Judges 5:28

28 "Through the window she looked down; the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why do the hoof beats of his chariot tarry?'

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 She reached out her hand to the peg, and her right hand for the workman's hammer; and she struck Sisera, crushed his head, and she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay. Between her feet he sank down, he fell; Where he sank down, there he fell--{dead}.
28 "Through the window she looked down; the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why do the hoof beats of his chariot tarry?'
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her; she also answers the question herself:
30 'Are they not finding and dividing the plunder? {A bedmate or two bedmates for every man}; colorful garments for Sisera, plunder of colorful garments, beautifully finished colorful garments, on the neck of the plunderer?'

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.