Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 5:29
Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
29. The queen-mother is surrounded by her princesses in the arm of the palace. The wisest of them will soon discover their folly! The mother ‘tries to silence her presentiment by the same kind of answer which her sage companions give her’ (Moore).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
29. her wise ladiesmaids ofhonor.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Her wise ladies answered her,…. Every one in their turn endeavouring to comfort her and make her easy. The Vulgate Latin version is,
“one that was wiser than the rest of his wives;”
but they seem rather to be her maids of honour, or ladies of her acquaintance, who were come to pay her a visit, and share in the pleasing sight they expected to have of Sisera:
yea, she returned answer to herself; before they could well give theirs, she soon recollected herself what might be, and must be, the occasion of this delay; and this, according to the Targum, she made in her wisdom, what her great wisdom quickly suggested to her was certainly the case, and with which she comforted and quieted herself.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The princesses in attendance upon Sisera’s mother sought to console her with the remark, that Sisera would have to gather together rich booty, and that his return was delayed in consequence. In the expression “the wisest of her princesses” (see Ges. 119, 2), the irony is very obvious, as the reality put all their wise conjectures to shame. , third pers. plur. fem. for . The second hemistich of Jdg 5:29 contains a clause inserted as a parenthesis. is adversative: “ but she;” is only an emphatic copula; the antithesis lies in the emphatic change of subject indicated by . , lit. to bring back her words, i.e., to repeat. is used in a reflective sense, “to herself.” The meaning is: But Sisera’s mother did not allow herself to be quieted by the words of her wise princesses; on the contrary, she kept repeating the anxious question, Why does Sisera delay his coming? In Jdg 5:30 there follows the answer of the wise princesses. They imagine that Sisera has been detained by the large amount of booty which has to be divided. , nonne, is he not, in the sense of lively certainty. They will certainly discover rich booty, and divide it. , uterus, for puella. “ A girl (or indeed probably) two girls to the head of the man, ” i.e., for each man. , coloured things, cloths or clothes. , worked stuff, or garments worked in divers colours (see the remarks on Exo 26:36), is attached without the vav cop. to , and is also dependent upon . The closing words, , “ for the necks,” or (as the plural is also frequently used to signify a single neck, e.g., Gen 27:16; Gen 45:14) “ for the neck of the booty,” do not give any appropriate sense, as neither signifies animals taken as booty nor the taker of booty. The idea, however, that is used for , like in 2Sa 12:4 for , viator, and in Pro 23:28 for , seems inadmissible, since ecni has just before been used three times in its literal sense. There is just the same objection to the application of to animals taken as booty, not to mention the fact that they would hardly have thought of having valuable clothes upon the necks of animals taken as booty. Consequently the only explanation that remains, is either to alter into or , or else to change into , the royal spouse. In the former case, would have to be taken as in apposition to : a variegated cloth, two worked in divers colours for his (Sisera’s) neck as booty, as the lxx have rendered it ( ). Ewald and Bertheau decide in favour of the second alteration, and defend it on the ground that might easily find its way into the text as a copyist’s error for , on account of having been already written three times before, and that we cannot dispense with some such word as here, since the repetition of three times, and the threefold use of , evidently show that there were three different kinds of people among whom the booty was to be distributed; and also that it was only a fitting thing that Sisera should set apart one portion of the booty to adorn the neck of his wife, and that the wisest of the noble ladies, when mentioning the booty, should not forget themselves.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(29) Her wise ladies.Literally, the wise of her princesses. There is unconcealed scorn in this, showing that the wisest were most utterly mistaken. Their wisdom is the seductive flattery of delusive hopes.
Answered her.The verb is in the singular, implying that one spoke after another. The Vulgate renders it. One of his wives, wiser than the rest, answered.
Yea, she returned answer to herself.The meaning of the clause is very uncertain. It may be, yea, she repeats their answer to herself, accepting their flattering surmises; or, on the contrary, but she repeats her words to herself, entirely unconsoled; or, againbut this is less likelyyea, she retracted her own (anxious) words. The anxious foreboding or the inextinguishable hope would be equally true to nature, according to the temperament of the Canaanite princess.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. The wise ones Here is another touch of irony. What wisdom was in their counsels and hopes!
She also She also falls in with the fond hopes of her wise ladies, and keeps murmuring the answer to herself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 5:29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
Ver. 29. Her wise ladies. ] The wicked’s hopes fail them when at highest, and prove to be “as the giving up of the ghost.” Job 11:20
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
answer: Heb. her words, Jdg 5:29
Reciprocal: Est 1:18 – the ladies
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, {t} she returned answer to herself,
(t) That is, she comforted herself.