And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; now Ehud was dead.
Judges 4 opens with a relapse, not a battle. Ehud the deliverer dies, and Israel goes straight back to the evil that once enslaved them.
Each judge brought relief, but nothing in the people themselves had changed. One writer follows the slide through the whole book. He finds the real problem in Israel, not in her enemies.
So they sank lower and lower, as each deliverer died. Tears cannot do the work of faith. The evil was within, and against Jehovah. Humiliation came from the nations outside, instead of self-judgment by the word.
The verse does not say what the evil was. One writer fills the gap from the pattern that runs through the book.
After his death Israel again turned from the Lord's ways, doing evil in His sight. It is not said what evil. But their lapses apparently always involved worshiping the idols of the nations.
The book turns the same cycle again and again: failure, then servitude, then a cry to God. Each turn leaves Israel weaker than the one before.
First we should notice the failure of the people, who begin to serve false gods, and then their servitude. In their distress they cry to Jehovah. This is always the way deliverance comes. In this last case Jehovah departs from His usual ways. The nation had lost its strength and energy, even in its internal affairs. This is the effect of repeated falls; the sense of God's power is lost.
The oppressor Israel now falls under bears the name of a king Joshua had already destroyed. One writer turns that repeat on the reader.
About a hundred and thirty years before, Joshua had overcome Jabin, king of Hazor... All were killed and Hazor was burned with fire. And now the Lord sold them into his hand. This Jabin is a successor of the one Joshua had killed. Hazor had been built again out of its ruins. We see, so to speak, a resurrection of an old enemy... Satan knows how to revive old errors and evils and use them to bring God's people into captivity. And is it not so in our own individual experience? The grace and strength of Christ and of His Spirit mastered some sin that overpowered us, and broke its power. But can that same sin not be revived?
There was a time when Israel knew that no deal with this enemy was possible.
In those days the Spirit of God worked in Israel with mighty energy. They understood that they could have nothing in common with Jabin. So they burned his chariots with fire, struck him down with the sword, and destroyed his capital. What could the people of God have in common with the political and military world? Its rule was to be wiped off the map of Canaan. Sadly, all is now changed, and unfaithful Israel falls under the government of the world... the people's inheritance becomes the kingdom of Jabin!
Samuel later told Israel to their faces who had sold them into their enemies' hands: God Himself. He also told them what always brought them back out.
Samuel does not let them overlook this. It was for their sins that Jehovah allowed them to be sold captive into the hands of their enemies. "They forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera." They confessed their backslidings and the particular sin that had brought them into trouble. And whenever they cried to God like that, He always heard them.
- Again. Israel sins again the moment the deliverer dies. The trouble was never the oppressor. It was the unchanged heart inside.
- Unnamed. The verse does not spell out the evil; the pattern of the book points to the idols of the surrounding nations.
- Weakened. Repeated falls do not leave a people where they were; strength, energy, and the sense of God's power drain away.
- Revived. The buried enemy rebuilds his city. A mastered sin can rise from its ashes, and the inheritance becomes the enemy's kingdom.
- Heard. The bondage is God's own dealing for sin, yet a sincere cry that names the sin has never once gone unanswered.
And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the captain of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-Goim.
After eighty years of quiet under Ehud, Israel slid back into evil. Two things in this verse stand out: the oppressor is God's own doing, and Joshua had already wiped out both Jabin and Hazor generations before.
The verse opens by dating the collapse from a funeral. One writer ties the collapse to Ehud's death, and explains what the king's name reveals about the Canaanites:
It seems Ehud judged Israel during eighty years of peace. After his death, Israel again turned from the Lord's ways, doing evil in His sight. We are not told what that evil was, but their falls seem always to have involved worshipping the idols of the nations. On this occasion the Lord delivered Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan (v. 2). Jabin's name means "he will understand." Canaanites ("traders") are keen to spot where they can make material gain, and religion is one of the most convenient ways for them. This enemy has too often troubled the Church of God as well.
The word "sold" matters. Israel was not just overrun. What they suffered answered to what they had chosen:
If the children of Israel chose to abandon the LORD to serve idols, the LORD in turn gave them up to serve idolaters. It is the same with us. If we sin, that sin measures and defines the discipline we receive; and so grace works repentance when we turn and cry to the Lord in our distress.
A Jabin reigning in Hazor should have been impossible. Joshua had destroyed that city and killed that king. Now the name, the capital and the war chariots are all standing again, inside Israel's own inheritance:
Jabin, king of Canaan, reigning in Hazor, with nine hundred chariots of iron, a terrible adversary, conquered Israel and oppressed them. In Joshua 11 we find an ancestor of this very Jabin, with chariots of war and the same capital. In those days Israel understood, under the mighty energy of the Spirit of God, that there could be nothing in common between them and Jabin. They struck him with the edge of the sword, after having burned his chariots with fire, and they destroyed his capital. What link could there be between the people of God and the political and military world? Its rule was to vanish from the map of Canaan. Sadly, all is now changed, and Israel, unfaithful, falls under the government of the world. Hazor, their ancient enemy, rises from its ashes and comes back to life. It is rebuilt inside the borders of Canaan, and the people's inheritance becomes the kingdom of Jabin!
The same danger faces the individual. One writer warns that Satan knows how to revive old errors and old sins, and so bring God's people back into captivity.
Some commentators start from what the two names mean:
Jabin means "discerning"; Hazor, "enclosure." The enemy of God's people here is the wisdom of the world. That wisdom reigns inside its own "enclosure." As always, it shuts itself up in cliques and parties and philosophies, and by them it lifts itself above whatever lies outside its boundary. Its spirit is plain to see — the spirit of self: self-interest, self-assertion, self-satisfaction, the true "trader" or Canaanite spirit, that of gain.
Commentators differ on what Sisera's name means. One takes it as "battle-array," and reads it alongside the craftsmen's town he lived in:
The commander of Jabin's army is Sisera. According to Gesenius, his name means "battle-array," and he lives in Harosheth ("carving, cutting, craftsmen's work") of the nations. Such names are not hard to read in a setting like this. The strife of sects, the bitter hatred between religious parties, is notorious; and no one needs to be told that this strife is what keeps the sects going.
A second writer reads the name differently, and sees Satan pictured in the commander:
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we are well aware that the great captive-maker is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him — a woman and a tent peg crushed his head and killed him.
- Sin. The bondage starts at Ehud's death. With the deliverer gone, Israel went back to the idols of the nations.
- Sold. God did not just allow the oppression; He sold them. They chose the gods of idolaters, so they wore the chains of idolaters.
- Resurrected. Joshua had destroyed Jabin and Hazor. The old enemy rose from its ashes, and Israel's inheritance became his kingdom.
- Enclosure. Jabin means "discerning" and Hazor means "enclosure" — the world's wisdom, walled in by self-interest and breeding cliques and parties.
- Array. Sisera at Harosheth completes the picture. Commentators read his name as "battle-array," the strife that keeps parties alive, or as the one who binds with chains — and the weakest of weapons crushed his head.
And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years.
Israel turns from God again, and a powerful Canaanite king with nine hundred iron chariots holds the nation for twenty years. Why did an enemy Joshua had already destroyed come back with such force, and why did God let it last so long?
The king's name and his people's name both carry meaning.
On this occasion the Lord delivered Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan (v. 2). Jabin's name means "he will understand." Canaanites ("traders") are quick to spot where they can make material gain, and religion is one of the easiest ways for them to do it. This enemy has too often afflicted the Church of God too. The commander of his army was Sisera. Israel was in bondage to them for 20 years (v. 3), until they could no longer bear the cruel bondage they suffered. Material gain may attract us at first. But it soon draws us into things that trouble a believer's conscience until he cries out for deliverance.
This is not a new foe. Israel had faced a Jabin of Hazor before, and won.
He was a powerful oppressor. This king had nine hundred chariots of iron and oppressed Israel for twenty years. About one hundred and thirty years before, Joshua had overcome Jabin, King of Hazor... Joshua killed them all and burned Hazor with fire. And now the Lord sold them into his hand. This Jabin is a successor of the one whom Joshua had killed. People had rebuilt Hazor out of its ruins. We see, so to speak, a resurrection of an old enemy... Satan knows how to revive old errors and evils and use them to bring God's people into captivity. And is it not so in our individual experience? The grace and strength of Christ and of His Spirit mastered some sin that once overpowered us, and broke its power. But can that same sin not be revived?
An earlier generation burned those war chariots. Now the chariots are back, and their owner runs the land God gave Israel.
In Joshua 11 we find an ancestor of this very Jabin, with chariots of war and the same capital. Back then, by the mighty energy of the Spirit of God, Israel understood that they could have nothing in common with Jabin. They killed him with the sword, burned his chariots, and destroyed his capital. What could the people of God have in common with the political and military world? Its rule was to be wiped off the map of Canaan. Now all is changed. Israel is unfaithful and falls under the government of the world. Hazor, their old enemy, rises from its ashes and lives again. It is rebuilt inside the borders of Canaan, and the people's inheritance becomes the kingdom of Jabin! The same thing has happened in the history of the church. At the beginning it stood completely separate from the world... In reality, it is the world that governs the church.
Israel cries out at every fall. This time the cry comes from a people with nothing else left.
