The Book of Judges
Judges 4
Chapter IV · Vol. II, pp. 589–590
1 Deborah and Barak deliver Israel from Jabin and Sisera. 18 Jael killeth Sisera.
1 And the children of Israel aagain did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
A.M. 2725 B.C. 1279
a ch.2.19,20. Le.26.23-25. Je.5.3.
2 And the LORD bsold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in cHazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in dHarosheth of ethe Gentiles.
3 And the children of Israel fcried unto the LORD; for he had nine hundred gchariots of iron: and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
f ch.3.9,15; 10.16; 6.6. Ps.78.34-37. Je.22.23. 1 Sa.12.10.
4 And hDeborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.1
h 1 Co.1.27. Ga.3.28. Col.3.11.
1 The Scriptures nowhere condescend to assert or defend woman's moral dignity or equality with man. This great end they attain much more effectually than by a mere metaphysical inquiry or logical controversy. They give the history of woman; and in that history record her spiritual endowments and official dignities, as immediately conferred by the hand of God.—Note, Facts are always the simplest and most effectual arguments.—C.
5 And she dwelt under ithe palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim;2 and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.3
i Ge.35.8. Jos.16.2; 18.22,25.
2 Ramah was five miles north of Jerusalem, and Bethel ten; the palm-tree of Deborah must therefore have been close to Beeroth, which lies about half-way between those two cities. Mount Ephraim was the general name for the whole range extending from Jerusalem to the plain of Esdraelon.—P.
3 Cir. 1259 or 1273.
6 And she sent and called kBarak the son of Abinoam out of lKedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the mLORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward nmount Tabor,4 and take with thee oten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun;
k He.11.32. ch.5.1,12,15.
l Jos.19.32,37; 21.32. ver.9,10.
n Jos.19.12,22,34. ch.8.18. 1 Sa.10.3. Ps.89.12. Je.46.18. Ho.5.1.
4 See note on Jos. 19. 22.—C.
o ch.5.14-18.
7 And I pwill draw unto thee, to the qriver Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
p ch.1.3. Jos.11.20. Ex.14.4. Mat.6.13. Ps.115.1. Pr.21.30,31.
q ch.5.21. Ps.83.9,10. 1 Ki.18.40.
8 And Barak said unto her, rIf thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: snotwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shallt sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.u
10 And Barak called xZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at yhis feet: and Deborah went up with him.
x ver.6; ch.5.18.
y ch.3.28. Ex.11.8.
11 Now zHeber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law5 of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the aplain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.6
z ch.1.16. Nu.24.21; 10.29. Ex.2.18; 3.1; 18.1.
5 This has been supposed to contradict Ex. 18. 1, where the father-in-law of Moses is called Jethro; but why might he not, as was and is still common, be known by two names? The fact is mentioned to account for the presence of the Kenites in such an unexpected place.—C.
a Jos.19.33,37.
6 The Kenites, as has been seen (note, ch. 1. 16), settled first in the south of Judah, near Arad. But they were nomads, and a section of them, attracted doubtless by the excellence of the pasture, wandered northward, and encamped on the rich upland plain beside Kedesh. The word translated 'plain' is properly 'oak;' and the 'oak of Zaanaim' was probably some noted tree, perhaps a patriarch in a sacred grove, beneath or around which nomad shepherds of those days used to pitch their tents, as Abraham pitched his by the oak of Mamre. There are still some fine groves of oaks on the plains around Kedesh.—P.
12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to bmount Tabor.
b Ps.89.12. Jos.19.12,22,34. Je.46.18. ver.6,14.
13 And Sisera gathered7 together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron,8 and all the people that were with him, from Haroshethc of the Gentiles, unto the river of Kishon.d
7 Heb. gathered by cry or proclamation.
8 Each chariot seems from history and Egyptian sculptures to have contained a driver, a shieldman, and a javeliner.—C.
c ver.2.
d ver.7.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: eis not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.9
e Is.52.12; 22.23; 41.10,15,16. Ro.8.31. ch.5.20,21. 2 Sa.5.24.
9 About 1259 or 1273.
15 And fthe LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword, before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
f Ps.83.9,10. Jos.10.10,11. ch.5.20,21. 2 Ki.7.6. 2 Ch.13.15-17.
16 But Barak gpursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man1 left.
17 Howbeit Sisera hfled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between iJabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent,2 she covered him with a mantle.3
2 The Kenites were Arabians, still dwelling in tents, and as such, in the absence of the husband, it was the duty of the wife to practise that hospitality for which the various branches, even the wildest, of the Arab race are still distinguished.—C.
3 Or rug or blanket.
19 And he said unto her, kGive me, I pray thee, a little water to drink;4 for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
k ch.5.25. Je.35.8.
4 This request proceeded most probably as much from policy as from necessity; for having once received food or drink from an entertainer, the guest was privileged, by the Arab code of honour, to consider himself perfectly sure of protection.—C.
