Judges 5:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!

NIV: The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!

NASB: The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. My soul, march on with strength!

CSB: The river Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength!

NLT: The Kishon River swept them away — that ancient torrent, the Kishon. March on with courage, my soul!

KJV: The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

NKJV: The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength!

How did the vastly outmatched army of Israel ever defeat the overpowering force of Sisera's Canaanite army with its 900 iron chariots (Judges 4:1–3; 14–16)? The short answer is that the Lord gave them the victory. Scripture often gives general answers without explaining exact mechanisms. In this case, the answer to "how" God enabled Israel's victory might be given in this verse: through flood and mud.

The crucial battle took place near the Kishon River, which likely was a dry riverbed the day before the battle. But Deborah's song implies an unseasonal downpour as the "stars [nature] fought…against Sisera" (Judges 5:21). The raging river is said to have swept some of the Canaanite fighters away. Others in chariots and on horses would have likely become stuck in the mud as the Kishon overflowed its banks. An army dependent on heavy chariots becomes vulnerable if the ground turns to muck and they can no longer move at speed.

This possibility is further encouraged by Deborah's command for Israel's troops to advance, leaving a position of advantage on the mountain, to attack the oncoming Canaanites (Judges 4:14). Her God-given insight into the exact moment needed to catch the floundering chariots would have turned the battle into a rout. Her command is echoed here, connected directly to the flooding of the river, giving Israel courage.

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).