Judges 5:3

Jdg 5:3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, [even] I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing [praise] to the LORD God of Israel.

Ver. 3. Hear, O ye kings.] Hear and give ear, be not proud, cast down your crowns, and give glory to God. The altar of incense was compassed about with a crown of pure gold, {Lev 3:1-17} to show that gratitude is a rich and royal virtue, best beseeming the best princes.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 5:3. Hear, O ye kings, &c. — The prophetess begins her song with summoning the attention of the neighbouring kings and princes, that they might understand and lay to heart what God had done for Israel, and learn from thence not to oppress them, lest the same vengeance which had fallen upon Jabin and his people should be inflicted on them. I, even I, will sing unto the Lord — She declares that Jehovah should be the object of her praise, who, she would have the world to know, was superior to all in power, and would defend his people while they depended on him alone.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(3) Hear, O ye kings.—There were no kings or princes in Israel, but the appeal is to the “kings of the earth,” as in Psa_2:10; for which reason the LXX. render “princes” by satraps. The Chaldee refers it to the kings allied with Jabin.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. The great ones of the earth are called upon to attend the praises of the victorious God of Israel. Hear … give ear a frequent parallelism, e.g. Gen_4:23; kings … princes again in Hab_1:10; Psa_2:2; Pro_8:15; Pro_31:4. The word for princes thus occurs chiefly in the later literature, but it may have belonged to the elevated style in ancient poetry. I, unto Yahweh I will sing; there is a ring about the words in the original, and a strong emphasis on the pronoun. I will make melody, with voice and instruments, a word specially frequent in the Psalter.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes,.... Not only the neighbouring ones, but all the kings and princes of the earth, far and near, then and in succeeding ages; Deborah desires and wishes that all potentates might hear of the wonderful works of God done for his people, that they might learn to know there is one that is higher than they, to whom all the amazing things done in the world are to be ascribed; and be cautious how they oppressed the people of God, since sooner or later he would avenge them on them. The Targum restrains this to the kings that came with Sisera and the governors with Jabin; but if there were any such, as it is not improbable there were, see Jdg 5:19; yet it is most likely that they were slain with them: there are some, as Kimchi observes, who think this respects the people of Israel, who were all the sons of kings; but the first sense is best:

I, even I, will sing unto the Lord, I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel: which are the words of Deborah particularly, and the repetitions serve to express how cordial, earnest, and vehement she was in her praise and thankfulness to God; thereby setting an example to others, encouraging them to the same practice, and directing persons of every rank and quality to give praise only to Jehovah, the self-existing, everlasting, and unchangeable Being; to him who is the Lord and God of Israel in a peculiar manner, and not to any of the gods of the Gentiles.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Kings. She invites all who have authority, whether in or out of Israel, to attend unto the dispensations of Providence. God alternatively cherishes and corrects his people. David makes a similar appeal to all kings and judges, Psalm ii. 10. --- It is I. She dwells with a degree of rapture on the thought that God had shewn his power so wonderfully, and had effected his gracious purpose by the hand of a woman! (Haydock) --- She directed Barac. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

You especially that live near to Israel, and have evil minds and designs against Israel, know this for your instruction, and caution, and terror too, if you shall presume to molest them.

To the Lord God of Israel, who, as you see by this plain instance, is both able and resolved to defend them from all their enemies.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Kings… princes — The kings and princes of the Canaanites (and, indeed, of all the earth) are referred to, not the princes of Israel, for Israel, at this time, had no kings. The prophetess, having opened her song with an exclamation of blessing to Jehovah, now boldly calls on the heathen kings to listen to her strains of triumph, and from them take warning and instruction. Compare Psa_2:10.

I… even I will sing — That is, I, Deborah; comp. Jdg_5:7. “O kings,” she says, in lofty defiance, “I, even I, a feeble woman, sing a song of triumph over you.”

Will sound the harp — The original word rendered “sound the harp,” is the one used for singing with an instrument. She will not only sing, but play with a stringed instrument to the Lord.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Her song was worthy to be listened to by kings and princes. She calls their attention to the tale she had to tell of the great acts of the Lord.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The princes - You especially that live near, and have evil designs against Israel, know this for your caution, and terror too, if you presume to molest them. God of Israel - Who, as you see by this plain instance, is both able and resolved to defend them from all their enemies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

3 Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes!

I, to the Lord will I sing,

Will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

4 Lord, when Thou wentest out from Seir,

When Thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom,

The earth trembled, and the heavens also dropped;

The clouds also dropped water.

5 The mountains shook before the Lord,

Sinai there before the Lord, the God of Israel.

The "kings and princes" are not the rulers in Israel, for Israel had no kings at that time, but the kings and princes of the heathen nations, as in Psa 2:2. These were to discern the mighty acts of Jehovah in Israel, and learn to fear Jehovah as the almighty God. For the song to be sung applies to Him, the God of Israel. זמּר, ψάλλειν, is the technical expression for singing with an instrumental accompaniment (see at Exo 15:2).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

General Information:

Deborah and Barak's song continues using poetry. (See: Poetry)

Listen, you kings! Pay attention, you leaders

Deborah and Barak speak to the kings and leaders as if they were there listening to the song. (See: Apostrophe)

you kings ... you leaders

This refers to kings and leaders in general, not to specific kings or leaders.

when you went out from Seir, when you marched from Edom

This refers to the time when the Israelites left Edom to start conquering the people in Canaan. Yahweh empowering his people to defeat the people of Canaan is spoken of as if he were a warrior leading the Israelite army. (See: Metaphor)

Seir

Seir is a mountain on the border of the land of Israel and Edom. (See: How to Translate Names)

the earth shook, and the skies also trembled; also the clouds poured down water

Possible meanings are 1) this is poetic language that emphasizes Yahweh's power by describing it as causing earthquakes and storms or 2) the people of Canaan being terrified as the Israelites were about to attack them is spoken of as if the earth and sky were shaking. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

king

God

Edom

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

I…I. The word is doubled. I have heard in the name of Midrash Agaddah: the Holy One blessed is He did not deny a reward for [Mount] Tovor and [Mount] Carmel, who came to the giving of Torah so that it might be given on them, and turned away in humiliation. The Holy One, blessed is He told them, "Eventually, I shall reward you doubly. At Sinai it is said, 'I am the Lord your God;' at Tovor it shall be said, 'I…I.' At Sinai it is said, 'I am the Lord your God;' At Carmel it shall be said doubly, 'Adonoy is God,' 'Adonoy is God!' in Eliyahu's days."

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.