Judges 5
Judges 5 is the fifth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the activities of judge Deborah, belonging to a section comprising Judges 3:1 to 5:31. Text. This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language . It is divided into 31 verses. Textual witnesses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century). Analysis. A linguistic study by Chisholm reveals that the central part in the Book of Judges (Judges 3:7–16:31) can be divided into two panels based  on the six refrains that state that the Israelites did evil in Yahweh’s eyes: Panel One Panel Two Furthermore from the linguistic evidence, the verbs used to describe the Lord’s response to Israel’s sin have chiastic patterns and can be groupped to fit the division above: Panel One Panel Two The victory song attributed to Deborah in this chapter is one of the oldest extant Israelite literary compositions dating to around the 12th century BCE, roughly contemporaneous with the period of time it depicts. Comparable to earlier works of the Canaanites discovered at Ugarit, the composition is  characterized by a 'parallelistic variety of repetition whereby imagery unfolds in a beautifully layered or impressionistic style' so that 'the parallel line adds colour, nuance, or contrast to its neighbouring description'. The lines (in bicola or tricola) are generally about parallel in length. The content itself draws upon traditional Israelite media of expression, also employed by others in the biblical tradition. Song of Deborah (5:2–31). The structure of the Song of Deborah is as follows: The call to hear this song contains parallel terms and syntax with the formulaic introduction 'hear/give ear' (cf Deuteronomy 32:1; Isaiah 1:2), to state  that YHWH, both the muse and victor, is the ultimate source and receiver of the song. Verses 24–27 present another version of the tale of Jael in wonderfully economic style, with the repetition that underscores the violent turn in the action as Jael is described as one who strikes, crushes, shatters, and pierces, as she at the same time seduced and slaughtered the enemy. In contrast to Jael as a tent-dwelling woman, the mother of Sisera is an noblewomen peering from a house with lattice-work windows (cf. 2 Kings 10:30), accompanied by ladies-in-waiting, but instead of  expecting the coming of Sisera with the spoil of war, it was Sisera himself who has been despoiled at the hands of a warrior woman. Verse 31. The abrupt burst by which the song ends depicts the completeness of the overthrow, causing it to be long remembered as an example of Israel’s triumph over God’s enemies (Psalm 83:9-10; Psalm 83:12-15).