Judges 5:4

4 “When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.

Judges 5:4 in Other Translations

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.

4 "LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.

4 “ LORD, when you set out from Seir and marched across the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, and the cloudy skies poured down rain.

4 God, when you left Seir, marched across the fields of Edom, Earth quaked, yes, the skies poured rain, oh, the clouds made rivers.

4 Lord, when You came from Seir, when You marched from the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured [rain], the clouds poured water.

Judges 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 5:4

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 ( Deuteronomy 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, ( Exodus 15:14 Exodus 15:15 ) ; and which dread and terror are expressed in the following figurative phrases:

the earth trembled;
and the like figure Homer ^F1 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:

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 ( Judges 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (treme d' ourea makra kai ulh) , Iliad. 13. v. 18, 34, 44.

Judges 5:4 In-Context

2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves— praise the LORD!

3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song.

4 “When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.

5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 13:21
• 2. S Numbers 24:18; S Deuteronomy 33:2
• 3. 2 Samuel 22:8; Psalms 18:7; Psalms 77:18; Psalms 82:5; Isaiah 2:19,21; Isaiah 13:13; Isaiah 24:18; Isaiah 64:3; Jeremiah 10:10; Jeremiah 50:46; Jeremiah 51:29; Joel 3:16; Nahum 1:5; Habakkuk 3:6
• 4. Psalms 68:8; Psalms 77:17