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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Judges 5:26 - 5:26
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“Her hand,” i.e., the left hand, as is shown by the antithesis, “her right hand,” which follows. On the form תִּשְׁלַחְנָה, the third pers. fem. sing. with נָה attached, to distinguish it the more clearly from the second pers., see the remarks on Exo 1:10. עֲמֵלִים הַלְמוּת, hammer or mallet of the hard workers, is a large heavy hammer. For the purpose of depicting the boldness and greatness of the deed, the words are crowded together in the second hemistich: הָלַם, to hammer, or smite with the hammer; מָחַק, ἁπ. λεγ., to smite in pieces, smite through; מָחַץ, to smite or dash in pieces; חָלַף, to pierce or bore through. The heaping up of the words in Jdg 5:27 answers the same purpose. They do not “express the delight of a satisfied thirst for revenge,” but simply bring out the thought that Sisera, who was for years the terror of Israel, was now struck dead with a single blow. כָּרַע בַּאֲשֶׁר, at the place where he bowed, there he fell שָׁדוּד, overpowered and destroyed. In conclusion, the singer refers once more in the last strophe (Jdg 5:28-30) to the mother of Sisera, as she waited impatiently for the return of her son, and foreboded his death, whilst the prudent princesses who surrounded her sought to cheer her with the prospect of a rich arrival of booty.