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Judges 5:29

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 5:29 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,
Judges 5:29 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
26She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen`s hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head; Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
28Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
29Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself,
30Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?
31So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Her wise ladies answered her , etc.] 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…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“her wise ladies--maids of honor.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“answer: Heb. her words, Jdg 5:29 Judges 5:30”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“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. תּעננּה, third pers. plur. fem. for תּענינה. The second hemistich of Jdg 5:29 contains a clause inserted as a parenthesis. אף־היא is adversative: "but she;" אף is only an emphatic copula; the antithesis lies in the emphatic change of subject indicated by היא. אמריה השׁיב, lit. to bring back her words, i.e., to repeat. להּ is used in a reflective sense, "to…”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification