Judges 5:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

NIV: From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

NASB: The stars fought from heaven, From their paths they fought against Sisera.

CSB: The stars fought from the heavens; the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.

NLT: The stars fought from heaven. The stars in their orbits fought against Sisera.

KJV: They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

NKJV: They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.

According to this part of a celebratory song (Judges 5:1), the kings of Canaan entered battle against vastly overmatched Israelites (Judges 4:12–13). The Canaanites approached on seemingly unbeatable iron chariots (Judges 4:1–3). It's possible they held vastly superior numbers. The Israelites were under-armed (Judges 5:8) and under-trained, at best. It's not surprising the Canaanites expected to collect great spoils from the Israelites.

As explained here, however, the Lord turned the tide of the battle before it even began. Deborah poetically describes the stars fighting from heaven against Sisera and his army. This reference suggests two things. First, God was considered to be the only One in control of the heavens; if "the stars fight" for Israel, it means the Lord is taking action on behalf of His people. She is not actually saying the stars did something in and of themselves, but instead uses poetry to communicate that all of creation was aligned to favor the Israelites.

Second, references such as this also imply something about nature. As the next verse shows, this might have been a major part of Barak's victory over Sisera's forces (Judges 4:14–16). Scholars suggest the heavens broke loose in a furious downpour of rain over the valley, flooding the usually tiny Kishon River. This would turn it into a torrent—a flash flood—sweeping away many men. It would also make the field a muddy mess, incapacitating heavy iron chariots.

Judges 5:19–23 recounts the battle briefly depicted in Judges 4:12–16. In poetic language, the passage indicates that Sisera's Canaanite army was thoroughly defeated. While partly symbolic, this segment also suggests an unexpected flood as part of God's plan for Israel's victory. Meroz, likely a town that failed to aid their fellow Israelites, is cursed.

Deborah and Barak sing a victory song she has written. This celebrates all the Lord accomplished through Israel's victory in battle over Sisera and Canaan. She praises God for willing volunteers and calls for everyone to pass along the story. She tells of the torrent of water that flowed down the Kishon River and swept away the enemy. She describes in detail the death of Sisera at the hands of a woman and even shows his mother crying for his return. Her song emphasizes that credit for success goes to the Lord.

Judges 5 follows the narrative-style account of the battle between Sisera and Barak, as instigated by the prophetess Deborah in chapter 4. This chapter is a song, poetically depicting the same series of events. Deborah describes Sisera's defeat in battle, Jael's bold killing of the cruel general Sisera, and the tears of his mother as she waits for him at home. The following chapter shows that Israel—once again—responds to this hard-won peace with another cycle of idolatry, sin, and oppression (Judges 6:1).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).