Judges 5:2

The translation, after the LXX. cod. A, gives a good parallelism (leaders and people as in Judges 5:9), but it rests on slender support. The noun rendered leadershas this meaning among others (such as abundant hair, in Arabic), but in Hebrew the verb -took the lead" properly means to loosenExodus 5:4, especially to let the hair go looseLeviticus 10:6; Leviticus 13:45, and the noun is used of the long locksof the Nazirites Numbers 6:5. Wearing the hair long was the mark of a vow not to do certain things until a specified object had been attained; the practice was observed not only by the Nazirites but by warriors bent upon vengeance; for an illustration from Arabic see Wellhausen, Reste Arab. Heidenthums2, p. 123 n., and cf. Psalms 68:21. Hence we may transl. when the locks grew long in Israel i.e. when the warriors took the vow of vengeance: this may be the meaning of the same word in Deuteronomy 32:42 -from the long-haired heads of the foe." Offered themselves willingly, of volunteering for battle, only again in 2 Chronicles 17:16, cf. Psalms 110:3; usually of offerings to the Temple in Chr., Ezr., Neh. The translation For that … For that … Bless yeis contrary to usage, which rather requires When … When, as in Judges 5:4 where the same construction occurs; but this does not agree with Bless ye. The exact sense of the verse is doubtful.