Bible Strands
Judges 5:28
Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Sisera’s mother stands inside a dwelling, peering outward and speaking to herself and her attendants at the moment she realizes her son’s military expedition has failed. She voices her anxiety while waiting for his return, directly preceding the response of her wisest ladies in Judges 5:29.
The words — The Hebrew נִשְׁקְפָה (nishqepâ) denotes peering or looking out, paired with חַלּוֹן (challôn) for window and אֶשְׁנָב (eshnâb) for lattice or balcony railing. These terms frame her physical posture of anxious observation rather than a formal address.
The thread — The motif of looking through a window or lattice appears in 2 Kings 1:2 and Proverbs 7:6, where similar architectural openings serve as points of observation or vulnerability. The military delay she questions is resolved in Judges 4:15, where Yahweh routs Sisera’s forces before the chariots can return.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human anticipation cannot override divine judgment. It asks the reader to observe how delayed expectations often signal completed defeat rather than impending rescue.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
Cross-references
- Judges 4:15 And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
- 2 Kings 1:2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
- Proverbs 7:6 For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
- Song of Solomon 8:14 Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
- James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.