The Song of Deborah (Judges 5)

This study offers a new translation of the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) along with a Pentecostal hearing of the song through rhetorical analysis. The translation seeks to display the wordplay, verbal repetition, and structural symmetry of the Hebrew text that sometimes have been lost in previous translations. Moving from translation to interpretation, the article examines the rhetoric of the text and how the song affects the hearers, both ancient and contemporary. Inasmuch as Deborah is known as a prophet (Judg. 4.4), the article also explores the connection between prophecy and song. The author suggests that the ancient Hebrews canonized the Song of Deborah because it testified to the saving acts of God and because it functioned as the word of God to them. The author asserts further that contemporary Christians continue to read Judges 5 for the same reasons.