Chapter 5 of Sefer Shoftim is a direct continuation of the previous chapter. After we saw the brilliant victory of Barak ben Avinoam and Devorah over the army of Sisera, our chapter comes and brings the special song that Devorah sang, in which she gives thanks to Hashem for the miracle and the salvation.
Chazal teach that there is great merit in a person who was saved from disaster and recites song and gives thanks to Hashem. It is brought in Chazal that the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to make Chizkiyahu the Mashiach, but after the wondrous salvation in which an angel of Hashem came and struck a hundred and eighty five thousand troop commanders in the camp of Ashur, Chizkiyahu did not recite song, and therefore he did not merit that Hashem make him Mashiach. From here we see the virtue of one who knows how to show gratitude: Hashem performed a miracle, one recites song. And this is exactly what Devorah does.
וַתָּשַׁר דְּבוֹרָה וּבָרָק בֶּן־אֲבִינֹעַם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר׃ - And Devorah sang, along with Barak ben Avinoam, on that day, saying.
What does the emphasis "on that day" teach us? The Rama miPano says a wondrous thing: Devorah is a reincarnation of Tzipporah, the wife of Moshe. When Israel left Egypt they recited song, and the women too recited song. There was one woman who did not recite song, Tzipporah the wife of Moshe, whom Yisro brought (whether according to those who say before the giving of the Torah or those who say after it, in any case after the splitting of the sea), and she did not recite song with them. Therefore that same Tzipporah returns as a reincarnation in Devorah, and now "And Devorah sang... on that day" - specifically on that day she merited to recite song, for in ancient times she did not merit this, and only now does she merit to give thanks and praise to Hashem.
And by what merit did she merit to recite song? The Rama miPano says: by the merit that she circumcised her son herself. Moshe Rabbeinu did not circumcise his son, and when the serpent began to swallow him, "Tzipporah took a flint." And there is a hint to this in the very next pasuk: "Bifroa pera'os beYisrael" - by the merit of the pri'ah, that she circumcised and uncovered the foreskin of her son, she merited to recite song on that day.
בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהִתְנַדֵּב עָם בָּרְכוּ יְהֹוָה׃ - When breaches were broken open in Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves, bless Hashem.
According to its plain meaning, "bifroa pera'os" means when there were breaches in Israel. The term pri'ah is an expression of exposure and breach, as in "the people saw that it was unrestrained, for Aharon had let it loose to their disgrace among their adversaries." There was a situation in which the nations broke breaches in us and afflicted us, following our straying from the path of Hashem. And then "when the people willingly offered themselves" - the people volunteered to return in teshuvah, and following this "bless Hashem," they gave thanks to Hashem for the salvation He wrought for us.
The Malbim explains the repetition not in relation to what the nations did to us but in relation to what we did. There were two breaches here: one breach in that they broke away from morality, and a second breach from their weakness, until they broke open many breaches. That is, Israel were unrestrained in their deeds. And if so, when nonetheless volunteers are found who come to act valiantly in war, know that this is not a natural matter but a Divine matter - "bless Hashem." For had the victory come by way of nature, it would mean that we have merits and that we are capable by our own strength. But "bifroa pera'os" - we were unrestrained by ourselves, in morality and in weakness, and if so certainly one must give thanks to Hashem, for such a victory is not by our own power nor by our merit.
שִׁמְעוּ מְלָכִים הַאֲזִינוּ רֹזְנִים אָנֹכִי לַיהֹוָה אָנֹכִי אָשִׁירָה אֲזַמֵּר לַיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - Hear, O kings, give ear, O princes; I, to Hashem, I will sing, I will make music to Hashem, the God of Israel.
What is the repetition "I, to Hashem, I will sing"? A Midrash Aggadah: The Holy One, blessed be He, did not withhold the reward of Tavor and Carmel, who came to the giving of the Torah and said "upon me Hashem shall give the Torah," "upon me Hashem shall give the Torah," and did not merit it, for the one who merited was Sinai alone. And did they come in vain? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: In the end I will pay you double. At Sinai it was said "I am Hashem your God" one time, whereas at Tavor, where the war took place and where the salvation took place, it is said "I, to Hashem, I" - twice. And at Mount Carmel they will say twice "Hashem is the God, Hashem is the God." He paid them double. This teaches you that anyone who comes to fulfill a good thing or a mitzvah, even though it did not succeed in his hand, his reward is not withheld from Heaven.
The Malbim, as is his way, is precise about the repetition. "Melachim" are the kings, and "roznim" are the officers of counsel, the advisors. And we hold to a principle: to the important one people turn with the language of "hearing" (shemiah), and to the lesser one with the language of "giving ear" (haazanah). Yeshayahu said "Hear (shimu) O heavens and give ear (haazini) O earth," whereas Moshe Rabbeinu said "Give ear (haazinu) O heavens and I will speak, and let the earth hear (tishma) the words of my mouth" - because Moshe here is turning to the people and rebuking them, and therefore the heavens only give ear, while the earth, which is Israel, is called upon to hear. (And at the beginning of Yeshayahu, where the order is reversed, we already explained there the reason for the change.) In any case the principle is that hearing is for the important one and giving ear is for the one lesser than him. Therefore "Hear O kings" - to you, the important ones, I turn with the language of hearing, whereas the roznim, who are the lesser advisors, only "give ear."
And what does she say to them? Do not think this victory is natural. "I, to Hashem, I will sing" - I attribute this victory to Hashem alone, and therefore to whom is it fitting to sing? To Hashem.
The Malbim says: there is a difference in the holy tongue between shir and zemer. Shir is on a lower level, and zemer is on a higher level. And it is the way of the verses always to begin with the smaller and add the greater: "Sing (shiru) to Him, make music (zamru) to Him," "I will sing (ashira) and make music (azamra) to God" - the zemer always adds upon the shir. And what is the nature of the zemer? The zemer is designated to praise Hashem for supernatural matters, for miracles and for supernatural providence.
Another principle with which the Malbim proceeds throughout all of Tanach: the name Havayah indicates the Holy One, blessed be He, from the aspect that He is the One who possesses ability, Creator of the world and its guide through general governance; whereas "the God of Israel" indicates His special individual providence over us. And now, with this key, the verse is explained: "I, to Hashem, I will sing" - corresponding to the general governance, shir is fitting, which is the lesser praise; "I will make music to Hashem, the God of Israel" - when I see individual and special providence, shir alone no longer suffices, but rather zemer is fitting, which is the acknowledgment of individual providence and of salvation through miracle and wonder. And all of this, says the Malbim, is the introduction to the song; from here on the song itself begins.
