Colossians 2:15
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
- Psalms 68:18
Through
Psalms 68:18You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:8–10
This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”
- Ephesians 4:8–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on the Song of Deborah; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.