complete verse (Judges 5:29)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 5:29:

  • Kupsabiny: “The wise women answered,
    she, too, thought in her stomach,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “One from among her women who had wisdom
    answers her.
    Actually also his mother herself was speaking like this,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Her wise and noble/honorable women answered her, and (this) indeed is what she says-again-and-again to herself:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One wise woman replied to her,
    and she kept consoling herself by repeating those words:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Judges 5:29

Her wisest ladies make answer: More women come onto the scene, and try to calm the fears of Sisera’s mother. Her wisest ladies is literally “The wise [ones] of her princesses.” The Hebrew word for ladies (sarah) is actually related to the name “Sarah,” which means “princess,” suggesting these could be noble women, possibly female relatives and friends of her same age group. However, we know little of how these people lived, if they had servants or “ladies in waiting.” Some versions speak of “her wisest female friends,” but if a word for women assisting high-ranking women exists, that would be a better choice. The Hebrew word for wisest comes from the root meaning “wisdom,” in this context referring to those able to give good counsel. Make answer is an old English rendering for the Hebrew, which is literally “they answered.” Many languages will need to make the object clear, for example, “The wisest of her attendants answered her.”

Nay, she gives answer to herself is literally “indeed she returns her words to herself.” Nay is Revised Standard Version‘s way of emphasizing this line, but it would be better to use a positive word such as “indeed” (New International Version). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh also sees a confirmation here, proposing “She, too, replies to herself.” The thoughts of Sisera’s mother agree with what her friends are telling her. The content of their words and her thoughts are given in the next verse. In Hebrew, when people think, it is often expressed as internal dialogue, so we might say “she also says to herself.” The Hebrew idiom here uses the key term shuv (“return”), which leads some to think this is a repetitive action, for example, “she told herself over and over” (Good News Translation) and “she to herself repeats” (New Jerusalem Bible). According to this interpretation, Sisera’s mother is trying to convince herself that her son has not met with any harm.

This verse needs to be set out in such a way that it introduces the quotation in the next verse. Possible models are:

• Her wise women friends respond to her,
and she too says to herself:….

• The wisest of her companions say to her,
and she repeats over and over to herself:….

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Judges 5:29

5:29a Her wisest ladies answer;

The wisest of the ladies of her court gave her an answer.
-or-
The wisest of her friends answered her.

5:29b indeed she keeps telling herself,

She kept repeating to herself what the lady said.
-or-
It was the same answer that she was saying to herself. She said,

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.