The song of triumph takes a sharp turn, shifting its focus to a deeply tragic scene within the enemy camp. The perspective moves to the mother of the defeated general, who sits and waits for a son who will never return from battle. As her tense anticipation turns into dread, she stands gazing outward, her figure visible to anyone looking at the house from the outside [מצודת ציון].
She peers through the window and the lattice. The primary approach among commentators is that this refers to a standard physical window, likely fitted with a grid or lattice designed to let in the breeze [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, an alternative perspective suggests that she is not looking through physical windows at all. Instead, she is gazing through mystical avenues of astrology, searching the stars to foresee her son's fate in the war [מלבי״ם, אלשיך, אהבת יהונתן].
As the wait continues, she lets out a sudden cry. Most commentators understand this reaction as a painful howl or groan of heartache, a sound resembling the piercing blast of a shofar [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון, רלב״ג]. Others interpret this reaction either as a specific form of speech or as an intense, searching gaze [רש״י, רד״ק]. Her panic stems from the fact that her son was accustomed to returning home every single day [צאינה וראינה], yet evening has already fallen and he is still absent [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. According to the mystical approach, her wail erupts because she sees terrifying visions in the stars: the blood of slaughtered soldiers and her son's head, pierced and bleeding from a hammer blow [מלבי״ם, אלשיך].
In her agony, she cries out with a double question, a natural reaction for someone wailing in pain [מצודת דוד]. She asks why his chariot is delayed and why the heavy steps of his army's chariots are so late [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Commentators distinguish between the two types of delay she mentions: the first implies lingering beyond a normal, expected timeframe, while the second refers to missing a strict, predetermined deadline [מלבי״ם], such as midnight, a time when certain spiritual forces cease their activity [אהבת יהונתן].
Her questions also highlight a distinction between the vehicles themselves. She wonders why her son's personal, lightweight chariot is delayed, as he should have easily ridden ahead of the troops. Even if he chose to wait for his army, she questions why the heavy chariots of his soldiers are also nowhere to be heard [אלשיך]. Furthermore, she reasons that even if he had been taken captive, runners should have arrived by now to report his fate [מלבי״ם].
To soothe her mounting dread, she and her noblewomen attempt to reframe the grim visions and the prolonged absence in a positive light. They guess that the army is merely delayed by the division of war spoils, imagining the soldiers distributing beautiful Israelite women and colorful, embroidered garments. Ultimately, a heavenly voice declares that her hopes are entirely false; her son is dead, and she will never find comfort [צאינה וראינה, אלשיך].