Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 5:22
Then were the horses’ hooves broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.
22. did stamp ] or hammered (i.e. the earth); the same verb as in Jdg 5:26. In the next line the Hebrew words imitate the gallop of horses in precipitate flight. Cf. Nah 3:2. Their strong ones are the enemy’s steeds; cf. Jer 8:16; Jer 47:3.
Part iii. Jdg 5:23-31 a. The death of Sisera. The four-lined Jdg 5:23 forms a prelude; cf. the opening of Part ii.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Probably an allusion to the frantic efforts of the chariot-horses to disengage themselves from the morass (Jdg 4:15 note).
Mighty ones – Applied to bulls Psa 22:12 and horses Jer 8:16; Jer 47:3; Jer 50:11; elsewhere, as probably here, to men.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Then were the horsehoofs broken] In very ancient times horses were not shod; nor are they to the present day in several parts of the East. Sisera had iron chariots when his hosts were routed; the horses that drew these, being strongly urged on by those who drove them, had their hoofs broken by the roughness of the roads; in consequence of which they became lame, and could not carry off their riders. This is marked as one cause of their disaster.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Their horses, in which they put most confidence, had their hoofs, which is their support and strength, broken, either by dreadful hailstones, or rather, by their swift and violent running over the stony grounds, when they fled away with all possible speed from God and from Israel.
By the means of the pransings; or, because of their fierce or swift courses. Of their mighty ones; either, first, Of their strong and valiant riders, who forced their horses to run away as fast as they could. Or, secondly, Of their horses, as this word signifies, Jer 8:16; 47:3; 50:42, i.e. of themselves; the antecedent for the relative.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. Then were the horse hoofs brokenby the means of the prancingsAnciently, as in many parts ofthe East still, horses were not shod. The breaking of the hoofsdenotes the hot haste and heavy irregular tramp of the routed foe.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then were the horse hoofs broken by means of the pransings,…. Either through the force of the waters of the river, where they pranced and plunged, and could have no standing; or through the swift haste they made to run away, striking the earth so quick, and with such force and vehemence, that their hoofs were broken thereby, especially on stony ground, and so their speed retarded:
the pransings of the mighty ones; either their riders, princes, and great personages, who made them prance, leap, and run with great speed and force; or horses strong and mighty, being such as were selected for this purpose, and trained to war.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22 Then did the hoofs of the horses stamp
With the hunting, the hunting of his strong ones.
23 Curse ye Meroz, saith the angel of the Lord;
Curse ye, curse ye the inhabitants thereof!
Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah among the mighty.
24 Blessed before women be Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite,
Blessed before women in the tent!
The war-chariots of the enemy hunted away in the wildest flight (Jdg 5:22). The horses stamped the ground with the continuous hunting or galloping away of the warriors. , the hunting (cf. , Nah 3:2). The repetition of the word expresses the continuance or incessant duration of the same thing (see Ewald, 313, a.). , strong ones, are not the horses, but the warriors in the war-chariots. The suffix refers to , which is used collectively. The mighty ones on horses are not, however, merely the Canaanitish princes, such as Sisera, as Ewald maintains, but the warriors generally who hunted away upon their war-chariots.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(22) By the means of the pransings.Rather, the stampings. In crossing the Kishon after moderate rains, I had an opportunity of observing by personal experience how easily a horse might be hopelessly disabled in the muddy morass formed by the river. The word is forcibly repeated by the figure known as anadiplosis.
