The Meaning of Judges 5:22 Explained

Judges 5:22

KJV: Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.

YLT: Then broken were the horse-heels, By pransings -- pransings of its mighty ones.

Darby: "Then loud beat the horses' hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

ASV: Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then were the horsehoofs  broken  by the means of the pransings,  the pransings  of their mighty ones. 

What does Judges 5:22 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 5:22 mean?

Then pounded hooves of the horses the galloping galloping of his mighty [steeds]
אָ֥ז הָלְמ֖וּ עִקְּבֵי־ ס֑וּס מִֽדַּהֲר֖וֹת דַּהֲר֥וֹת אַבִּירָֽיו

הָלְמ֖וּ  pounded 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: הָלַם  
Sense: (Qal) to smite, strike, hammer, strike down.
עִקְּבֵי־  hooves 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עָקֵב  
Sense: heel, rear, footprint, hinder part, hoof, rear of a troop, footstep.
ס֑וּס  of  the  horses 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: סוּס 
Sense: swallow, swift.
מִֽדַּהֲר֖וֹת  the  galloping 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine plural
Root: דַּהֲרָה  
Sense: dashing, rushing, galloping.
דַּהֲר֥וֹת  galloping 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: דַּהֲרָה  
Sense: dashing, rushing, galloping.
אַבִּירָֽיו  of  his  mighty  [steeds] 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אַבִּיר  
Sense: mighty, valiant.