“Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
Parallel Translations
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“Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
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LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
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LORD, when Thou didst go forth out of Seir, when Thou didst march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Judges 5:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 33:2 He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
- Psalms 68:7-8 God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai— at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
- Psalms 77:17 The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around.
- 2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- Job 9:6 He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.
- Psalms 18:7-15 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them. Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
- Habakkuk 3:3-6 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth. His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden. Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet. He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 5:4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir,…
Jdg 5:4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
Ver. 4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir.] When thou marchedst before thy people through the wilderness. Thus this good woman recogniseth mercies long since received, that she may the better praise God for the present deliverance. A worthy pattern for us to imitate, with whom, as with children, eaten bread is soon forgotten. It is good to begin our thanksgivings high enough: and as shopkeepers, by turning over their books to look up one debt, take notice of many more: so should it be with us in revising and celebrating God’s favours.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Seir and
Seir and
Edom are the same place; and these two expressions note the same thing, even God’s marching in the head of his people from Seir or Edom towards the land of Canaan. Whilst the Israelites were encompassing Mount Seir, there were none of the following effects; but when once they had done that, and got Edom on their backs, then they marched directly forwards towards the land of Canaan. The prophetess being to praise God for the present mercy, takes her rise higher, and begins her song with the commemoration of the former and ancient deliverances afforded by God to his people, the rather because of the great resemblance this had with them, in the extraordinary and miraculous manner of them.
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The earth; either,
1. The inhabitants of the earth or land; or,
2. The earth, properly taken, as the following passages are; God prepared the way for his people, and struck a dread into their enemies by earthquakes, as well as by other terrible signs.
The clouds also dropped water, i.e. thou didst send most dreadful showers of rain, storms and tempests, thunder and lightning, and other tokens of thy displeasure, upon thine enemies; as may appear by comparing this with other parallel texts.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou…
Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom,.... Here properly begins the song, what goes before being but a preface to it; and it begins with an apostrophe to the Lord, taking notice of some ancient appearances of God for his people, which were always matter of praise and thankfulness; and the rather are they taken notice of here, because of some likeness between them and what God had now wrought; and this passage refers either to the giving of the law on Sinai, as the Targum and Jarchi; see Deu 33:2; or rather, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others, to the Lord's going before Israel, after they had encompassed the land of Edom, and marched from thence towards the land of Canaan, when they fought with Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and conquered them; which struck terror into all the nations round about them, and the prophecies of Moses in his song began to be fulfilled, Exo 15:14; and which dread and terror are expressed in the following figurative phrases:
the earth trembled; and the like figure Homer (a) uses at the approach of Neptune, whom he calls the shaker of the earth, perhaps borrowed from hence; it may design the inhabitants of it, the Amorites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Canaanites, and others:
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and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water; which, as it may literally refer to the storm and tempest of rain that might be then as now, see Jdg 4:15, so may figuratively express the panic great personages, comparable to the heavens and the clouds in them were thrown into, when their hearts melted like water, or were like clouds dissolved into it.
