Judges 5:12

12 Lead on, Deborah, lead on! Lead on! Sing a song! Lead on! Forward, Barak son of Abinoam, lead your captives away!

Judges 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 5:12

Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a song,
&c] Either perceiving some languor and remissness in her spirits, while she was delivering this song, and therefore arouses herself to attend to this service with more ardour and zeal; or rather finding herself more impressed with a sense of the great and good things the Lord had done for Israel, calls upon her soul to exert all its powers in celebrating the praises of the Lord, and therefore repeats the word awake so often as she does:

arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam;
for though the whole army of Sisera was destroyed, that not a man was left, ( Judges 4:16 ) yet as Barak pursued to Harosheth of the Gentiles, many there and in other places which fell into his hands, that belonged to Jabin, might be taken captive by him; and though the Canaanites were to be slain, yet they might first be led captive in triumph; and besides, there might be some of other nations that were taken by him in this war; see ( Psalms 68:18 ) .

Judges 5:12 In-Context

10 Tell of it, you that ride on white donkeys, sitting on saddles, and you that must walk wherever you go.
11 Listen! The noisy crowds around the wells are telling of the Lord's victories, the victories of Israel's people! Then the Lord's people marched down from their cities.
12 Lead on, Deborah, lead on! Lead on! Sing a song! Lead on! Forward, Barak son of Abinoam, lead your captives away!
13 Then the faithful ones came down to their leaders; the Lord's people came to him ready to fight.
14 They came from Ephraim into the valley, behind the tribe of Benjamin and its people. The commanders came down from Machir, the officers down from Zebulun.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.