Favor · the best way to learn the Bible
Judges 5 Bible study: Deborah and Barak sang
The song tells chapter 4's day differently: more tribes, stars that fought, the Kishon sweeping the enemy away, and never Jabin's name (5:14-21). It has two mothers, with one Hebrew word for both: Deborah, "a mother in Israel" (5:7), and Sisera's mother at the window, picturing the plunder being divided (5:28-30), as the enemy did in the song at the sea (Exodus 15:9).
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the words behind the words, what most readers miss, and how it all leads to Jesus.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
““So let all your enemies perish, LORD, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In the song of Judges 5, Deborah is called a mother in Israel.”
Is that in Judges 5, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Who is singing, and who is blessed
"Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day" (5:1) (tap sang). Chapter 4 told the day in prose; this chapter sings it. The song speaks as "I": "I, even I, will sing to the LORD" (5:3), and "They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel" (5:7) (tap mother). Then it calls to both singers by name: "Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam" (5:12) (tap Awake). But the song's first blessing isn't for either of them. It opens, "because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, LORD!" (5:2) (tap willingly), and says again, "Bless the LORD!" (5:9). It is the LORD who "came down for me against the mighty" (5:13), and it is "the LORD’s righteous acts" that are to be rehearsed "in the places of drawing water" (5:11) (tap righteous acts).
Where it leads to Jesus
As the sun in its strength
Judges 5:31leads toMatthew 13:43
The song ends, "So let all your enemies perish, LORD, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength" (5:31). Explaining his parable of the darnel weeds (Matthew 13:36), Jesus said that at the end of the age the Son of Man's angels "will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those who do iniquity" (Matthew 13:41), and "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43). Jesus doesn't cite Judges 5, and the words differ: the song speaks of "those who love him", Jesus of "the righteous". So setting them side by side is a reading, resting on a shared picture: the enemies gone, and God's people like the sun. Some hear the song's last prayer answered in Jesus' words about the end of the age. Others read Judges 5:31 as Israel's prayer after one battle, and Matthew 13:43 within its own parable (Matthew 13:36-43), and don't look from one to the other.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Judges 5
That was a taste
The rest of Judges 5 is waiting in Favor
- The same day, told twice
- Who came, and who didn't
- Two mothers
- From Seir, from Sinai
- The song at the sea, and this one
- Jael, in the song
- 11 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Judges 5 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
נָדַבnadavsay na-DAV
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "incite, impel", and in the form used in this song, "volunteer". Strong's: "to impel; hence, to volunteer (as a soldier), to present spontaneously". The song opens with it: "because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, LORD!" (5:2). It comes again with "the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the LORD!" (5:9). Both times people volunteer, and both times it is the LORD who is blessed. These are the only two times Judges uses the verb. Exodus used it of the gifts for the Tent of Meeting: "everyone whom his spirit made willing" (Exodus 35:21).
For your group
Judges 5 Bible study questions
- 1The song blesses the LORD "because the people offered themselves willingly" (5:2). What have you offered yourself for willingly, and what made it willing rather than dutiful?
- 2At the watercourses of Reuben "there were great searchings of heart", and the song asks, "Why did you sit among the sheepfolds?" (5:16). When have you thought hard about stepping in and stayed where you were? What would have helped you come?
- 3The song pictures people at the places of drawing water telling over "the LORD’s righteous acts" (5:11). Where in an ordinary week could you tell someone something the LORD has done?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Judges 5 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
Start a Bible studyThe best way to learn the Bible
Favor opens up every chapter as you read.
Favor is a Bible study app for your phone or computer. It takes you through the Bible one chapter at a time, a few minutes a day, and shows you what's really there: the words behind the words, the moments most people miss, and how the whole story fits together. For you. For everyone.
Every chapter explains itself
As you read, short notes open up what's really going on, the details most readers walk past, and the honest questions people ask.
The Hebrew and Greek behind it
Tap a highlighted word to see the original, how to say it, and what it means, checked against the original-language texts.
Every page leads to Jesus
Watch promises made in Genesis kept in Jesus. Each line lights up on your map as you read.
Better together
Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together.
- 1
Start your free week
Sign up in a minute with your email.
- 2
Read a few minutes a day
Each chapter opens itself up as you go. Tap what you're curious about.
- 3
Bring your people, if you like
Send one link. Everyone reads the same chapter, then meets to talk.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read Judges 5 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Judges 5 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Start with Judges 5
The best way to learn the Bible. For you. For everyone.
There's a seat for you at the table.
Start your free weekFirst week free, then $10 a month per person · Log in
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home