Barak has just led his men down the hill to battle (verse 4.14). Now the LORD steps in to fight for Israel and give the victory. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be better translated “Then.”
The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword: The Hebrew verb rendered routed is an unusual one found in Exo 14.24; verse 10.10; and verse 2 Sam 22.15. It indicates that a great panic came over Sisera and his entire army. The text does not tell specifically what happened. The enemy soldiers do not seem to be immediately killed. Rather, many seem to have escaped. Good News Translation renders the LORD routed Sisera as “the LORD threw Sisera into confusion,” Contemporary English Version has “the LORD confused Sisera,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “the LORD threw Sisera … into a panic.” There is general panic as the LORD throws Sisera, his chariots, and his whole army into confusion.
And all his chariots and all his army refers to Sisera’s chariots and foot soldiers. As in verse 4.13, there is emphasis on all. For chariots see verse 1.19. Contemporary English Version personalizes chariots and speaks of Sisera’s “chariot drivers,” which might be a good model in many languages. The Hebrew word for army (machaneh) occurs twenty-seven times in this book and has a variety of meanings. Often referring to army camps, here it refers to “troops” or “companies of soldiers.” Some languages may prefer to speak of “Sisera’s whole army and their chariots.” Perhaps the chariots are mentioned first because of the fear they instilled in the Israelites (verse 1.19).
In Hebrew before Barak (literally “before the faces of Barak”) occurs after the words at the edge of the sword. This word order may underline the fact that it is the LORD who won the victory, and not Barak himself. New Jerusalem Bible keeps the emphasis on the LORD’s role in the victory by saying “At Barak’s advance, Yahweh struck terror into Sisera….” For the edge of the sword, see verse 1.8. As the LORD throws Sisera’s army into a panic, Barak’s army apparently attacks with swords. The mention of the word sword links this verse to the Ehud story, where the sword had a double edge. Though at first it seems that Sisera’s army panicked and ran, the next verse makes it clear that with the exception of Sisera, all of Jabin’s soldiers are killed.
And Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot: Amid this scene of confusion and panic, Sisera flees. At the beginning of this sentence Revised Standard Version renders the Hebrew waw conjunction as and, but translators can use other connectors as well, such as “so” or even “but.” Alighted renders a key Hebrew verb (yarad) that is often translated “went down” (see verse 1.9). However, it is not the word used when Caleb’s daughter got down from her donkey (verse 1.14). There may be a wordplay here, since in the previous verse, Barak “went down” the mountain and here Sisera “comes down” from his chariot. We can say Sisera “got down” or “got off” his chariot. It is possible that some humor is intended here, expressing Sisera’s fear, thus we might say he “jumped down” or “leaped down.”
Instead of running away from the battle with his chariot or on horseback, Sisera fled away on foot. The Hebrew verb rendered fled away (nus) occurs throughout this book (see, for example, verse 1.6; verse 7.21; verse 9.21; verse 20.45). There may be another play on words here, since the Hebrew word for foot is also used in verse 4.10 to describe the men following Barak as those who “went up at his heels.” This passage shows the storyteller’s great skill. The general who arrived with hundreds of chariots ironically runs away on foot. Translators can use idiomatic expressions here.
Contemporary English Version provides a good model for this verse:
• And during the battle, the LORD confused Sisera, his chariot drivers, and his whole army. Everyone was so afraid of Barak and his army, that even Sisera jumped down from his chariot and tried to escape.
Another possible one is:
• Then the LORD caused panic among Sisera, all his chariots, and all his troops. And Sisera jumped down from his chariot and ran away on foot.
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .