Old Testament Commentary - Judges 4

by Don R. Hender


Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
            CHAPTER 4              

Deborah, a prophetess, judges Israel—She and Barah deliver Israel from Canaanites—Jael, a woman, slays Sisera the Canaanite.

  1 AND the children of Israel again did aevil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
  2 And the LORD asold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
  3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred achariots of iron; and twenty years he bmightily coppressed the children of Israel.
  4 ¶ And Deborah, a aprophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
  5 And she adwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
  6 And she sent and called aBarak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
  7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
  8 And Barak said unto her, If 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: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
  10 ¶ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
  11 Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
  12 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
  13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
  14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out abefore thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
  15 And the LORD adiscomfited bSisera, 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.
  16 But Barak pursued 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 man left.
  17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
  18 ¶ And Jaela 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, she covered him with a amantle.
  19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
  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.
 18a Jael Ja-el means Jehovah God of Jehovah is God. As has been recorded, the Israelites had taken to intermarrying with the other nations. The men of Israel would marry foreign women and they would give their daughters to marry foreign men (Judges 3:6). It is therefore quite likely that Jael with the Hebrew name meaning Jehovah is God was one such daughter of Israel who had been so married. The course and purpose she took was very deliberate, even as though she had been so instructed what to do. We can only speculate and read between the lines, but the judge Deborah had already fortold that Sisera would be killed by the hand of a woman (Judges 4:9). And in chapter 5 there is a song of praise unto Jael (Judges 5:24-27). It all seems to be in that same tone and flavor as when Nephi was instructed to kill Laban who had been delivered into his hands (1 Nephi 4:10-13). And even both victims, Laban and Sisera, were in a deepened state of 'sleep', feeling no pain in their immediated deaths. Even Jael is said to have also cut off his head (Judges 5:26).
  21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the anail into his btemples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
  22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
  23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
  24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.