Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 5:21

"The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength." — Judges 5:21 (ASV)

The river of Kishon. —Judges 4:7; Psalms 83:9. Either from this massacre, or that of the priests of Baal by Elijah, the Kishon is now called the Nahr Mukatta, or “river of slaughter” (1 Kings 18:40).

That ancient river. —The Vulgate translates this as “the torrent Kedumim,” and the Septuagint (Cod. Vat.) as “the river of the ancients” . The Chaldee paraphrases it as “the torrent on whose banks illustrious deeds were done from the ancient times of Israel.”

Since the Plain of Jezreel has been the battle-field of Israel throughout all ages, the Kishon must always have played an important part in these struggles, as when the Turks were drowned in its swollen waves on April 16, 1799. However, we know of no ancient fame of Kishon before these events.

Some translate it as “the torrent of meeting armies,” or “of slaughters” (Ewald), deriving Kedumim from an Arabic root, or as “the torrent of aid,” connecting the word with Kiddeem (see Psalms 79:8 and following, Hebrew). Aquila translates it as “the torrent of siroccos” (Kausônôn); and Symmachus, as “the torrent of goats” (wild waves, egers, and bores).

O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. —These sudden exclamations, which break the flow of the poem, add greatly to its fire and impetuosity. The verb may be an imperative, and the Vulgate translates it as, “Trample down, O my soul, the mighty.” The word “trample” recalls the image of treading the vintage.