Judges 5:28

28 "Sisra's mother looks out the window; peering out through the lattice she wonders, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are his horses so slow to return?'

Judges 5:28 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 5:28

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?''

Judges 5:28 In-Context

26 Then she took a tent peg in her left hand and a workman's hammer in her right; with the hammer she struck Sisra, pierced his skull, yes, she shattered and crushed his temple.
27 He sank down at her feet, he fell and lay there; he sank at her feet, he fell - where he sank down, there he fell dead.
28 "Sisra's mother looks out the window; peering out through the lattice she wonders, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are his horses so slow to return?'
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her, and she repeats it to herself,
30 'Of course! They're collecting and dividing the spoil a girl, two girls for every warrior, for Sisra booty of dyed clothing, a plunder of colorfully embroidered garments, two embroidered scarves for every soldier's neck.'
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.