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Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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New Life Version

Judges 5:20

The stars fought from heaven. From their paths they fought against Sisera.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Chiding;   Country;   Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena;   Patriotism;   Sisera;   Thompson Chain Reference - Astronomy;   Deborah;   Sisera;   Stars;   Women;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Stars, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Barak;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Deborah;   Palestine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Sisera;   Year;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hymn;   Judges, Book of;   Poetry;   Sisera;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Angel;   Barak;   Deborah;   Ephraim;   Hittites;   Host of Heaven;   Israel;   Jashar, Book of;   Levi;   Lord of Hosts;   Magic, Divination, and Sorcery;   Manasseh;   Megiddo;   Naphtali;   Poetry;   Simeon;   Sisera;   Stars;   Text, Versions, and Languages of Ot;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Barak ;   Hosts, Lord of;   Sisera ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Barak;   Pithom;   Pleiades;   Sisera;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Baal;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - War;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Causeway;   Clap;   Course;   Deborah;   Esdraelon, Plain of;   Palestine (Recent Exploration, I.e. as of 1915);   War, Man of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Astronomy;   Deborah, the Song of;   Host of Heaven;   Miracle;   Names of God;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The stars fought from the heavens;the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.
Hebrew Names Version
From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
King James Version
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Lexham English Bible
The stars fought from heaven; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
English Standard Version
From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
New Century Version
The stars fought from heaven; from their paths, they fought Sisera.
New English Translation
From the sky the stars fought, from their paths in the heavens they fought against Sisera.
Amplified Bible
"From the heavens the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
New American Standard Bible
"The stars fought from heaven, From their paths they fought against Sisera.
Geneva Bible (1587)
They fought from heauen, euen the starres in their courses fought against Sisera.
Legacy Standard Bible
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Contemporary English Version
From their pathways in the sky the stars fought Sisera,
Complete Jewish Bible
They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses; yes, they fought against Sisra.
Darby Translation
From heaven was the fight; The stars from their courses fought with Sisera.
Easy-to-Read Version
The stars fought them from heaven. From their paths across the sky, they fought against Sisera.
George Lamsa Translation
The stars fought from their courses; they fought from heaven against Sisera by the river Kishon.
Good News Translation
The stars fought from the sky; as they moved across the sky, they fought against Sisera.
Literal Translation
The stars fought from the heavens; from their courses they fought with Sisera.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
From heaue were they foughte agaynst, the starres in their courses foughte with Sissera.
American Standard Version
From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
Bible in Basic English
The stars from heaven were fighting; from their highways they were fighting against Sisera.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
They fought from heauen, euen the starres in their courses fought agaynst Sisara.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
King James Version (1611)
They fought from heauen, the starres in their courses fought against Sisera.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The stars from heaven set themselves in array, they set themselves to fight with Sisara out of their paths.
English Revised Version
They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Berean Standard Bible
From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Fro heuene `me fauyt ayens hem; sterris dwelliden in her ordre and cours, and fouyten ayens Sisara.
Young's Literal Translation
From the heavens they fought: The stars from their highways fought with Sisera.
Update Bible Version
From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
Webster's Bible Translation
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
World English Bible
From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera.
New King James Version
They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
New Living Translation
The stars fought from heaven. The stars in their orbits fought against Sisera.
New Revised Standard
The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
From heaven, was the battle fought, - The stars in their courses, fought against Sisera.
Douay-Rheims Bible
There was war made against them from heaven: the stars, remaining in their order and courses, fought against Sisara.
Revised Standard Version
From heaven fought the stars, from their courses they fought against Sis'era.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera.

Contextual Overview

12 "Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Get up, Barak! Lead away the people you took in war, O son of Abinoam. 13 Those who were left came down to the rulers. The people of the Lord came down to me as soldiers. 14 The children of Amalek came down from Ephraim. They followed you, Benjamin, with your people. Leaders came down from Machir. Leaders came from Zebulun. 15 The rulers of Issachar came with Deborah. Issachar was faithful to Barak. They ran behind him into the valley. There was much thinking done among the families of Reuben. 16 Why did you sit among the sheep, to hear the horns blow for the flocks? There was much thought among the families of Reuben. 17 Gilead stayed on the other side of the Jordan. Why did Dan stay in ships? Asher sat beside the sea. He stayed by its rivers. 18 Zebulun is a people who put their lives in danger even to death. Naphtali did this also, on the high places of the field. 19 "The kings came and fought. The kings of Canaan fought at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo. They did not get any silver. 20 The stars fought from heaven. From their paths they fought against Sisera. 21 The fast river of Kishon took them away, the rushing river, the river Kishon. O my soul, walk on with strength.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

fought: Joshua 10:11, 1 Samuel 7:10, Psalms 77:17, Psalms 77:18

the stars: Judges 4:15

courses: Heb. paths

Reciprocal: Exodus 14:14 - the Lord Exodus 14:27 - Lord 2 Samuel 18:8 - General 2 Samuel 22:14 - thundered Psalms 66:3 - How terrible Psalms 76:8 - didst Psalms 119:91 - all are Jeremiah 46:15 - thy

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They fought from heaven,.... Either the angels of heaven, afterwards called stars; or the heavens, the elements, fought for Israel, and against Sisera; a violent storm of rain and hail falling at this time, which discomfited Sisera's army; :-, or this victory was obtained in such a manner as plainly showed it was not of man, but of God from heaven; so the Targum,

"from heaven war was made with them;''

with the kings before mentioned; God fought against them, and no wonder they were conquered:

the stars in their courses fought against Sisera it seems as if it was in the night that this battle was fought, at least that the pursuit lasted till night, when the stars by their brightness and clear shining favoured the Israelites, and were greatly to the disadvantage of the Canaanites; unless it can be thought, as is by some, that the stars had an influence to cause a tempest of rain, hail, thunder, and lightnings, by which the army of Sisera was discomfited in the daytime, as before observed.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

God fought on the side of Israel, and gave them the victory. Josephus relates that, just as the battle began, a violent tempest came on with a great downfall of rain; and a hailstorm, which, driving full in the faces of the Canaanites, so blinded and benumbed them with cold, that they could neither use their bows with effect nor even hold their swords.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 5:20. They fought from heaven — The angels of God came to the assistance of Israel: and the stars in their orbits fought against Sisera; probably some thunder storm, or great inundation from the river Kishon, took place at that time, which in poetic language was attributed to the stars. So our poet sung relative to the storms which dispersed the Spanish armada in 1588: -

"Both winds and waves at once conspire

To aid old England-frustrate Spain's desire."


Perhaps it means no more than this: the time which was measured and ruled by the heavenly bodies seemed only to exist for the destruction of the Canaanites. There may be also a reference to the sun and moon standing still in the days of Joshua.


 
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