The Meaning of Judges 5:13 Explained

Judges 5:13

KJV: Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.

YLT: Then him who is left of the honourable ones He caused to rule the people of Jehovah, He caused me to rule among the mighty.

Darby: Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for him against the mighty.

ASV: Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then he made him that remaineth  have dominion  over the nobles  among the people:  the LORD  made me have dominion  over the mighty. 

What does Judges 5:13 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 5:12-23 - The Stars In Their Courses
This noble psalm contains memorable sentences. The "captivity" phrase in Judges 5:12 is quoted in Psalms 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8; and in the latter is applied to the ascension of our Lord. He led in captivity those evil powers which had for so long held mankind in captivity. Let us not fear death, or the grave, or Hades. They have been bound to the chariot-wheels of our Lord, and their keys hang at his girdle, Revelation 1:18.
Levies and reinforcements poured in from the hill-country of Ephraim, once owned by Amalek, Judges 12:15; from little Benjamin; from the northern tribes: but the main brunt of the war of liberation fell on Zebulun and others adjacent to the plain of Esdraelon, one of the great battlefields of history. Megiddo stands to the south of this famous site and has given its name to the last momentous struggle of Armageddon. Clearly Deborah refers to a terrific storm that broke, perhaps at night, upon the plain, flooding the river Kishon and the adjacent lands, so that Sisera's chariots were rendered useless. O my soul, thou, too, mayest tread under foot thy foes, Judges 5:21, r.v., margin; but be sure never to refuse, as Meroz did, to respond when God needs thy help, Judges 5:23. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 5

1  The Song of Deborah and Barak

What do the individual words in Judges 5:13 mean?

Then came down the survivors against the nobles the people Yahweh came down for me against the mighty
אָ֚ז יְרַ֣ד שָׂרִ֔יד לְאַדִּירִ֖ים עָ֑ם יְהוָ֕ה יְרַד־ לִ֖י בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים

יְרַ֣ד  came  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָדָה 
Sense: to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down.
שָׂרִ֔יד  the  survivors 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׂרִיד  
Sense: survivor, remnant, that which is left.
לְאַדִּירִ֖ים  against  the  nobles 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אַדִּיר  
Sense: great, majestic.
עָ֑ם  the  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
יְהוָ֕ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יְרַד־  came  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָדָה 
Sense: to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down.
לִ֖י  for  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים  against  the  mighty 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: גִּבֹּור  
Sense: strong, mighty.