1When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. 2And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. 3And the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5And she was dwelling under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went up to her for judgment. 6And she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded: Go and proceed to Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7and I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand. 8And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go! 9And she said, I will walk to go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him. 11Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the plain at Zaanaim, near Kedesh. 12And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon. 14And Deborah said to Barak, Up! For this is the day in which Jehovah has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not Jehovah gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men behind him. 15And Jehovah routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left. 17However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear. And when he had turned aside to her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. 19And he said to her, Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. So she opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20And he said to her, Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, Is there any man here? you shall say, No. 21Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. Thus he died. 22And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, I will show you the man whom you are seeking. And when he went into her tent, behold, Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple. 23So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. 24And the hand of the sons of Israel continued and proceeded to grow stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin king of Canaan.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 DEBORAH AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL FROM JABIN AND SISERA. (Jdg. 4:1-17)
The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead--The removal of the zealous judge Ehud again left his infatuated countrymen without the restraint of religion.
2 Jabin king of Canaan--"Jabin," a royal title (see on
Josh 11:1). The second Jabin built a new capital on the ruins of the old (
Josh 11:10-
Josh 11:11). The northern Canaanites had recovered from the effect of their disastrous overthrow in the time of Joshua, and now triumphed in their turn over Israel. This was the severest oppression to which Israel had been subjected. But it fell heaviest on the tribes in the north, and it was not till after a grinding servitude of twenty years that they were awakened to view it as the punishment of their sins and to seek deliverance from God.
4 And Deborah, a prophetess--A woman of extraordinary knowledge, wisdom, and piety, instructed in divine knowledge by the Spirit and accustomed to interpret His will; who acquired an extensive influence, and was held in universal respect, insomuch that she became the animating spirit of the government and discharged all the special duties of a judge, except that of military leader.
the wife of Lapidoth--rendered by some, "a woman of splendors."
5 she dwelt under the palm tree--or, collectively, "palm-grove." It is common still in the East to administer justice in the open air, or under the canopy of an umbrageous tree.
6 she sent and called Barak--by virtue of her official authority as judge.
Kedesh-naphtali--situated on an eminence, little north of the Sea of Galilee, and so called to distinguish it from another Kedesh in Issachar.
Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded?--a Hebrew form of making an emphatic communication.
Go and draw toward mount Tabor--an isolated mountain of Galilee, northeast corner of the plain of Esdraelon. It was a convenient place of rendezvous, and the enlistment is not to be considered as limited to ten thousand, though a smaller force would have been inadequate.
8 Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go--His somewhat singular request to be accompanied by Deborah was not altogether the result of weakness. The Orientals always take what is dearest to the battlefield along with them; they think it makes them fight better. The policy of Barak, then, to have the presence of the prophetess is perfectly intelligible as it would no less stimulate the valor of the troops, than sanction, in the eyes of Israel, the uprising against an oppressor so powerful as Jabin.
9 the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman--This was a prediction which Barak could not understand at the time; but the strain of it conveyed a rebuke of his unmanly fears.
11 Now Heber the Kenite . . . pitched his tent--It is not uncommon, even in the present day, for pastoral tribes to feed their flocks on the extensive commons that lie in the heart of inhabited countries in the East (see on
Judg 1:16).
plain of Zaanaim--This is a mistranslation for "the oaks of the wanderers." The site of the encampment was under a grove of oaks, or terebinths, in the upland valley of Kedesh.
13 the river of Kishon--The plain on its bank was chosen as the battlefield by Sisera himself, who was unconsciously drawn thither for the ruin of his army.
14 Barak went down from mount Tabor--It is a striking proof of the full confidence Barak and his troops reposed in Deborah's assurance of victory, that they relinquished their advantageous position on the hill and rushed into the plain in face of the iron chariots they so much dreaded.
15 the Lord discomfited Sisera--Hebrew, "threw his army into confusion"; men, horses, and chariots being intermingled in wild confusion. The disorder was produced by a supernatural panic (see on
Judg 5:20).
so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet--His chariot being probably distinguished by its superior size and elegance, would betray the rank of its rider, and he saw therefore that his only chance of escape was on foot.
16 But Barak pursued . . . unto Harosheth--Broken and routed, the main body of Sisera's army fled northward; others were forced into the Kishon and drowned (see on
Judg 5:21).
17 Sisera fled . . . to the tent of Jael--According to the usages of nomadic people, the duty of receiving the stranger in the sheik's absence devolves on his wife, and the moment the stranger is admitted into his tent, his claim to be defended or concealed from his pursuers is established.
19 she . . . gave him drink, and covered him--Sisera reckoned on this as a pledge of his safety, especially in the tent of a friendly sheik. This pledge was the strongest that could be sought or obtained, after he had partaken of refreshments, and been introduced in the inner or women's apartment.
20 he said unto her, . . . when any man doth come and enquire of thee and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No--The privacy of the harem, even in a tent, cannot be intruded on without express permission.
21 Then Jael took a nail of the tent--most probably one of the pins with which the tent ropes are fastened to the ground. Escape was almost impossible for Sisera. But the taking of his life by the hand of Jael was murder. It was a direct violation of all the notions of honor and friendship that are usually held sacred among pastoral people, and for which it is impossible to conceive a woman in Jael's circumstances to have had any motive, except that of gaining favor with the victors. Though predicted by Deborah [
Judg 4:9], it was the result of divine foreknowledge only--not the divine appointment or sanction; and though it is praised in the song [
Judg 5:24-
Judg 5:27], the eulogy must be considered as pronounced not on the moral character of the woman and her deed, but on the public benefits which, in the overruling providence of God, would flow from it.