Hakim-hakim 5:2

5:2 “When the leaders took the lead ¹  in Israel,

When the people answered the call to war –

Praise the Lord!

Hakim-hakim 5:20

5:20 From the sky ²  the stars ³  fought,

from their paths in the heavens ⁴  they fought against Sisera.

Hakim-hakim 11:4

11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.

[5:2]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת (bifroa’ pÿra’ot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (חוֹקְקֵי, khoqÿqey) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term פְּרַעוֹת (pÿra’ot, v. 2a) is synonymous with חוֹקְקֵי (khoqÿqey) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).

[5:20]  ² tn Or “from heaven.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[5:20]  ³ tn The MT takes “the stars” with what follows rather than with the first colon of v. 20. But for metrical reasons it seems better to move the atnach and read the colon as indicated in the translation.

[5:20]  ⁴ tn The words “in the heavens” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity and for stylistic reasons.