יְהֹוָה בְּצֵאתְךָ מִשֵּׂעִיר בְּצַעְדְּךָ מִשְּׂדֵה אֱדוֹם אֶרֶץ רָעָשָׁה גַּם־שָׁמַיִם נָטָפוּ גַּם־עָבִים נָטְפוּ מָיִם׃ - Hashem, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens too dropped, the clouds too dropped water.
Chazal explain that the verse hints at the giving of the Torah, along the lines of "Hashem came from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them." When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to give the Torah, He passed among the nations and offered them the Torah, and they asked "What is written in it," and each one responded according to its own nature, and in the end they all refused to accept the Torah. And what does this matter have to do here, when Devorah comes to give thanks for the miracles at the Kishon stream and at Tavor? Rather Devorah said: hard it is to part from the Torah and good it is to cling to it, for with awe and might it was given. And therefore if you see that Israel was delivered into the hand of Yavin and into the hand of Sisera, this is only because they parted from the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be He, turned to Seir and offered it to them and they did not want it, and you who accepted the Torah - how did you part from it? She comes to express here the cause of all the troubles: because we parted from the Torah we were smitten, and when we returned to it, "when the people volunteered" - they volunteered to repent, the Holy One, blessed be He, returned to save us. And according to this explanation, "the earth trembled, the heavens too dropped" speaks of the giving of the Torah: the earth trembled, the mountains skipped like rams, and the heavens too dropped - "a rain of generosity You poured down, O God," that rain fell at the standing at Mount Sinai, and there was also a dew of resurrection there that revived Israel when they said "we will do and we will hear" and their souls departed.
The Malbim, by contrast, connects the verses to what comes afterward, "in the days of Shamgar son of Anat, in the days of Yael." Devorah comes to describe the contrast: see from what lofty height we were and to what lowliness we descended. "When You went out from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom" does not refer back to Mount Sinai but to the entry of Israel into the land: we went around the land of Edom with the Holy One, blessed be He, at our head, and this is "the field of Edom," the field surrounding Edom, and from there we marched to the land of Sichon and Og and Canaan. "The earth trembled" - all the nations trembled before us, melted and were terrified, as Rachav describes at the beginning of Sefer Yehoshua that there was no longer spirit in any man. And even the host of the heavens, as it were, melted before us, "the clouds too dropped water" from the trembling before Israel. See at what lofty level we were.
הָרִים נָזְלוּ מִפְּנֵי יְהֹוָה זֶה סִינַי מִפְּנֵי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - The mountains flowed before Hashem, this Sinai, before Hashem, the God of Israel.
According to the Malbim, "the mountains flowed" - they melted before Hashem who comes from Mount Sinai, for the people of Israel received the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were leads them from Sinai to the land of Israel. And why? "Before Hashem, the God of Israel" - by virtue of the individual providence, that He is our God in particular, accompanies us and performs for us miracles and wonders. And according to the explanation of Chazal, "this Sinai" connects beautifully to the description of the giving of the Torah: the mountains flowed and skipped like rams before Hashem and from the glory of His majesty.
בִּימֵי שַׁמְגַּר בֶּן־עֲנָת בִּימֵי יָעֵל חָדְלוּ אֳרָחוֹת וְהֹלְכֵי נְתִיבוֹת יֵלְכוּ אֳרָחוֹת עֲקַלְקַלּוֹת׃ - In the days of Shamgar son of Anat, in the days of Yael, the roads ceased, and those who walked the pathways would go by crooked ways.
From here Chazal learned that Yael too judged Israel: Shamgar son of Anat was a judge, and beside him it says "in the days of Yael," implying that she too was a judge. "The roads ceased" - Chazal explain that they were afraid to go out on their way because of the gentiles, and would travel by a roundabout route.
The Malbim expands: see how our situation was reversed. If in the past everyone feared and trembled before us, in the days of Shamgar and in the days of Yael "the roads ceased" - the caravans and travelers stopped, as in the phrase "and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came." And here the Malbim explains, as is his way in several places in Tanach, the difference between derech, orach, and nativ: a derech is the main highway; an orach is the road leading to the villages; and a nativ is the private path leading from the orach to a house or to an estate. According to this: those who walked the pathways, the individuals who would walk on the private path, were already afraid to walk on it, and were forced to travel along the orachot (roads) - but even these were "crooked," a roundabout way, in order to bypass the place of danger. There was a terrible fear of the enemy.
חָדְלוּ פְרָזוֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל חָדֵלּוּ עַד שַׁקַּמְתִּי דְּבוֹרָה שַׁקַּמְתִּי אֵם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - The open towns in Israel ceased, they ceased, until I arose, Devorah, until I arose, a mother in Israel.
"Perazon" is from the expression "open towns" (arei perazot) - open cities without a wall, a term of breach (pirtzah), and close to the idea of dispersal (like lehak and kahal, which are the same concept): the scattered cities whose inhabitants dwell in a dispersed manner are the arei perazot, as opposed to cities surrounded by a wall with doors and a bar, whose inhabitants are concentrated. In its plain sense: Israel ceased dwelling in open towns, and out of great fear they all entered within the walls.
The Malbim adds the reversal: "the open towns ceased" refers to the gentiles - when we came to the Land, our dread fell upon the Canaanites and they entered the fortified cities before us, like Yericho which was shut up tight. See what an advantage we had. But now "in Israel they ceased" - the tables were turned, and we can no longer dwell in open towns but enter behind wall and bar to be saved from the Canaanites, who overpowered us. Until when? "Until I arose, Devorah, until I arose, a mother in Israel." And what is "a mother in Israel"? The Malbim explains: as it were, Israel had already ceased to be a nation, and now there is a new birth here - I am the mother who gives birth anew to the people of Israel.
יִבְחַר אֱלֹהִים חֲדָשִׁים אָז לָחֶם שְׁעָרִים מָגֵן אִם־יֵרָאֶה וָרֹמַח בְּאַרְבָּעִים אֶלֶף בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - He chose new gods; then there was war at the gates. Was a shield or a spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
Chazal explain: when Israel chose for themselves new gods, then they were forced to wage war at their gates and defend themselves. As long as you were with the old and long-standing God, the Infinite One blessed be He, you did not need this; once you chose for yourself new gods - "then there was war at the gates," now you must defend yourself. And suddenly one must fight against forty thousand army commanders whom the gentiles brought, and go out to battle with shield and spear - something we never needed.
The Malbim also explains this verse as a contrast between the period of entering the Land and the present period. When Israel entered the Land, the vanguard passed before us: the children of Gad and the children of Reuven, forty thousand armed for battle, went out before us. But now not one of them came to war, for the ones fighting were only Zevulun and Naftali, and as we will see further on, Devorah will settle accounts with the tribes that did not come. This is her intent: those forty thousand armed for battle who fought in days of old are not fighting now. Therefore "He chooses new gods" - not that Israel chose new gods, but that the Holy One blessed be He must choose new warriors to fight at the gates, for the veteran warriors are absent. And of those forty thousand - "was a shield seen, or a spear?": neither shield nor spear of them was seen, they did not come at all.
לִבִּי לְחוֹקְקֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמִּתְנַדְּבִים בָּעָם בָּרְכוּ יְהֹוָה׃ - My heart is toward the lawgivers of Israel, those who volunteered among the people; bless Hashem.
Rashi explains it in its plain sense: I, Devorah, my heart loves the lawgivers of Israel, who are the sages of Israel and its great ones, who volunteered among the people to call the nation to return in repentance and draw close again to the service of Hashem. And according to the Malbim she says: I lifted my heart toward the lawgivers of Israel, who volunteered among the people - those ten thousand whom Barak managed to gather to fight against Sisera, and not the forty thousand of the entry into the Land. My heart is toward them, that with few people and great weakness we succeeded in deciding the war, even though we did not possess that mighty valor of the forty thousand.
רֹכְבֵי אֲתֹנוֹת צְחֹרוֹת יֹשְׁבֵי עַל־מִדִּין וְהֹלְכֵי עַל־דֶּרֶךְ שִׂיחוּ׃ - Riders on white donkeys, you who sit on judgment seats, and you who walk along the road, tell of it.
According to Rashi: "riders on white donkeys" are the merchants and the nobles, who from now on will ride upon white donkeys. The white donkeys express wealth, this is their "Cadillac," the official carriage; from now on they will be able to ride them without fearing anyone. "You who sit on judgment seats" are the judges, who until now feared to administer justice and law publicly because of the foreign rule. All of them, "tell of it," recount the salvation that the Holy One, blessed be He, did for us. The Malbim explains that there are three levels here that existed among the people: the wealthy, riders on white donkeys for commerce; the students of Torah and the judges, those who sit on judgment seats; and the poor, those who walk along the road. And all of you, tell and recount the wonders of Hashem.
מִקּוֹל מְחַצְצִים בֵּין מַשְׁאַבִּים שָׁם יְתַנּוּ צִדְקוֹת יְהֹוָה צִדְקֹת פִּרְזוֹנוֹ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אָז יָרְדוּ לַשְּׁעָרִים עַם־יְהֹוָה׃ - Louder than the sound of archers, at the watering places, there they will recount the righteous acts of Hashem, the righteous acts of His deliverance in Israel. Then the people of Hashem went down to the gates.
In its plain sense: when Israel would go to draw water, they were afraid of the sound of the gravel, for the enemies would lie in ambush for them. One who treads on gravel makes a noise, and the one who hears it fears that perhaps someone is hiding nearby. This is like the matter of "and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them," for when a person is gripped by fear, every small noise makes him jump. Therefore "from the sound of the archers among the watering places": among the wells you feared every bit of gravel you trod upon, out of fear of the nations. And about this, "there they will recount the righteous acts of Hashem," there it is fitting to tell of the righteous acts of Hashem, "the righteous acts of His deliverance in Israel," that Hashem gave us the ability to return and dwell in dispersion, in the unwalled cities, without shutting ourselves up in fortress cities. "Then the people of Hashem went down to the gates," we returned to dwell in the settlements and in the places where we had dwelt before.
The Malbim explains differently: "among the watering places" is not the wells but the brook of Kishon, where Hashem drowned Sisera. There the Holy One, blessed be He, made a terrifying sound, "the sound of archers," from the expression "and He shot arrows all around," like the sound of many mighty camps, and this is what caused Sisera and his army to panic and flee. For we see that all that was left for us was to pursue, since Sisera's army did not actually wage war against us but was forced to flee. And about this it is fitting to recount the righteous acts of Hashem.
And what is "the righteous acts of His deliverance"? The Malbim offers: the people of Israel went down to the gates to hide from the enemy, and the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, went out to the unwalled cities. Just as we say "bare the arm of Your holiness," that Hashem's covered arm indicates that He is not acting, and by baring it His action against the enemy is expressed, so too "His deliverance": Hashem, as it were, revealed Himself, became as one exposed and open, and fought Himself in order to rescue and save the people of Israel.
עוּרִי עוּרִי דְּבוֹרָה עוּרִי עוּרִי דַּבְּרִי־שִׁיר קוּם בָּרָק וּשְׁבֵה שֶׁבְיְךָ בֶּן־אֲבִינֹעַם׃ - Awake, awake, Devorah, awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead your captives captive, son of Avinoam.
Rashi explains it plainly as an expression of praise: strengthen yourself in your song. But Chazal expound another matter here. Notice what was said earlier: "the unwalled dwellings ceased in Israel, they ceased, until I, Devorah, arose," until I came. There is here a fine dust of self importance, a dust of pride. And from anyone who becomes proud the Holy One, blessed be He, withdraws, and therefore the spirit of prophecy departed from her and she was compelled to say "awake, awake, Devorah." And surely with a prophetess of her stature this is speaking of something exceedingly fine, beyond all detection, in accordance with the words of the Rambam that a prophet's inclination does not overpower him in anything in the world.
And one must ask: why did the spirit of prophecy not depart from her immediately? For she expressed this in verse 7, yet only in verse 12 does she need to rouse herself. Two answers can be given. The first: perhaps Hashem waited for her, in case she would sense it herself and say something of modesty and humility that would express regret over what she had said. The second: perhaps the way of prophecy is that the prophet receives an idea or several sentences and conveys them, and again receives and conveys, not necessarily word for word. If so, this entire passage, "the unwalled dwellings ceased," "He chose new gods," "my heart is with the lawgivers of Israel," "riders on white donkeys," "from the sound of the archers," still belongs to the first idea she received, and here, at the point of connection to the next passage, she no longer has the strength to receive again, because of that improper expression.
The Malbim explains: "awake, awake, Devorah," rouse yourself as you remember the greatness of this miracle. "Arise, Barak, and lead your captives captive," see that Barak need not fight at all but goes straight to take captives, for Hashem had already done the fighting. And this itself is the lesson: what did I do? Only song. And what did Barak do? He went to take captives. And who did the fighting? The Holy One, blessed be He, fought on behalf of the people of Israel.
אָז יְרַד שָׂרִיד לְאַדִּירִים עָם יְהֹוָה יְרַד־לִי בַּגִּבּוֹרִים׃ - Then a remnant ruled over the mighty ones, the people of Hashem ruled for me over the warriors.
The word "yerad" here does not mean descent but rather dominion and rule, like "and rule (u'redu) over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky." On the simple level: the remnant of Israel ruled and dominated the people of mighty ones and warriors, which is the people of Sisera. "Hashem ruled for me over the warriors" - it was Hashem who granted me the dominion to rule over the warriors; I do not take this for myself. And one may say that here she senses the difficulty in her earlier words, "until I, Devorah, arose," and therefore these two verses come to express modesty and humility: what did I do? I merely sang, and Barak only took captives, and Hashem did it all.
And according to the Malbim, here she draws the contrast between the earlier salvation, which came through Ehud ben Gera, who stabbed Eglon king of Moav with a sword, and this salvation: that one was in a natural way, and this one is a miraculous salvation. "A remnant" is Ehud, who escaped after killing Eglon - a remnant and survivor who remained. And the lamed of "la'adirim" means with the help of the mighty ones: Ehud ruled over Moav with the help of the mighty ones and warriors who went with him, for immediately upon arriving he gathered them all and announced that Eglon had been struck, and they seized the fords of the water and did not let any man of Moav cross. There was a salvation there, but a natural salvation, through warriors he brought with him from Mount Ephraim, against a weak people - the survivors of Moav. But now "Hashem ruled for me over the warriors": this is not a natural salvation and not by strength of arm, and it is also not against weaklings like Moav, but against mighty warriors - the camp of Sisera, and it was Hashem who ruled over them. There is a vast difference between that salvation and this salvation.
מִנִּי אֶפְרַיִם שָׁרְשָׁם בַּעֲמָלֵק אַחֲרֶיךָ בִנְיָמִין בַּעֲמָמֶיךָ מִנִּי מָכִיר יָרְדוּ מְחֹקְקִים וּמִזְּבוּלֻן מֹשְׁכִים בְּשֵׁבֶט סֹפֵר׃ - Out of Ephraim, those whose root is against Amalek; after you, Binyamin, among your peoples; out of Machir came down lawgivers, and out of Zevulun those who wield the scribe's pen.
On the simple level: "Out of Ephraim, those whose root is against Amalek" - from Ephraim came Yehoshua ben Nun, who was the first to fight against Amalek, and he is the root from which the war against Amalek emerged. "After you, Binyamin, among your peoples" - after him will arise a king from the tribe of Binyamin, namely Shaul ben Kish, the first king of Israel. "Among your peoples" - he will not succeed in wiping out Amalek entirely but will only dim its light, like fading embers, for he did not stand up to the task. "Out of Machir came down lawgivers" - these are the sons of Menasheh, the great leaders who conquered the Emori, as we saw with the villages of Yair. "And out of Zevulun those who wield the scribe's pen" - from Zevulun there were scribes.
And the Malbim adds that all this comes to indicate the greatness of the miracle. For she said "Then a remnant ruled over the mighty ones, the people" - Ehud ruled over the king of Moav with the help of the mighty ones of Israel. And who were those mighty ones? "Out of Ephraim, those whose root is against Amalek" - they were the ones who rooted out Amalek, an expression of uprooting from the root, for Amalek was a partner of Moav, as it says there that Eglon gathered to himself the children of Ammon and Amalek. And Ehud and his army went to root out Moav and Amalek along with it. "After you, Binyamin, among your peoples" - after him went Binyamin, which is the tribe of Ehud, and they were mighty men and warriors.
וְשָׂרַי בְּיִשָּׂשכָר עִם־דְּבֹרָה וְיִשָּׂשכָר כֵּן בָּרָק בָּעֵמֶק שֻׁלַּח בְּרַגְלָיו בִּפְלַגּוֹת רְאוּבֵן גְּדֹלִים חִקְקֵי־לֵב׃ - And my princes in Yissachar were with Devorah; and Yissachar, so was Barak, sent into the valley on his feet; among the divisions of Reuven great were the resolves of heart.
But now, who went out to war? From the kollels they brought out the young scholars. Are these people who know how to fight? These were not seasoned warriors but great Torah scholars, people who have no hand or foot in going out to war. And this is "and my princes in Yissachar were with Devorah" - for Yissachar are those "who know understanding of the times," and they and the tribe of Levi were the two tribes in Israel engaged in Torah. And who went with me? Yissachar. And even Barak, who went to war - "sent into the valley on his feet": not with tanks and not with weapons, but sent on his feet, without any chariot at all. Now you will understand what a miracle occurred here and what a lack of proportion: nine hundred iron chariots for Sisera, and Barak - sent into the valley on his feet, who did not have even a single chariot.
וְשָׂרַי בְּיִשָּׂשכָר עִם־דְּבֹרָה וְיִשָּׂשכָר כֵּן בָּרָק בָּעֵמֶק שֻׁלַּח בְּרַגְלָיו בִּפְלַגּוֹת רְאוּבֵן גְּדֹלִים חִקְקֵי־לֵב׃ - And my princes in Yissachar were with Devorah; and Yissachar, so was Barak, sent into the valley on his feet; among the divisions of Reuven great were the resolves of heart.
Here the poetess turns her gaze to two tribes that did not come to the war: Reuven and Dan. The Malbim dwells on the puzzle: for in the days of Yehoshua, Reuven was the vanguard before the camp, and Dan was the rear guard for all the camps. Both were great warriors, and now specifically they are absent.
The Malbim says something very interesting: if you take a map of the Land of Israel divided among the tribes according to the ancient allotment, and check where the battle took place, you will find that the site of the battle bordered the territory of every tribe. In other words, the moment Sisera won there, he had free access to all the tribes. Except for two: Reuven and Gad. They had no shared border with the battle zone. Reuven and Gad dwelt on the eastern side of the Jordan, and further inward, and between them and Sisera stood half the tribe of Menashe. Therefore they felt no threat at all: even if Sisera wins, he will not reach us. There the Malbim details the entire calculation of the location of each and every tribe, and shows how they all had a shared border with the enemy, and only Reuven and Gad had no fear whatsoever.
This is the meaning of the verse: "in the divisions of Reuven" - the fact that Reuven separated himself from the army and did not come, even though in truth he had no fear that the enemy would fall upon him and harm him, "gedolim chikkei lev" - the matter engraves deep engravings on the heart, makes a terrible impression, creates heartbreak.
לָמָּה יָשַׁבְתָּ בֵּין הַמִּשְׁפְּתַיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ שְׁרִקוֹת עֲדָרִים לִפְלַגּוֹת רְאוּבֵן גְּדוֹלִים חִקְרֵי־לֵב׃ - Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? For the divisions of Reuven there were great searchings of heart.
"Why did you sit among the sheepfolds" - you went and settled on the border. If an attack comes against Israel from the direction of the eastern side of the Jordan, Reuven is first in the path, he is supposed to be the guard at the gate, preventing an attack from outside. He is supposed always to be ready for the day of battle. And when the day of trouble came, you grew slack. Was it only in order to "hear the whistling for the flocks" that you settled there? For Reuven and Gad requested the eastern side of the Jordan because "the children of Reuven had much cattle," and it is a place for cattle. If so, was it for the pasture of the flocks alone that you went to settle on the border? You settled there like a bolt that seals off the enemies coming to attack us. So why, when enemies came, did you sit off to the side and do nothing?
And if you come looking for excuses, Devorah says: "for the divisions of Reuven there were great searchings of heart" - there is no need to search and investigate, the searchings here are great and clear from the matter itself. It is self-evident that Reuven claims: what do I have to fear? I am not threatened anyway. That is the reason you sat off to the side.
גִּלְעָד בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן שָׁכֵן וְדָן לָמָּה יָגוּר אֳנִיּוֹת אָשֵׁר יָשַׁב לְחוֹף יַמִּים וְעַל מִפְרָצָיו יִשְׁכּוֹן׃ - Gilad dwelt beyond the Jordan; and why did Dan remain by the ships? Asher sat at the shore of the seas, and dwelt by his bays.
"Gilad dwelt beyond the Jordan" - this is Reuven's claim: Gilad dwells near me, he forms a barrier and a separation between me and the enemy, so why should I fear? "And why did Dan remain by the ships" - why did Dan busy himself with his commerce, gathering ships for himself and not coming to help? Because he says: "Asher sat at the shore of the seas" - the tribe of Asher separates between me and the enemy, "and dwelt by his bays" - Asher guards the breaches that lie at the enemy's foothold. If so, both Reuven and Dan have a "sufficient" argument, except that it is an argument one is ashamed to say aloud, and Devorah exposes it: you did not come because you did not feel threatened. And this itself shows a lowly state: when there is no private threat to their lives, they feel no need to help their brothers. There is a harsh criticism here of their conduct.
Rashi explains "why did Dan remain by the ships" differently: Dan placed his wealth in ships, in order to be ready to flee. If Sisera arrives, the engines are already running, and they flee at once with all their property. That is, you behaved like weaklings. "Lagur" means both dwelling and gathering and collecting, and here: you gathered your wealth in the ships in order to be ready to flee the moment the threat arrives.
זְבֻלוּן עַם חֵרֵף נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וְנַפְתָּלִי עַל מְרוֹמֵי שָׂדֶה׃ - Zevulun was a people that risked its life to death, and Naftali upon the heights of the field.
In contrast to the complaint she voiced against Reuven and Dan, here she says: come and see, Zevulun is not like you. Zevulun risked its life to death, and Naftali "upon the heights of the field" - upon the heights of Mount Tavor, they came and gave their lives to fight Sisera. Up to here, says the Malbim, Devorah completed her words: we won with few forces, we won against nature. This is the content of all the verses we have read until now.
בָּאוּ מְלָכִים נִלְחָמוּ אָז נִלְחֲמוּ מַלְכֵי כְנַעַן בְּתַעְנַךְ עַל־מֵי מְגִדּוֹ בֶּצַע כֶּסֶף לֹא לָקָחוּ׃ - Kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no spoil of silver.
Rashi explains: the head of the camp was at Taanach, and the camp was so vast that it stretched all the way to the waters of Megiddo. "They took no spoil of silver" - they came for free, they asked for no wages. And Devorah is, as it were, turning back to Reuven: they came for free, and you were not willing to come to Israel's aid.
The Malbim dwells on the word "then." What is meant by "then fought the kings of Canaan"? In the days of Yehoshua (chapter 11), Yavin king of Chatzor gathered all the kings of Canaan to fight Yehoshua. Now Yavin gathers the kings a second time, this time by the waters of Megiddo. Devorah thus links the past with the present: it has already happened before. Then the kings of Canaan fought, with the help of the king of Chatzor, by the waters of Merom, and now those same kings fight at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. "They took no spoil of silver" - Yavin's allies received no wages in this war, just as they came for free back then.
מִן־שָׁמַיִם נִלְחָמוּ הַכּוֹכָבִים מִמְּסִלּוֹתָם נִלְחֲמוּ עִם־סִיסְרָא׃ - From heaven they fought, the stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
The Holy One, blessed be He, likewise sent His armies against them, and they too serve for free, serving without wages. And according to Rashi, this becomes measure for measure: you brought helpers who "took no spoil of silver," and I too will send against you My legions that take no wages - the stars that fought against Sisera.
Some wanted to find here a hint to aliens and extraterrestrials: after all, it says that from heaven the stars fought, and what is this if not a "war of the stars"? But this removes the verse entirely from its plain meaning, and there is not even a hint of such a thing here. We already mentioned that the Chafetz Chaim was asked whether there is life outside the earth, and he answered that there is not. They asked him: how do you know? He said: it is impossible that there should be such a thing and yet we would have no revelation about it in the words of Chazal, and if there is no revelation of it in Chazal at all, then apparently there is none.
Likewise, Rav Mordechai Sharabi was asked at the time of the moon landing, when the great question was whether any life at all would be found there. They did not expect to find people, for one can observe the moon through telescopes, but perhaps some sort of life, perhaps bacteria. The Rav told them: there is no life outside the earth. And he wrote them a note, and said: keep it, and when you return, open it. And when they returned and discovered that there was nothing there, they opened the note and saw that he had written that there is no life outside the earth. And how did he know? He brought a proof from "Patach Eliyahu": "Master of the worlds, You are the Cause of causes and the Reason of reasons, who waters the tree with that flow, and that flow is like the soul to the body, which is life to the body. And in You there is no likeness and no image of anything within or without. And You created heaven and earth, and brought forth from them the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations, and in the earth trees and grasses and the Garden of Eden and herbage and beasts and birds and fish and animals and human beings." Here it is explicit: "and in the earth" - specifically in the earth there are trees and grasses and the Garden of Eden and herbage and beasts and birds and fish and animals and human beings. From this he learned that outside the earth there is none. And indeed, to this day nothing has been found, even though they thought they would find something on Mars, which has the optimal conditions for the formation of life and is the closest to us, and they found nothing.
If so, "from heaven the stars fought" is not about extraterrestrials and aliens, but the stars that the Holy One, blessed be He, moved from their courses in order to change the character of the battle. And as we have already seen, Sisera planned the battle according to what he saw through astrology as an auspicious time for him, and to change this the Holy One, blessed be He, had to alter the arrangement of the stars. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Avraham: step outside your astrology, what do you see, Tzedek (Jupiter) in the east? I will move it to the west. So too here: Hashem moved the stars from their courses, and thereby created a new situation that was to Sisera's detriment.
The Malbim adds a further explanation: "from their courses" - those very same stars that went out to Israel's aid in that war in the days of Yehoshua go out now as well. And how do we know? From the expression "their courses," which means a paved road, a fixed path already traveled. That is, from that same paved road along which they went out in the days of Yehoshua, they go out today as well. And by this Devorah hints to Sisera: you brought helpers as in days of old, and to Israel too came helpers as in days of old. The stars that helped us then came to help us now as well.
נַחַל קִישׁוֹן גְּרָפָם נַחַל קְדוּמִים נַחַל קִישׁוֹן תִּדְרְכִי נַפְשִׁי עֹז׃ - The brook of Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook, the brook of Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength.
Rashi explains "gerafam" as: it swept them from the world, like a shovel that clears the ashes from the stove. "That ancient brook" means from long ago, for it became a guarantor to the sea already from the days of the Egyptians, that it would receive the guilty ones in exchange for the six hundred chosen chariots, and now it received the nine hundred chariots of Sisera. "March on, my soul, in strength" means that you trod with your feet upon the strength and might of the mighty men of Canaan.
The Malbim continues the line he explained: Devorah connects past and present. Then the king of Canaan brought the kings, and now he brought them again; then the stars fought against them, and now as well; and even the waters, then they were the waters of Merom, and now the brook of Kishon. And this is "The brook of Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook" - it is the very same brook that swept them away then. "March on, my soul, in strength" - my soul treads upon the strength, meaning the mighty waters; the people of Israel were able to walk in those very places where the brook flowed with such great might. In simple words: the brook that flooded and swept away their chariots, we crossed it on foot.
אָז הָלְמוּ עִקְּבֵי־סוּס מִדַּהֲרוֹת דַּהֲרוֹת אַבִּירָיו׃ - Then were the horses' hooves pounded by the galloping, the galloping of his mighty ones.
Rashi explains: the horses' hooves were pulled off from the heat of the star. According to Rashi, this is the meaning of "the stars from their courses": the stars strayed from their courses, and thereby caused the waters to heat up, and the heat made the mud boil, and the hoof slipped off, just as legs are scalded in boiling water and the hooves slip off. "By the galloping, the galloping of his mighty ones" means that they made their horses prance in the battle, and because of that the horses' hooves slipped off.
The Malbim explains differently, continuing what he explained earlier: "March on, my soul, in strength" - when? "Then were the horses' hooves pounded." He describes the waves of the brook as galloping mighty ones, running and galloping toward Sisera's horses. These mighty ones of the brook pounded the hooves of Sisera's horse, and at that very moment "March on, my soul, in strength" - you were able to tread and pass through that very place, a place so hard to cross that it flooded and pounded the mighty ones of Sisera, and you crossed it on foot without any worry or fear. And this magnifies the miracle: a place of tremendous danger, that floods and takes everything, and we tread upon it and trample it and cross.
אוֹרוּ מֵרוֹז אָמַר מַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה אֹרוּ אָרוֹר יֹשְׁבֶיהָ כִּי לֹא־בָאוּ לְעֶזְרַת יְהֹוָה לְעֶזְרַת יְהֹוָה בַּגִּבּוֹרִים׃ - Curse Meroz, said the angel of Hashem, bitterly curse its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of Hashem, to the help of Hashem among the mighty.
Who is Meroz? Some say it is a star. And from here too the lovers of speculation sought a proof: here they curse the star, and moreover "curse its inhabitants" - so the star has inhabitants, and there is a complaint about why they did not come to help. But as stated, this is a complete removal from the plain meaning of the text.
Chazal bring two explanations. Either the reference is to a star, and "its inhabitants" does not refer to actual inhabitants of the star, but perhaps to a cluster of stars called Meroz, and "its inhabitants" are those that accompany it, in the way one says "Yehuda and its daughters" - not actual daughters, but the satellite cities and villages around it, as the Targum renders "its villages." And the simpler explanation: Meroz was an important man who dwelt near the place of the battle and did not come to help. "Said the angel of Hashem" - who is the angel of Hashem? This is Barak, who carried out the mission of the Omnipresent, and he cursed Meroz and its inhabitants, that is, his friends and companions and the people of his region who did not come to help.
And Chazal further say that he cursed not only Meroz himself, but even those dwelling within his four cubits: "Barak brought forth four hundred shofars and placed him under a ban" - Barak brought out four hundred shofars and excommunicated Meroz, and excommunication is a great danger. "Because they did not come to the help of Hashem" - for whoever helps Israel is considered as if he helps the holy Shechina.
תְּבֹרַךְ מִנָּשִׁים יָעֵל אֵשֶׁת חֶבֶר הַקֵּינִי מִנָּשִׁים בָּאֹהֶל תְּבֹרָךְ׃ - Blessed above women shall Yael, wife of Chever the Kenite, be; above women in the tent shall she be blessed.
