Judges 5:28

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(28) The mother of Sisera.—With a bold poetic impetuosity the scene is changed, and the prophetess, with a few broad touches, sets before us the last scene of the strange eventful history. The mother of Sisera and her attendant princesses had looked for the triumph and return of the host as confidently as the ladies of Spain expected the return of the Armada, or as the ladies of Aberdeen sat, “with their fans into their hand,” looking out for the sails of Sir Patrick Spens. We have a similar scene in the Persians of Æschylus, where the great Atossa wails over the miserable flight of her defeated son Xerxes. In that, however, there is more of pity and less of derision, though, no doubt, the spectacle was meant to be pleasing to the victorious Athenians. This exulting description of the cruel but blighted hopes of the women of Sisera’s family is an inimitable touch of genuineness; it shows a woman’s authorship (Ewald).

Looked out at a window.—Watching for the first glimpse of her son’s return. In Eastern courts the queen-mother is a more important person than the wife.

And cried.—Rather, wailed (Vulgate, ululavit, an onomatopœia, like the Hebrew yabhabh). It is the wail of impatience passing into anxiety.

Benson Commentary

Jdg 5:28-30. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window — Expecting to see him returning; for she concluded that he went forth not so much to fight as to take the spoil. Have they not divided the spoil? — That is, it is certain they have got the prey, only they tarry to distribute it, according to every man’s quality and merit. It is scarcely possible to conceive any thing more beautiful or expressive than these verses. No writer, either poet or orator, ever formed a finer image upon any subject. It seems even beyond all that painting could express. No picture could have represented to us so much of the action as these words do. We perfectly see the mother of Sisera waiting for the victorious return of her son, and looking out at a window to behold his triumphant chariot at some distance. We see her rejoicing over the Israelitish captives. We see her, as it were, examining and delighting her eyes with the rich and gorgeous spoils which they had brought home. How does all this heighten, in our imagination, the fall of Sisera, who lies at the same time dead in the tent of Jael, without pomp or attendant, without mother, or sister, or brother, to weep over him, slain by the hand of a woman! This fine conclusion of the relation of Sisera’s fall may be said to have all the beautiful colouring of a Titian, and all the force of a Raphael or Rubens; for no one pencil ever expressed any thing so perfectly.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:24-31 Jael had a special blessing. Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a low and narrow sphere, if they serve God according to the powers he has given them, shall not lose their reward. The mother of Sisera looked for his return, not in the least fearing his success. Let us take heed of indulging eager desires towards any temporal good, particularly toward that which cherishes vain-glory, for that was what she here doted on. What a picture does she present of an ungodly and sensual heart! How shameful and childish these wishes of an aged mother and her attendants for her son! And thus does God often bring ruin on his enemies when they are most puffed up. Deborah concludes with a prayer to God for the destruction of all his foes, and for the comfort of all his friends. Such shall be the honour, and joy of all who love God in sincerity, they shall shine for ever as the sun in the firmament.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The scene is changed to the palace of Sisera.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

28-30. In these verses a sudden transition is made to the mother of the Canaanite general, and a striking picture is drawn of a mind agitated between hope and fear—impatient of delay, yet anticipating the news of victory and the rewards of rich booty.

the lattice—a lattice window, common to the houses in warm countries for the circulation of air.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Looked out at a window, expecting to see him returning; for she concluded that he went forth not so much to fight as to take the spoil.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window,.... Which perhaps looked towards the high road, in which she expected Sisera to return in his chariot with his victorious army; and she was looking out for him, not through fear of any ill that had befallen him, or suspicion of misfortunte, but through impatience to see him in triumph return, wreathed with laurels:

and cried through the lattice; which is but another word for a window, which was not of glass, that being of a later invention, but made in lattice form, in a sort of network, full of little holes to let in air and light, and look out at; here she stood and cried with a very loud uneasy tone; the word signifies a sort of a groaning howling noise, discovering impatience and uneasiness; and so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions render it, "she howled"; saying in a whining way:

why is his chariot so long in coming? she did not doubt at all of victory, and concluded it would soon be obtained, and there would be very little trouble and difficulty in getting it, and therefore wondered his chariot was not in sight:

why tarry the wheels of his chariots? the nine hundred he took with him, of the return of which she made no doubt, only was uneasy until they appeared, that she might be delighted with the glory of the triumph; the Targum is,"why are the runners hindered, who should bring me a letter of the victories?''

Geneva Study Bible

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

28. For a translation of the verse see p. 54. Out of the window looked cf. 2 Samuel 6:16; 2 Kings 9:30. Lattice, again in Proverbs 7:6 "" window; the rendering comes from LXX. A; cod. B gives ‘a hole in the wall.’

and cried] Only here; in Aramaic the word means ‘shout,’ ‘sound’ the clarion; so we might render cried shrilly. But this cannot be pronounced certain; we should expect a parallel to looked out, as LXX. A (‘considered well’) and Targ. (‘looked attentively’) suggest.

28–30. The mother of Sisera. The last scene is a fine piece of dramatic irony. The king’s mother is pictured as waiting eagerly for her son’s return; her disappointment is left to the imagination.

Judges 5:28

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

28 Through the window there looks out and cries aloud

The mother of Sisera, through the lattice work,

Why does his chariot delay its coming?

Why tarry the steps of his team?

29 The wise of her princesses reply:

- But she repeats her words to herself -

30 Surely they are finding and sharing booty:

A maiden, two maidens to the head of a man,

Booty of variegated cloths for Sisera:

Booty of variegated cloths, garments worked in divers colours,

A variegated cloth, two garments worked in divers colours for his neck as booty.

Sisera's mother looks out with impatience for the return of her son, and cries aloud out of the window, Why is he never coming?-foreboding the disastrous result of the war. תּיבּב, ἁπ. λεγ., signifies to cry; in Aramaean it is used for הריע and רנּן, to denote a loud joyful cry; here it evidently signifies a loud cry of anxiety. For the repeated question, Why does his chariot delay its coming? is evidently expressive of anxiety and alarm. The form אחרוּ, perf. Piel for אחרוּ, may be attributed to the influence of the aleph, which favours the seghol sound, like יחמוּ in Genesis 30:39. The combination of מרכּבותיו פּעמי, "steps of his chariots," cannot be explained, as it is by Bertheau, on the ground that the word פעמי, as a general expression for intermittent movement, might also be applied to the jerking of the wheels in rolling, but simply on the supposition that מרכּבות, as a synonym for רכב, is used for the horses yoked to the chariot in the sense of team, like רכב in 2 Samuel 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:18, etc.