What does Judges 5:30 mean?

Sisera was brutally killed by a woman named Jael as he slept (Judges 4:19–21; 5:24–27). As Deborah sings a celebration of Israel's victory (Judges 5:1), she depicts Sisera's mother fearfully wondering why her son is delayed. The other noble women—or, possible, Sisera's harem—assure her he has so much loot and slaves to sort through that he's running late. They imagine Sisera and his soldiers ransacking enemy camps and towns, perhaps, after routing the Israelites in battle.

The heartless description of what they will be taking is chilling—and partly reveals the Israeli perspective on Sisera's cruelty. Concepts such as this might have been part of Jael's motivation to mangle the general's skull with a wooden spike (Judges 4:22). The reference to "a womb or two for every man" can imply the taking of captive wives in battle. However, the coarse language, and the context of a territory already under Canaanite control, suggest something even less savory. Deborah poetically imagines Sisera's mother callously assuming the soldiers are enjoying—brutally—the defeated women of Israel. This has always been an all-too-common reality of war. To hear Sisera's mother describe it so bluntly is meant, in part, to steal away sympathy for her.

Sisera's mother is imagined assuming, just as arrogantly, that her son is sorting through massive plunder such as clothes and fabrics. It's likely Sisera and his soldiers had taken such goods from the Israelites many times during their oppression of the previous twenty (Judges 4:1–3) years. Deborah's song uses this reality to sharpen her focus on divine justice. This came through Israel's victory and the death of Sisera at the hands of a woman while he slept helplessly.