As is sometimes the case in poetry, lines of emotive dialogue can emerge out of nowhere. The lines here contain seven imperatives marking this verse as a unique and very emphatic call. It is seemingly addressed to Deborah and Barak, though presumably Deborah herself was leading the singing in the preceding lines (verse 5.7). These shifts of addressee, sometimes known as “enallage,” are common in Hebrew poetry. To Western ears, this may be puzzling or even distracting, but in many languages around the world, this is a common feature of songs or other types of oral literature. Here apparently Yahweh’s people are calling out to Deborah and Barak, in celebration of their victory. If this unidentified quote causes problems, translators can begin with “They said,” “We said,” or “There was a cry.”
Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song!: These first two lines are parallel, featuring repetition of words and sounds, and an important play on words in Hebrew between Deborah’s name and the verb dabar meaning “say” or “speak”:
Awake, awake, Deborah! ʿuri ʿuri deborah
Awake, awake, utter a song! ʿuri ʿuri daberi shir
The imperative Awake occurs four times in these short lines. In this context the verb does not mean to wake someone from sleep, but to rouse or to incite someone to activity, in this case Deborah. However, it is not a call to go to war, but a call to celebrate. Translators need to find an appropriate equivalent for this call. Good News Translation says “Lead on,” which seems appropriate. Contemporary English Version has “let’s go,” which might be “reenacting” the call to battle.
Utter a song (literally “say a song”) is the goal or purpose of the call. The people are calling Deborah to lead them in singing, possibly as a lead singer gives the refrain before all the others join in. In the Old Testament there are several examples of women singing songs as troops return victorious from the battle (verse 1 Sam 18.7-8; Psalm 68.11-13). Utter renders the Hebrew verb dabar, which means “say” or “speak.” It is certainly used here as a wordplay on the name Deborah, which has the same consonants in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for song (shir) is the general term used throughout the Old Testament to refer to all types of songs. It is used in the descriptive titles of many Psalms as well as in the title of Song of Songs. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh speaks of a “chant” here (see verse 5.11), but this is a victory song, so translators should choose their expression for it carefully. For this whole clause Good News Translation says “Sing a song!” but it might be better to be more specific, for example, “Lead us in your victory song!”
Translators should try to retain the rhythm of these two lines, using poetic features in their own language. If need be, Deborah’s name may occur first, and in light of the repetition of various words in the source text, it may itself be repeated as follows:
• Deborah, come on!
Deborah, come on!
Lead us in a victory song!
Arise, Barak: This call to Barak parallels the one to Deborah to Awake. But significantly, the imperative here is Arise, which renders the Hebrew verb qum, the verb associated with the numerous deliverers God provided for Israel (see comments on verse 2.16). There may be some irony here, since Deborah was the one who was active and courageous, while Barak was reluctant to arise to go to battle (see verse 4.8-10). Translators should try to use the same verb that addresses or describes the deliverers of Israel. If not, a natural expression can be substituted here, for example, “Up, Barak!” (Revised English Bible), “Get up, Barak!” ( NET Bible), or “Forward, Barak” (Good News Translation). However some languages may prefer to place the name Barak initially, for example, “Barak, get up.”
Lead away your captives: This line is also very poetic since the Hebrew root sh-v occurs twice in a special emphatic construction: sheveh sheveka. This key root has several different meanings in the Old Testament, depending on context (see comments on verse 2.19). In later books of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Ezekiel), it refers to the Israelites “returning” from captivity or it speaks of a “return” of prosperity. However, in this context it seems to refer directly to the battle, so Good News Translation says “lead your captives away,” and New International Version has “Take captive your captives.” New Jerusalem Bible follows a slightly different text, saying “capture your captors.” New American Bible also attempts to render this wordplay: “make despoilers your spoil.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an {A} rating to the text followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Translators may attempt to form similar wordplays in their language or use some sound effects or ideophones to express this call to action.
O son of Abino-am: O is added by Revised Standard Version to show that this is a vocative expression. For son of Abino-am, see verse 4.6. This phrase describing Barak is separated from his name, which is typical of praise songs. Translators can try to imitate this style, or combine Barak and son of Abino-am and place these names wherever it is natural in the target language (so Good News Translation).
The end of the call here signals the end of a stanza, and a blank line can therefore be left between this verse and the next one.
Translation models for this verse are:
• ‘Sing, Deborah!
Come sing a victory song!
Up Barak, son of Abinoam!
Lead your captives away!’
• ‘Deborah! Rise up and sing!
Sing us a song of celebration!
Barak, son of Abinoam,
rise and capture those who have tried to capture you!’
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 .