OET interlinear JDG 5:14

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

מִנִּ֣י אֶפְרַ֗יִם שָׁרְשָׁ⁠ם֙ בַּ⁠עֲמָלֵ֔ק אַחֲרֶ֥י⁠ךָ בִנְיָמִ֖ין בַּֽ⁠עֲמָמֶ֑י⁠ךָ & וּ⁠מִ֨⁠זְּבוּלֻ֔ן מֹשְׁכִ֖ים בְּ⁠שֵׁ֥בֶט סֹפֵֽר

from ʼEfrayim root,their in/on/at/with,Amalek following,you Binyāmīn in/on/at/with,people,your & and,from,Zebulun bear in/on/at/with,staff marshal's

In these phrases, the song is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “Some from Ephraim, whose root is in Amalek, came down; they came after you, Benjamin, with your peoples … and from Zebulun, the ones holding onto the scepter of a scribe also came down”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

מִנִּ֣י אֶפְרַ֗יִם שָׁרְשָׁ⁠ם֙ בַּ⁠עֲמָלֵ֔ק

from ʼEfrayim root,their in/on/at/with,Amalek

The song is speaking as if the people of the tribe of Ephraim were literally a plant whose root was in the territory that formerly belonged to the Amalek people group. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “People from the tribe of Ephraim, which defeated the Amalekites and took their territory”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / apostrophe

אַחֲרֶ֥י⁠ךָ בִנְיָמִ֖ין בַּֽ⁠עֲמָמֶ֑י⁠ךָ

following,you Binyāmīn in/on/at/with,people,your

Here the song could be speaking to a group of people who are not there to hear it, the people of the tribe of Benjamin, in order to express strong approval of the way the soldiers from that tribe came and fought for Israel. The song would actually be speaking to the people who could hear it, initially the soldiers and others who gathered for the victory celebration at which it was first performed. However, some people from the tribe of Benjamin probably were present at the celebration, so the direct address with you and your could be literal. On the other hand, as 5:9–10 shows, this song was later sung in other contexts where people from Benjamin were not necessarily present. So it may be clearer in some languages to translate this without using second-person pronouns and to express the emphasis in some other way. Alternate translation: “they followed the brave soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

מִנִּ֣י מָכִ֗יר יָֽרְדוּ֙ מְחֹ֣קְקִ֔ים

from from Mākīr came_down commanders

The song is using these commanders to refer to them and the troops they commanded. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the military leaders from Machir brought their soldiers”

Note 5 topic: translate-names

מִנִּ֣י מָכִ֗יר

from from Mākīr

The word Machir is the name of a man, the son of Manasseh.

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

מִנִּ֣י מָכִ֗יר

from from Mākīr

The name Machir could mean: (1) the descendants of Machir, who formed one part of the tribe of Manasseh. Alternate translation: “from the clan of Machir” (2) by association, the tribe of Manasseh. Alternate translation: “from the tribe of Manasseh”

Note 7 topic: translate-symaction

וּ⁠מִ֨⁠זְּבוּלֻ֔ן מֹשְׁכִ֖ים בְּ⁠שֵׁ֥בֶט סֹפֵֽר

and,from,Zebulun bear in/on/at/with,staff marshal's

The military leaders of the tribe of Zebulun each carried a scepter as a symbolic action to indicate their rank and position. Each leader is called a scribe because one of his duties was to record the names of soldiers who enlisted and keep a total of the number of soldiers in the army. But the focus here is not on that duty but on the fact that these were military leaders, like the commanders mentioned in the previous phrase. Alternate translation: “and the military commanders of the tribe of Zebulun also brought their soldiers”