Their mighty ones.The great lords in their iron chariots, trying to goad their frightened steeds through the flood. There is a scathing taunt in the words. Their might was exhibited in valiantly running away. It may, however, mean the strong steeds themselves (comp. Jer. 8:15; Jer. 51:11). Vandevelde speaks of the Kishon as being the most dangerous river of the land, from its quicksands.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. From the galloppings The rapid and hasty flight of the Canaanitish heroes caused their horses’ hoofs to smite terribly the ground. The frantic steeds struggled to get loose from the chariots, and escape the miry ground, and became more frantic still by the urgency of their strong drivers. The gallopping of his strong ones is to be explained as the galloppings caused by the strong men that urged on their frantic flight. This verse, says Robinson, presents “a most vivid image of hasty and rapid flight and hot pursuit.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 5:22. Then were the horse-hoofs broken The word prancings destroys the whole force of this passage. The sacred writer means to inform us of the extreme haste and precipitation with which the vanquished fled. The word dahar is used but once more in Scripture, Nah 3:2 where, from the words it is joined with, it must mean the clattering of the horse on full speed. The prophetess, denouncing God’s judgments, tells the people, that they should themselves be given up a prey to the Chaldeans, whose army God would send against them; and that then they should hear the noise of the charioteer’s whip, of the rattling wheels, the clattering horse, and jumping chariot. The rendering of the margin, trampling, or plunging, is better than the text. Perhaps the meaning of it cannot be better expressed than by this celebrated line of Virgil’s,
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. AEn. 8: ver. 5:596.
Dr. Waterland, very properly, for of their mighty ones, reads of their mighty horses; an expression which greatly adds to the force of the passage, as they were not common horses, but their best and strongest, whose hoofs were broken on this occasion. See Green on the place, and Bochart Hieroz. p. i. l. ii. c. 6. We should just remark, that anciently it was not the custom to shoe their horses; nay, indeed, at present in Arabia and Tartary they have excellent horses which are never shod. See Tavernier, vol. i. b. ii. c. 5. and Montfaucon, tom. i. p. 79. Houbigant renders this verse, Then were the horse-hoofs broken, their riders flying away with precipitate speed.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 5:22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
Ver. 22. Then were the horse hoofs broken, ] viz., With hasty flight; as afterwards it fell out at the battle of Spurs – so the battle of Terwin was called, where Henry VIII routed the French. a
a Paul. Jov.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the pransings. Figure of speech Epizeuxis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
horsehoofs: Anciently, horses were not shod; nor are they at the present day in some parts of the East. The flight was so rapid that the hoofs of their horses were splintered and broken by the roughness of the roads; in consequence of which they became lame, and could not carry off their riders. Psa 20:7, Psa 33:17, Psa 147:10, Psa 147:11, Isa 5:28, Jer 47:4, Mic 4:13
prancings: or, tramplings, or, plungings
mighty ones: Or, as Dr. Waterland renders, “mighty horses,” or “strong steeds,” as Dr. Kennicott, i.e., their war-horses, which gives great energy to the text, and renders it perfectly intelligible.
Reciprocal: Job 39:21 – He paweth Jer 8:16 – at the Jer 47:3 – the noise Nah 3:2 – noise
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 5:22. Then were the horse-hoofs broken This verse finely expresses, and gives us the strongest image of, the confusion and rapidity of the flight of Siseras captains and great men, as well as of the multitude, from God and Israel; which was such that the very hoofs of their horses were broken by their swift and violent running over the stony ground. Prancings Or, because of their fierce or swift courses. The word , dahar, here rendered prancings, is used also Nah 3:2, where, from the word it is joined with, says Dr. Dodd, it must mean the clattering of the horse on full speed. The marginal reading, tramplings, or plungings, he thinks preferable to the text, and observes, that the meaning of it cannot perhaps be better expressed than by the well-known line of Virgil:
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.
They shake with horny hoofs the solid ground.
Dr. Waterland proposes that , abiraiv, here rendered their mighty ones, should be translated their mighty horses, an interpretation which the word will easily bear, and which increases the force and beauty of the passage, as they were doubtless not common horses, but their best and strongest, whose hoofs were broken on this occasion. The reader will observe that it was not the custom to shoe their horses in these ancient times, and indeed, according to Tavernier, Montfaucon, and others, they have at present excellent horses in Arabia and Tartary which are never shod. See Dodd.