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Judges 5:28

in Judges 5

Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

KJV

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

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This verse in Judges 5

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Cried through the lattice - This is very natural: in the women’s apartments in the East the windows are latticed, to prevent them from sending or receiving letters, etc. The latticing is the effect of the jealousy which universally prevails in those countries. Why is his chariot so long in coming? - Literally, Why is his chariot ashamed to come?

This site's exposition

Sisera’s mother looked through the window

on Judges 5:28-30

The song ends the enemy's side indoors, with a woman at the lattice answering her own question. Her ladies reply with the arithmetic of plunder, "a girl or two for each warrior", and the Hebrew word behind girl is a coarse one for the women taken. Deborah called herself "a mother in Israel" at verse 7, and the poem closes on a second mother, awaiting a dead son.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Though our enemies are to be prayed for, God's enemies, as such, are to be prayed against; and, when we see some of God's enemies remarkably humbled and brought down, this is an encouragement to us to pray for the downfall of all the rest. Deborah was a prophetess, and this prayer was a prediction that in due time all God's enemies shall perish, Ps. xcii.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear--impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory and the rewards of rich booty. the lattice--a lattice window, common to the houses in warm countries for the circulation of air.
The scene is changed to the palace of Sisera.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בְּעַד֩through

    beadH1157 →105 times

  • הַחַלּ֨וֹןthe window

    hachalonH2474 →

  • נִשְׁקְפָ֧הshe looked down

    nishkefahH8259 →

  • וַתְּיַבֵּ֛בand she lamented

    vateyabevH2980 →

  • אֵ֥ם[the] mother of

    ʾemH517 →220 times

  • סִֽיסְרָ֖אSisera

    sisra'H5516 →21 times

  • בְּעַ֣דthrough

    beadH1157 →105 times

  • הָֽאֶשְׁנָ֑בthe widow-lattice

    haeshnavH822 →

  • מַדּ֗וּעַwhy?

    madua'H4069 →72 times

  • בֹּשֵׁ֤שׁhas it delayed

    bosheshH954 →

  • רִכְבּוֹ֙chariot his

    rikhboH7393 →119 times

  • לָב֔וֹאto come

    lavo'H935 →2568 times

  • מַדּ֣וּעַwhy?

    madua'H4069 →72 times

  • אֶֽחֱר֔וּhave they delayed

    ʾecheruH309 →

  • פַּעֲמֵ֖י[the] hoof-beats of

    paameiH6471 →118 times

  • מַרְכְּבוֹתָֽיו׃chariots his

    markevotavH4818 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 26:8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.3 worksSong of Solomon 8:14Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.2 worksJames 5:7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.2 works2 Kings 1:2Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”2 worksProverbs 7:6For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.2 worksJudges 4:15And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Song of Solomon 2:9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    James 5:7

    Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 12:1–3

      Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set…

    • James 5:8–9

      You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

    • Joel 2:23

      Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as…

    • Galatians 6:9

      Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

    • Deuteronomy 11:14

      then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.

  • Through

    2 Kings 1:2

    Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 1:16

      And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to…

    • Mark 3:22

      And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”

    • 2 Kings 8:7–10

      Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 5 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 5 →