(a) ' , Iliad. 13. v. 18, 34, 44.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Edom - Seir and Edom are the same place;…
Edom - Seir and Edom are the same place; and these two expressions note the same thing, even God's marching in the head of his people, from Seir or Edom, towards the land of Canaan: while the Israelites were encompassing mount Seir, there were none of the following effects; but when once they had done that, and got Edom on their backs, then they marched directly forward towards the land of Canaan. The prophetess being to praise God for the present mercies, takes her rise higher, and begins her song with the commemoration of the ancient deliverances afforded by God to his people, the rather because of the great resemblance this had with them, in the miraculous manner of them. The earth trembled - God prepared the way for his people, and struck a dread into their enemies, by earth-quakes as well as by other terrible signs. Dropped water - That is, thou didst send storms and tempests, thunder and lightning, and other tokens of thy displeasure upon thine enemies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. When thou wentest out of Seir] Here…
Verse 4. When thou wentest out of Seir] Here is an allusion to the giving of the law, and the manifestation of God's power and glory at that time; and as this was the most signal display of his majesty and mercy in behalf of their forefathers, Deborah very properly begins her song with a commemoration of this transaction.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir…
Jdg 5:4. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir — Thus the prophetess, by a sudden apostrophe, addresses him, not as their present deliverer, but as the God who had formerly exerted his miraculous power to bring them into the promised land; leaving her hearers to recollect, that it was the same power which had now subdued the Canaanites, that at first expelled them; the same power which had now restored to the Israelites the free enjoyment of their country, that at first put them in possession of it. In other words, being to praise God for the present mercies, she takes her rise higher, and begins her song with the commemoration of the ancient deliverances afforded by God to his people; and the rather, because of the great resemblance this had to them, in the miraculous manner of them. Seir and Edom are the same place, and these two expressions mean the same thing, even God’s marching at the head of his people, from Seir or Edom, toward the land of Canaan. The earth trembled — God prepared the way for his people, and struck a dread into their enemies, by earthquakes, as well as by other terrible signs. The heavens dropped — That is, thou didst send storms and tempests, thunder and lightning, and other tokens of thy displeasure upon thine enemies. The books of Moses, indeed, do not mention any earthquake as happening during their march from Seir in Edom, to war against Sihon and Og, and take possession of their land; but it is highly probable, from what is repeatedly spoken of the terror occasioned by their march, and the universal fear that was spread round because of them, that it was attended with such commotions of nature. See Psa 68:7-8; Isa 64:3; Hab 3:6; Deu 1:19-20.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Compare Psa 68:7-9, and Hab 3:3-16. The three passages…
Compare Psa 68:7-9, and Hab 3:3-16. The three passages relate to the same events, and mutually explain each other. The subject of them is the triumphant march of Israel, with the Lord at their head, to take possession of Canaan, and the overthrow of Sihon, Og, and the Midianites. This march commenced from Kadesh, in the immediate neighborhood of Self, and the victories which followed were an exact parallel to the victory of Deborah and Barak, accompanied as it had been with the storm which made Kishon to overflow his banks.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Edom. Sinai, where God gave his law amid thunder…
Edom. Sinai, where God gave his law amid thunder and lightning, was situated in Idumea. (Calmet) --- God displayed his glory on this mountain, and also on Mount Seir, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 2. Some believe that Debbora compares the wonders which attended the late victory, with those which God wrought when he led his victorious bands though the desert, and conquered the countries of Sehon, &c. (Haydock) --- He provided for the wants of his people, even in the most desolate regions, giving them water out of the hard (Calmet) rock of Horeb or Sinai, (Haydock) and causing all nature to change her appearance at his approach, Psalm lxvii. 8., and Exodus xix. 18. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Allusion is here made, in general terms, to God's…
Allusion is here made, in general terms, to God's interposition on behalf of His people.
Seir . . . the field of Edom--represent the mountain range and plain extending along the south from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf.
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thou wentest out--indicates the storm to have proceeded from the south or southeast.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Thy going out from Seir — What going…
4. Thy going out from Seir — What going out from Seir is here meant? There is an allusion to the desert-journey of Israel, and the theophanies connected with it, especially the theophany at Sinai; and the same occurs in substance again in Psa_68:7-8, and Hab_3:3-4. That sublime theophany was the grand independence day of Israel, always fresh, and to be celebrated in the greatest of national hymns; but to explain this verse and the following as a reference exclusively to that ancient time, and as having no other application, is to meet insuperable difficulty in bringing the passage into any sort of harmony with the context. We, therefore, reject such an explanation of these words. The trembling earth, the dropping heavens, the quaking mountains, together with the statements of Jdg_5:20-21 that the heavens fought, and the Kishon swept the hosts of Sisera away, all point to a terrible thunder storm which God sent on that occasion to discomfit the enemies of his people. See note on Jdg_4:15. The inspired poetess saw in that tempest a sublime theophany, which reminded her of the ancient scenes at Sinai, and she very naturally passes from her address to the heathen kings (Jdg_5:3) to speak of this miraculous interposition of Jehovah. She clothes her description in imagery drawn from the theophany at Sinai. Compare the use of similar imagery in Psa_18:7-15. The going out from Seir, and through the fields of Edom, is, therefore, to be explained as the approach, from that southern quarter of the heavens, of the tremendous tempest in which Jehovah moved forth from his seat on Sinai, and marched to the rescue of his people. See note on next verse. This view, which is that of Robinson and some of the best scholars, seems to us much more tenable than that of most expositors, which makes Jdg_5:4-5 the description of a scene which had no connexion at all with the subject matter of this song.