"Blessed above women" - that she should be blessed through the merit of women. And who are they? "Above women in the tent": Sarah, of whom it is said "behold, in the tent"; Rivka, of whom it is said "and Yitzchak brought her into the tent"; Rachel and Leah, of whom it is said "and he went out of Leah's tent and came into Rachel's tent." Those women whose tent expresses their holiness and modesty - they are the ones who will bless Yael.
Chazal further say that Yael herself was a dweller in tents, and therefore she is mentioned in the blessing of the women of the tent; for Sisera came into the tent, a sign that she dwelt in a tent, and this characterizes her modesty. And why specifically do they bless her? Why did they bear children and why did they raise them, if not for Yael who slew him, when this wicked man came to destroy them? Furthermore: Yael seemingly performed an act that is not the way of women in the tent, and one might have thought that they would have criticism of her. Therefore the verse comes and emphasizes: know that it is specifically the women in the tent who bless her. And now the verse will describe what she did.
מַיִם שָׁאַל חָלָב נָתָנָה בְּסֵפֶל אַדִּירִים הִקְרִיבָה חֶמְאָה׃ - He asked for water, she gave milk; in a lordly bowl she brought forth curd.
Why did she give milk when he asked for water? Rashi says: in order to put him to sleep, for milk by its nature induces sleep. "In a lordly bowl" - Rashi explains that water is called "lordly," as in "in the mighty waters," and therefore a lordly bowl is the bowl in which one is accustomed to drink water; and in that same bowl she brought him curd. The curd was meant to give him something heavier, for through its fat and heaviness it causes a person a feeling of heaviness, and the whole aim was to put him to sleep.
The Malbim connects the verses: "Curse Meroz" against "Blessed above women shall Yael be." In his view Meroz is not the name of a person but the name of a city, a famous city of mighty men, and the angel of Hashem curses it: "cursed are its inhabitants" - that they should be cursed for the very fact of their sitting; you sat in your house and did not go out to fight and to aid Barak. "For they came not to the help of Hashem among the mighty" - you did not come to help Hashem when the mighty men fought, or you did not come to help with your own mighty men.
And here it is one against the other: they are worthy of a curse, and Yael is worthy of a blessing. Meroz the angel curses, and Yael the holy matriarchs bless. And what is the reason? Because she dwelt in the tent and there she did valiantly. She did not go out, she sat in the tent - and in her tent she did valiantly. And you, whose role was to go out, for the man is the minister of external affairs, sat at home. See the reversal: you who should have gone out - sat, and Yael who did what was expected of her, that "all the glory of the king's daughter is within," is blessed for her sitting at home, for out of her sitting at home she brought salvation.
יָדָהּ לַיָּתֵד תִּשְׁלַחְנָה וִימִינָהּ לְהַלְמוּת עֲמֵלִים וְהָלְמָה סִיסְרָא מָחֲקָה רֹאשׁוֹ וּמָחֲצָה וְחָלְפָה רַקָּתוֹ׃ - Her hand she put to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and she struck Sisera, she smashed his head, she crushed and pierced his temple.
"Her hand she put to the tent peg" - as we saw above, that she took the peg, "and her right hand to the hammer" - this is the hammer with which she struck the peg. And what is "workmen" (amelim)? According to Rashi, to strike Sisera who was toiled and weary, as we explained.
The Malbim, consistent with his approach that he already explained in the previous chapter, holds that Yael grasped the peg in one hand and the mallet in the other, but she was unable to strike because of her great weakness, and by a miracle the peg fell of itself into Sisera's temple. And this is what he says here: that same hand that she put to the peg, and her right hand that grasped the mallet to strike - in the end both her hands were "toiling," weary and exhausted. If so, "toiling" (amelim) refers to Yael's hands, which in the end were unable to strike. And if you ask, it should have said "amelot" in the feminine? The Malbim answers: do not wonder, for we find "yad" (hand) in the masculine form, "and behold, a hand was put forth to me, and behold, in it (bo) a scroll of a book" - "bo" (masculine) and not "bah" (feminine). If so, one may express oneself about a hand in the masculine and in the feminine. Thus according to Rashi Sisera is the one toiling, and according to the Malbim Yael is the one toiling.
"והלמה סיסרא מחקה ראשו" - what does "מחקה" mean? It is from the language of engraving, a small incision, for she did not have the strength of her own to do more than that. Nevertheless, with that little that she incised, "ומחצה וחלפה רקתו" - miraculously the peg passed through his temple and penetrated inward until it reached the ground.
בֵּין רַגְלֶיהָ כָּרַע נָפַל שָׁכָב בֵּין רַגְלֶיהָ כָּרַע נָפָל בַּאֲשֶׁר כָּרַע שָׁם נָפַל שָׁדוּד׃ - Between her legs he knelt, he fell, he lay down; between her legs he knelt, he fell; where he knelt, there he fell slain.
Chazal say that this wicked man cohabited seven times. The hint to this is here: first from the language "between her legs," and the number is derived from the times that kneeling and falling are mentioned - kneeling, falling, lying down, kneeling, falling, kneeling, falling - seven times, expressing his acts of cohabitation. And Chazal say that first "between her legs he knelt, he fell, he lay down" refers to the act he did, and afterward "between her legs he knelt, he fell" refers to his being killed.
According to the Malbim this fits beautifully with the wording of the pasuk. Seemingly there is a doubling and tripling here without purpose, but according to the explanation everything is understood: "between her legs he knelt, he fell, he lay down" - this is his cohabitation; "between her legs he knelt, he fell" - this is his death; "where he knelt, there he fell slain" - in that very same place where he knelt for his cohabitation, there he fell slain, for on that very occasion she killed him.
בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן נִשְׁקְפָה וַתְּיַבֵּב אֵם סִיסְרָא בְּעַד הָאֶשְׁנָב מַדּוּעַ בֹּשֵׁשׁ רִכְבּוֹ לָבוֹא מַדּוּעַ אֶחֱרוּ פַּעֲמֵי מַרְכְּבוֹתָיו׃ - Through the window she looked out and cried, the mother of Sisera, through the lattice: why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why tarry the beats of his chariots?
