Them other of Sisera looketh out at the window, And crieth through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the trampings of his chariots?
Deborah's song ends far from the battlefield, inside an enemy palace. Sisera led the army Israel had just destroyed, and his mother stands at her window, watching the road for him. We already know what she does not. Her son is dead, and the delay that puzzles her means judgment has already fallen.
She is looking through a lattice. One reference work explains what that was:
The window of the East was made of trellis work. It let in air and light, yet screened the room from view. Judges 5:28; 2 Kings 1:2; Song of Songs 2:9.
She is not afraid he has lost. She is impatient for a victory she takes for granted.
The mother of Sisera looked through the window and wondered anxiously why he took so long to come home (v.28). Sisera and his armies were used to winning their battles with no difficulty. Her wise friends, and she herself, thought the answer was that Sisera and his men were taking time to gather and divide the spoil taken from Israel — girls and garments, and so on. What a shock it would be to these women to find that both Sisera and his armies were not only defeated, but destroyed!
The women around her supply explanations, and every one of them is wrong. One writer sees here how human cleverness explains away the delay of God's judgment:
She has her wise ladies around her, this mother of Sisera, the leader of intellectual denial of God's truth. They can give wise reasons why the chariot-wheels of the supposed conqueror are late. In a day that is coming fast, the wise of the earth will be ready in the same way, with plenty of reasons why the victorious march of man's mind is late. But for man, in the pride of his rebellion, there is no triumph, no spoils, no embroidered garment to dress the flesh. When they say "peace and safety," sudden destruction will fall on them, and they will not escape.
There is no pity in the way Deborah paints this scene. The same writer names the tone of it:
Last of all comes a piece of solemn irony in the description of Sisera's mother. It reminds us of that awful word, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." The derision of the Lord! What an awful thought!
Another writer sums up what the scene does to her pride:
(Verses 28, 30) Another scene takes place in the palace of Sisera's mother, whose pride is humbled to the very dust.
Deborah sings about two women. One writer notices which two she picks out:
Note in passing that, despite the high position God gave her, Deborah keeps her character as a mother in Israel. She shows remarkable understanding of what belongs to her own sphere as a woman. She celebrates what honours Jael, the woman of faith, and she announces what brings down judgment on the haughty woman.
One writer turns the same question toward the return of Christ. He starts with what a real hope does to a life:
A man's life is always shaped by his real hopes. If a man is heir to an estate, his life is shaped by the hope of inheriting it. If we knew more of the power of the Spirit as "the guarantee of our inheritance," we would stop arguing about the time or manner of our Master's arrival. As "prisoners of hope," we would be looking out eagerly from our prison windows, saying, "Why is His chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?"
The window scene is not the last word. One writer reads the song's ending as a picture of how things finish for both sides:
So all the enemies of the Lord will perish, while for those who love Him there is glory and rest in store.
- Watching. She stands behind a lattice, seeing out while hidden from view, asking why her son's chariot is late.
- Assuming. Past victories trained her to expect another. She hears the delay as spoil being counted, not as defeat.
- Explaining. Her wise companions give confident reasons for the delay, just as human wisdom explains away the delay of judgment.
- Reversing. The irony is deliberate. A palace's pride sinks to the dust, and Scripture calls this the laughter of the One who sits in the heavens.
- Waiting rightly. Ask the same question about Christ's return, and it becomes the cry of hope. The song closes with ruin for God's enemies and glory for those who love Him.
The wise amongst her ladies answer [her], Yea, she returneth answer to herself,
Deborah's song ends far from the battlefield. It moves to a palace, where Sisera's mother waits at a window and her noblewomen explain why her son is late. The verse turns on one quiet detail. She gives herself the answer she wants to hear, and it is wrong.
The song shifts to the enemy's side. Deborah thinks of the women of Canaan waiting at home.
Deborah also thinks of how the women of Canaan would be affected at this time. The mother of Sisera looked through the window and wondered anxiously why he took so long to come home (v.28). Sisera and his armies usually won their battles with no difficulty. Her wise friends, and she herself, thought they knew the answer. Sisera and his men were taking time to gather and divide the spoil taken from Israel — girls and garments, and so on. What a shock it would be to these women to find that both Sisera and his armies were not only defeated, but destroyed!
The verse says her wisest ladies answer her, and then adds that she answers herself. One writer notes that she does not take her ladies' explanation. She repeats it to herself. He then looks at the prize she expected.
Her "wise ladies" offer to explain the cause of the delay. She does not listen to them. She repeats to herself, "Have they not found and divided the spoil? ... two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?" Here we have a hint about the use in Old Testament times of these coloured garments. They were worn as marks of distinction, "for the neck as spoil," Sisera's mother says. He should wear this coloured prize as a mark of honour fitting such a mighty conqueror as he, she thought.
Deborah does not just report this scene. She sings it. One writer hears a sharper note in her song.
Last we have a piece of solemn irony in the description of the mother of Sisera. It reminds us of that awful word, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." The derision of the Lord! What an awful thought!
Another writer sums up the change in one line:
Another scene is taking place in the palace of Sisera's mother, whose pride is humbled to the very dust.
The verse calls these women wise. Ridout takes that word and reads it into our own day.
This mother of Sisera has her wise ladies about her. She is the leader of intellectual denial of God's truth. And they can give wise reasons why the chariot-wheels of the supposed conqueror are so slow. So too, in a day that is coming fast, the wise of the earth will be ready. They will have plenty of reasons for the delay of the victorious march of man's mind. For man, in the pride of his rebellion, there is no triumph, no spoils, no embroidered garment to adorn the flesh. "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them... and they will not escape."
