Judges 5:13
Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
The verse tells how those of Israel who were left gained authority over the people's nobles, with the Lord giving triumph over powerful foes when the remaining leaders came with Deborah to give help in the decisive battle. It stands in the triumphant song of Deborah and Barak celebrating deliverance from Jabin's oppression and the overthrow of Sisera and his army, including the part Jael played. The victory was won by faith, when Barak's ten thousand men from Mount Tabor met Sisera's host with nine hundred iron chariots in the Kishon valley where the chariots became a hindrance, subduing the Canaanites and giving the land forty years of peace. The song gives God all the glory for the deliverance and calls kings and princes to hear what He wrought for Israel and take warning, showing that honor and power belong to God and not to men or idols. The battle at Megiddo stands as a lesson connected with the sixth and seventh plagues, and the verse shows the Lord gave Deborah as prophetess and judge authority among the people, proving God has used women in public service in all ages to proclaim His truth and share His triumph without usurping authority over men.
Setting and Triumph Celebrated
The verse belongs to the one composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God followed by suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, and of returning to God followed by forgiveness and deliverance. That backsliding had let the heathen repossess the land and re-establish Baalism and distress true worshipers until deliverance came from Jabin's captain Sisera.
It stands in Deborah's most sublime and impassioned song, the triumphant song of Deborah and Barak celebrating Israel's deliverance from Jabin's oppression and triumph over Sisera and his forces and army, including the part Jael played in it. As a triumph poem it celebrates Israel's victory over Sisera's army.
It describes Israel's survivors gaining rule over the people's nobles, with the Lord giving the speaker victory over the mighty. The nobles and chief officers who remained went on foot with Deborah to the scene of action in the northwestern tribal territory to render helpful service in the decisive hour. The poem presents the surrounding battle as a call for Israel's tribes to gather under Deborah and Barak and fight, emphasizing that the Lord brings victory and that those who join His side stand against the enemy.
The victory was gained by faith, by which Israel under Deborah and Barak overthrew Sisera and his iron chariots and overcame a powerful enemy. Barak's ten thousand armed men of Zebulon and Naphtali from Mount Tabor met Sisera's host with nine hundred chariots of iron in the Kishon valley where the chariots became an encumbrance. That deliverance effectually subdued the Canaanites and gave the land peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God.
The song ascribes to God all the glory of deliverance and bids the people praise Him for His wonderful works, showing that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols. It calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God wrought for Israel and to take warning not to do them harm. It portrays the awful exhibitions of divine power and majesty displayed at Sinai, and sets before Israel their helpless and distressed condition under the oppression of their enemies.
The song was composed in both words and music to memorialize a great event as an expression of the individual and national life of God's chosen people, showing that the music of ancient Israel was original and not copied nor borrowed from the nations about them. As part of the earliest poetry of Israel, which rose among the Galilean hills when Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites, it vindicates Galilee's claim to honor for the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of its people.
Megiddo and Final Plagues
The verse belongs to the account of the battle of Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak. That battle is one of two great victories associated with Megiddo. Megiddo is the Old Testament battlefield where Israel fought the enemies of God's people. Through the victory of Barak and Deborah the Israelites first gained possession of the Plain of Jezreel. The battle of Megiddo serves as an object lesson connected with the sixth and seventh plagues.
Women in Public Service
The remnant spoken of is Deborah herself remaining among the people, to whom the Lord gave authority over powerful leaders. She was a prophetess and a judge to whom Israel came for judgment, and she arose as a mother in Israel.
The verse belongs to the record that God has used women in a public capacity in every age to His glory. It stands in Deborah's song of victory and shows that He uses women to proclaim His truth and to share in His triumph. Bearing testimony for Christ, helping in His work, and proclaiming His truth in womanly Christian ways is therefore right for women. Paul's command for women to keep silence in the churches only forbids women being out of place by assuming authority to teach and rule, which is unwomanly and unscriptural, and only corrects blameworthy disorders. Paul elsewhere gives direction for the appearance of women who take a public part in meetings.
Cited alongside Deborah the prophetess who helped Barak, the verse shows by her example that women may serve publicly and bear testimony for God without usurping authority over men.