20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent; and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a lnail of the tent,5 and took6 an hammer in her 7hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: (for he was fast asleep and weary:) so he died.
A.M. 2745 B.C. 1259
l ch.3.21,31; 5.13,20. 1 Sa.17.49. 1 Co.1.27. It seems that Jael at first intended kindness to Sisera; but the Lord directed her to kill him, as an open enemy and murderer of the Israelites.
5 To those who have never examined a tent, it may be useful to state that it consists of a pole fastened in the ground—or more than one, if the tent be large—that to the top of the pole several cords are fixed, and these are tied to pins of wood or iron driven into the ground, slanting outward, at proper distances on each side, and strained tight, either simply by the hand, or by means of a block and pulley to each; and that over these cords a covering is stretched. With one of these pins, and a workman's hammer, the death of Sisera was effected.—C.
6 Heb. put.
7 The tent-pin, or 'nail,' is a long spike of wood or iron—in this case iron; 'the hammer' is the large mallet with which Arab women are accustomed to drive the tent-pins into the ground when encamping. All Arab women are well accustomed to their use. Jael therefore was able to strike with force and precision.—P.
22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
Notes
[Ver. 2. That reigned in Hazor. Reconquered and rebuilt by the Canaanites, after being burned by Joshua, Jos. 11. 13. Such revolutions are common in war, and indicate no contradiction in the history. Its restoration is not recorded, simply because the author writes not the general history of Jabin, but of Israel, and notices only so much of Jabin as is necessary to illustrate the religious defection and political troubles of Israel.—Harosheth of the Gentiles. A city of northern Galilee, long retained by the Canaanites, and has the distinctive appellation 'of the Gentiles,' as most probably there was another city of the same name within the possession of the tribes. C.]
Ver. 7. [Mount Tabor stands on the northern side of the great plain of Esdraelon. It is almost isolated, being connected only by a low wooded ridge with the mountains of Galilee on the west. In form, as seen from the south, it is a segment of a sphere, and is thinly covered with evergreen oaks. It is one of the most graceful hills in Palestine. It has an elevation of 1900 ft.; and its summit is covered with the ramparts and ruins of an ancient city. The highest sources of the Kishon are at the southern base of Tabor, but they are winter torrents. The river winds westward through the great plain. Its banks are composed of rich alluvial soil, which the winter torrents and heavy rains of autumn and spring convert into impassable morasses. P.]
Ver. 15. [Sisera lighted down off his chariot. Why not rather keep in the chariot, and trust to the swiftness of the horses? Partly to avoid notice of himself, by drawing away the pursuers after the chariot, as actually took place; partly, perhaps, to get into broken ground or underwood, so as to escape detection; partly to make his way to the nearest friendly tribe, who had actually informed of Barak's levies on Tabor, ver. 12. C.]
Ver. 20. [Thou shalt say, No. That the modern Arab code of honour must have thus early been recognized, is evident from the fact, that Sisera goes confidently to sleep in the tent, with no defence but Jael's implied denial of his concealment. He was fully aware that no one dared to violate the privacy of the tent in search of Sisera. The crime would have been considered inexpiable. Nay, even if certain he was con- cealed within, it is questionable whether any one acquainted with Arabian law would have ventured to enter. C.]
Ver. 22. [Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. Do the Scriptures sanction the breach of implied and conventional honour, or the practice of assassination, either for private or political crimes? We answer, They sanction neither; they denounce both. How then are we to defend the conduct of Jael? The answer is easy. We feel tied to no such defence. The candid student of the Bible is referred, for the general principle of Scripture in such cases, to the note on ch. 3. 23. And it may be proper to add, that when the Scriptures neither pause to condemn nor to justify, but merely to state the facts, we must now be utterly incompetent to pronounce anything but a conditional verdict, whether of guilt or acquittal, inasmuch as we are totally ignorant of many of the concurrent circumstances under which the event took place. C.]
Reflections.—Long-continued peace and prosperity are often made the occasion of great wickedness, which issues in heavier and sharper punishments than any formerly met with. But a merciful God readily hears the cries of his people under the distress which they have provoked him to lay upon them: and in his work of deliverance there is neither male nor female, but he himself is all and in all! Such as through unbelief are too eagerly desirous of human help or encouragement, are often punished with the loss of part of that honour which they might otherwise have had. But fearful, irresistible, and unavoidable is the ruin which proud sinners shall meet with when and where they expected nothing but safety, victory, and triumph. When God attacks there is no standing: when he pursues there is no escaping: when he begins he will also make an end: but such as trust in him shall never be disappointed. They who go forth in faith shall return victorious. Even the weak things of the world shall confound the mighty. And happy is it for us even when dear-bought experience animates us at last to mortify our corruptions, and purge out the Canaanites from the church of Christ.