The palace has it backwards. The victory and the spoil went to the other side.
The enemy of God's people, and all connected with him, are utterly confounded. Instead of the expected victory with lavish spoils, there is defeat and destruction. The palm of triumph and the rejoicing belong to God's people. The mourning belongs to those who thought to keep them in chains and to plunder them.
Deborah's song ends by looking ahead. One writer marks the limit of what Deborah could see:
The mother of Sisera waits for the return of her victorious son. She expects nothing but good, and her wise ladies are with her. It is a remarkable irony. So all the enemies of the Lord will perish, while for those who love Him there is glory and rest in store. Deborah could only express a longing: that the enemies might perish, and that those who love Him might be like the sun in its might and splendour. It was her prayer. Through the full light of prophecy we know more. We know how the enemies of God will perish, and that the glory will belong to those who love Him.
- Question — A mother waits at a window and asks why her son is late. His armies always won with ease, so his delay worries her.
- Answer — Her wisest ladies reply, but she answers herself. She repeats the comforting explanation instead of taking it from them.
- Spoil — She pictures the plunder shared out: captured girls, and embroidered garments that mark out a great conqueror.
- Irony — The song does not weep with her. It sets her confident reasoning against the God who holds His enemies in derision. Her pride falls to the dust.
- Reversal — The expected victory and its lavish spoils turn into defeat and destruction. The triumph belongs to God's people. The mourning belongs to those who planned to plunder them.
Have they not found, divided the booty, A damsel, two damsels, to each? A booty of dyed stuffs for Sisera, A booty of dyed stuffs of embroidery, Dyed stuff of double embroidery for the neck of a spoiler?
The song of Deborah ends inside an enemy palace. Sisera's mother waits at the window and calms her fear with a picture of her son dividing the loot — captured women and embroidered cloth. The reader already knows he is dead.
These are not Deborah's own words. They belong to a woman waiting at home, and her companions give her the answer she wants to hear.
The mother of Sisera looked through the window in anxious wonder at why he took so long to come home. Sisera and his armies were used to winning their battles with no difficulty. Her wise friends, and she herself, thought the answer was this: Sisera and his men were taking time to gather and divide the spoil taken from Israel — girls, garments and the rest. What a shock it would be to these women to find that both Sisera and his armies were not only defeated, but destroyed!
Two phrases need unpacking. "Have they not sped?" simply means have they not succeeded — the older word comes from a root meaning to hasten or prosper, as one reference work notes on this verse. The dyed and embroidered cloth is explained by the last clause of the verse itself.
Here we have a hint as to the use in Old Testament times of these garments of many colours. They were worn as marks of distinction, "fit for the necks of those who take the spoil," Sisera's mother says. He should wear this "prey of many colours" as a distinctive honour becoming such a mighty conqueror as he, she thought.
The casual arithmetic over captured girls is not incidental detail; it tells you what kind of army this was, and what Israel had been living under.
The sins of Israel had brought them once more into the bondage of the Canaanites. The Canaanites treated them with unusual harshness. Their earlier conquerors, the Philistines, had ruled them more mildly and wisely. The highways, Deborah says, were deserted. The people cowered and crept along the side roads to hide from the brutal Sisera and his troops.
The song never corrects Sisera's mother. It lets her keep talking, and the reader hears how hollow her hope is.
Last we have a piece of solemn irony in the description of the mother of Sisera. It reminds us of that awful word, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." The derision of the Lord! What an awful thought!
The women around Sisera's mother have an explanation ready for the missing chariots. Ridout hears an echo of it in our own day.
This mother of Sisera has her wise ladies about her. She leads the intellectual denial of God's truth, and they can give wise reasons why the chariot wheels of the supposed conqueror are so slow. In a day that is coming fast, the wise of earth will be ready in the same way. They will have plenty of reasons why the victorious march of man's mind is delayed. Ah, for man, in the pride of his rebellion, there is no triumph, no spoils, no embroidered garment to adorn the flesh. When they say "peace and safety," sudden destruction will fall, and they will not escape.
Gaebelein looks past the palace window to the end of the story.
Verses 24-31 are a vivid description of what took place. We see the mother of Sisera waiting for the return of her victorious son. She expects nothing but good and her wise ladies are with her. It is a remarkable irony. So all the enemies of the Lord will perish, while for those who love Him there is glory and rest in store.
Commentators differ here. Some read the whole song as prophecy. Another writer warns that recording a song is not the same as approving every line of it.
The Holy Spirit records that Deborah and Barak sang these things, but in no way puts His sanction on all that they say. Take the very natural, but rather savage, way they praise every detail of Jael's heroic treachery. They also rejoice over the horror they expect from Sisera's mother. She watches for him to come home while he lies dead in Jael's tent, with a tent peg nailing his head to the floor.
- Expectation. A mother at a window expects loot; her wise companions confirm it. The delay she is explaining away is the silence of a destroyed army.
- Exposure. The women counted out and the embroidered cloth show the character of Sisera's rule — the same brutality that had emptied Israel's highways.
- Emptiness. The many-coloured garments were marks of honour for a conqueror. For proud rebellion there is no triumph, no spoils, no garment to adorn it.
- Echo. The confident reasons of the "wise ladies" are still the world's reasons. When people say peace and safety, sudden destruction falls and no one escapes.
- End. So all the enemies of the Lord perish — and for those who love Him, glory and rest are in store.