Sisera's mother waits for his arrival and looks out through the window. What is "ותייבב"? Rashi brings one explanation that it is a language of speech, like "the speech of the lips" (ניב שפתיים). Chazal explain it as a language of moaning, like the "yevava" of the shofar blast, a sound of wailing. And Rashi adds a novel explanation: a language of seeing, from "the pupil of my eye" (בבת עיני) - she set the pupil of her eye to look there.
The Malbim, as is his way, cannot tolerate redundancy in the wording of Scripture, since in his view it is not merely "the beauty of rhetoric." Why does it say both "the window" and "the lattice," and why the double wailing, and both "delayed" and "tarry," and both "his chariot" and "the beats of his chariots"? The Malbim explains: a window is a simple window, and a lattice is made with skill. The lattice here expresses a clever window - a magic window, what we would define today as a crystal ball: they would perform a certain magic and through it see hidden things. "Through the window she looked out" - this is the physical window, she looks and does not understand why he is delayed. And afterward she uses the magic window to see what is hidden.
And then - "and she cried." When she saw what she saw, she broke out in wailing. And why? As the Baal HaIkarim explained: she saw in the magic window Sisera lying on the ground, and a woman standing over him and striking his head, and blood flowing from his head; and she saw slain men whose necks were reddened. This implies they were slaughtered, this implies defeat, this implies that the battle ended very badly.
And from here the order of things: "through the window she looked out" - and she asks "why is his chariot delayed in coming"; and afterward "through the lattice" - and she wails "why tarry the beats of his chariots." And the Malbim distinguishes between "delayed" and "tarry": delayed means lingering longer than usual, being held up more and more; whereas tarry means being late for a fixed time, that even if he was not very late, a time was set and he did not arrive. At first, when she saw that he was delaying too long, she asked "why is he delayed." Afterward, when the time passed by which he already had to have arrived, that fixed time when he was obligated to be here, she said "why do they tarry."
And what are "the beats of his chariots"? The Malbim says: even if something happened to the chariots, there was a runner running before the chariot, who would run before the horses, and "his beats" are his steps. As was their way in those days, that when something happened the runner would arrive first to bring the news. If so, even if I do not see the chariot itself, at least the beats of the chariots I should have seen - and those too I do not see.
חַכְמוֹת שָׂרוֹתֶיהָ תַּעֲנֶינָּה אַף־הִיא תָּשִׁיב אֲמָרֶיהָ לָהּ׃ - The wisest of her ladies answer her, and she too replies to herself with her own words.
The wise ones among her ladies answer her, and she too speaks to her own heart and calms herself. The Malbim explains: the ladies understand that the message hidden in the omen is very negative, and so they try to interpret it for the good, like interpreting a dream. For they understood that if they were to say "he is dead," there is a danger that it might come true; it is not good to let a negative word out of the mouth, just as one should not interpret a dream for the bad, since there is a decree that what a person utters may come to pass, and a covenant is sealed with the lips. Therefore, as soon as they understood that what they saw was very bad, they saw a need to interpret it for the good, and began to give the vision a favorable reading.
הֲלֹא יִמְצְאוּ יְחַלְּקוּ שָׁלָל רַחַם רַחֲמָתַיִם לְרֹאשׁ גֶּבֶר שְׁלַל צְבָעִים לְסִיסְרָא שְׁלַל צְבָעִים רִקְמָה צֶבַע רִקְמָתַיִם לְצַוְּארֵי שָׁלָל׃ - Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? A womb, two wombs for every man, spoil of dyed garments for Sisera, spoil of dyed embroidered garments, dyed, doubly embroidered, for the necks of the spoil.
What did she see? A woman standing over Sisera, red colors, blood and slaughter. The ladies say to her: what you saw, a woman standing over him, that is "a womb, two wombs for every man," women taken captive and divided as spoil. And what you saw as red colors, that is "spoil of dyed garments for Sisera," the colorful garments they took. And what appeared to you as slaughter, that is "dyed, doubly embroidered garments for the necks of the spoil," the finest garments, red, which they placed on their necks as spoil. And you thought the neck fell in battle, but in truth it is the complete opposite: it only shows with what special things they come laden with spoil upon their necks, and you did not see the matter properly and did not interpret it correctly.
כֵּן יֹאבְדוּ כָל־אוֹיְבֶיךָ יְהֹוָה וְאֹהֲבָיו כְּצֵאת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בִּגְבֻרָתוֹ וַתִּשְׁקֹט הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה׃ - So may all Your enemies perish, Hashem, but may those who love Him be like the sun going forth in its might. And the land was quiet for forty years.
Devorah says, and as Rashi explains: Sisera's mother comforts herself with empty consolations, for in truth her son was lost, not as those hollow comforts with which she consoled herself. And just as he was lost, "so may all Your enemies perish, Hashem."
"But may those who love Him be like the sun going forth in its might" - in the future to come, sevenfold, like the light of the seven days. And Chazal expound this to a total of three hundred and forty three, corresponding to forty nine sevenths: sevenfold like the light of the seven days, seven times seven times seven, which is three hundred and forty three.
The Malbim explains "like the sun going forth": the sunrise does not come in a single moment but rises gradually, little by little; so too those who love Him keep rising, like the sun that the clouds do not cover and the mists do not darken at the fullness of its shining.
"And the land was quiet for forty years" - Rashi says that this is not part of Devorah's words, but the words of the author of the book: Devorah concluded with "but may those who love Him be like the sun going forth in its might," and the author of the book adds that afterward there was quiet for forty years. And the Malbim explains the reason for this: that throughout Devorah's days Yisrael were righteous, and in such a state they are worthy of Hashem's protection, and therefore the quiet accompanied them all her days.
The Song of Devorah is not merely a victory hymn, but a document of national soul searching. It blesses those who volunteered among the people and praises Zevulun and Naftali who risked their lives unto death, while sharply rebuking Reuven and Dan who stood aside merely because they themselves felt no threat - and this is the very critique: one who faces no personal danger and does not rush to help his brothers deserves heartbreak, and Meroz even deserves a curse and excommunication. Standing in contrast is Yael, who precisely from within her tent, in her natural place and in her modesty, brought about the salvation, and therefore women in the tent bless her. The song links the past to the present: just as the kings of Canaan fought in the days of Yehoshua and the torrent and waters swept them away and the stars went forth to help Israel, so it all repeated itself in the days of Devorah, teaching us that Divine providence is one and the same. And when the people of Israel are righteous - "and the land was quiet forty years."