Heavens did drop — Poured down floods of water, that speedily swelled the Kishon and other streams so as to sweep multitudes of the warring host away. Compare Jdg_5:21.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4, 5. Jehovah’s advent. These verses describe the awful…
4, 5. Jehovah’s advent. These verses describe the awful coming of Jehovah to help His people in the battle: the Godhead approaches in storm and thunder, in the very storm which brought disaster upon Sisera’s army, Jdg_5:20 f. Similar accompaniments of Jehovah’s presence are alluded to in Mic_1:3-4; Isa_64:1; Psa_18:7-15; Psa_50:3; Psa_97:2-6. The ancient dwelling-place of Jehovah, before the establishment of the sanctuary on Zion, was not in Canaan but at Sinai (J’s name, and P’s) or Horeb (E and D) Exo_3:1, 1Ki_19:8, situated at a distance, of ‘eleven days by the Mt Seir road from Kadesh-Barnea’ (Deu_1:2), probably in Midian, E. of the Gulf of ‘Aḳãbah; from thence He issued across the field i.e. region of Edom into Canaan for the deliverance of His people. Cf. Deu_33:2; Hab_3:3; Zec_9:14.
wentest forth … marchedst] Cf. Hab_3:12 f., and Psa_68:7 (imitated from here).
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Seir] the mountain range E. of the ‘Arâbah, from the S. of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of ‘Aḳãbah, in which the field of Edom lay, Gen_32:3; Gen_36:8. Seir was the home of Esau, Deu_2:5; Jos_24:4.
the heavens also dropped] The object water is suspended till the next line, an instance of the parallelism noted above (1). But instead of dropped the LXX. A gives were in commotion, which perhaps implies the Hebr. word for swayed; this correction is adopted by some scholars. The last two lines of this v. and the second of Jdg_5:5 are copied in Psa_68:8.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir.—See Psa_68:7-9;…
(4) Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir.—See Psa_68:7-9; Hab_3:3-12. The majority of commentators, both ancient and modern, suppose that the reference is to the promulgation of the law on Sinai, as described in Exo_19:16-18, Deu_33:3. But the mention of Seir and Edom seems to show that this is not the case, and, indeed, the imagery is different, and the context requires a more pertinent allusion. It the thunders and lightnings of the fiery law are alluded to, we can only suppose that a contrast is intended between the glory which Israel derived from that revelation and their recent abject condition; but the train of thought is clearer if we explain the allusion of the march of Israel from Kadesh Barnea to their first great conquest on the east of the Jordan. This march seems to have been signalised, and the battles of Israel aided, by the same majestic natural phenomena as those which had helped them to defeat Sisera, as though Jehovah Himself were the leader of their vanguard. Though the earthquakes and rains which made so deep an impression upon them are not recorded in the Pentateuch, the memory of the circumstances is preserved in these three passages.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 4, 5. The recent victory recalled the glories…
Vers. 4, 5. The recent victory recalled the glories of those days when God brought up Israel from Egypt into Canaan. She specifies the march from Seir or Her, and the day when Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.