Judges 5:20

20 The stars fought from heaven; from their courses they fought against Sisera.

Judges 5:20 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 5:20

They fought from heaven
Either the angels of heaven, afterwards called stars; or the heavens, the elements, fought for Israel, and against Sisera; a violent storm of rain and hail falling at this time, which discomfited Sisera's army; (See Gill on Judges 4:15), or this victory was obtained in such a manner as plainly showed it was not of man, but of God from heaven; so the Targum,

``from heaven war was made with them;''

with the kings before mentioned; God fought against them, and no wonder they were conquered:

the stars in their courses fought against Sisera
it seems as if it was in the night that this battle was fought, at least that the pursuit lasted till night, when the stars by their brightness and clear shining favoured the Israelites, and were greatly to the disadvantage of the Canaanites; unless it can be thought, as is by some, that the stars had an influence to cause a tempest of rain, hail, thunder, and lightnings, by which the army of Sisera was discomfited in the daytime, as before observed.

Judges 5:20 In-Context

18 Zebulun [is] a people who scorned death, and Naphtali, on the heights of [the] field.
19 "The kings came, they fought; then the kings of Canaan fought; at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, they got no plunder in silver.
20 The stars fought from heaven; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The wadi torrent of Kishon swept them away, the raging wadi torrent, the wadi torrent of Kishon. March on, my soul, [with] strength!
22 "Then the hooves of the horse beat loudly, because of galloping, galloping of his stallions.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.