What does Judges 5:1 mean?
The victory over Sisera and Jabin has been won for Israel by the Lord (Judges 4:22–24). Deborah (Judges 4:4–5) writes a song in celebration. This parallels the song sung by Moses and the people of Israel after their miraculous salvation at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1–18). This verse reports that Deborah and Barak sang the song together. The original Hebrew makes it clearer that Deborah is the primary voice, while Barak is echoing her words. The verb used here for "sing" is feminine, while groups or men use a masculine form (Exodus 15:1; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 106:12).The song tells highlights from the Lord's defeat of the Canaanites in the form of poetry. It adds details from the more straightforward telling in the previous chapter. It also emphasizes Israel's emotional responses to the awesome events of Israel's day of salvation from Canaan.