First we should note the failure of the people, who begin to serve false gods. Then comes their slavery. In their distress they cry to Jehovah. This is always the way in which deliverance comes (Judges 3:9, 15; 4:3). In this last instance Jehovah departs from His usual ways. The nation had lost its strength and energy, even as to its internal affairs. This is the effect of repeated falls; the sense of God's power is lost.
The answer did not depend on their record.
Under the oppression of Jabin, the children of Israel cried to Jehovah, and despite all their repeated failures, He heard their cry.
These twenty years were part of ninety-three that Israel spent serving its enemies.
He had redeemed them so that they might live entirely for Him and prepare a dwelling place for Him (Ex. 15:2). But during the ninety-three years in which they served His enemies and theirs, they were not living to Him. This was not His purpose for them — and, as a consequence, He could not count these sad years in His calendar.
- Sold. This oppression was no accident. The Lord handed Israel over to Jabin, and their twenty years of bondage grew out of turning from Him.
- Revived. Joshua had destroyed Jabin and Hazor about a hundred and thirty years earlier. An old, buried enemy rose again — as old sins and old errors can revive in a believer's life.
- Surrendered. The generation that burned those chariots shared nothing with Canaan. This generation lets the world govern the inheritance God gave them.
- Crying. Their strength and their sense of God's power were gone. One resource was left: distress turned into a cry — and that is always how deliverance comes.
- Uncounted. God heard them despite all their repeated failures. Yet He could not enter in His calendar the years they spent serving His enemies. Bondage is time not lived to Him.
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time.
Israel had lived twenty years under the iron chariots of Jabin. When the people cried to the Lord, help came through a woman already judging among them — named here as prophetess, wife, and judge.
The deliverer here is a woman, not a man. That says one thing about the men of Israel, and another about God.
We cannot doubt that there must be instruction in this, that the deliverer is a woman, not a man. The man comes in later, but everything begins with the woman. What a witness of complete failure, that apparently not a man could be found to do the Lord's work. It shows how thoroughly and universally the people had failed. But on the other hand, it shows how graciously God comes in, even using the humblest instrument. Wherever He can find faith that will trust Him in weakness, there He finds a chosen instrument for His work.
Another writer measures how alone she stood.
This is the kind of spirit that was holding the nation of Israel in bondage, and nobody seemed to care. Forty thousand spears in Israel, and not one lifted up in defence of God and His interests until this woman arose, Deborah, the prophetess.
Her authority did not come from herself. The title given her marks her as the channel through which God spoke.
Here there is no doubt that God worked sovereignly. She was a prophetess. She was the one who made God's mind known at that time, more than anyone else.
The names in this verse carry meaning of their own.
Deborah and Debir are practically the same word, and both mean "the word." What a fitting instrument for the overthrow of mere human reasoning! If God's word is the instrument, you may be sure of the outcome. Human reason will be brought down, as far as it lifts itself up against God. More than that, she was a prophetess. This is not just the letter of God's word, and not just the written word. It is the living word — God's word applied by the Holy Spirit. Then she is the wife of Lapidoth, that is, the wife of "a flaming torch." This reminds us of the passage in Philippians, where believers shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. That is what gives the victory over human understanding.
How she used that authority matters as much as the fact that she had it.
Deborah used real authority for God, and this shamed a people made soft by sin. Yet she kept the place that God's word gives to woman. Her circumstances could easily have become a great snare to her. Otherwise she would not have been a woman of faith… Did she go on circuit through the land of Israel like the other judges? Did she put herself at the head of the armies? Nothing of the kind. Instead of going to Barak, she sent and called him to her, where she lived.
The order of events in the chapter is itself a lesson. She was judging Israel before she ever summoned Barak to war.
God always raised up the one who was to deliver. So that person is first found alone with Him, in communion about the condition of His people. This is true separation. Othniel "judged Israel" before he "went out to war" (Judges 3:10). Deborah likewise "judged Israel" before she called Barak to deliver them. … Anyone who would help his brothers must himself be in fellowship with God.
She held a judge's office, but she chose a different word for herself in her later song.
Sad conditions in Israel continued until "I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel" (Judges 5:7). How beautiful to read this! She does not say "a leader in Israel," but "a mother." Her mother's heart was what moved her. She cared for the people as though they had been her children.
- Vacuum. No man could be found to do the Lord's work — forty thousand in Israel and not one spear lifted for God's interests.
- Instrument. Where men fail, God does not; He looks for faith that will trust Him in weakness, and finds His instrument there.
- Word. Her name means "the word." As prophetess she carried God's living word, applied by the Spirit — and it topples human reasoning.
- Place. She sent for Barak instead of going to him. She used real authority and kept the place God assigns to her.
- Order. She judged Israel before she called anyone to war. Fellowship with God comes first, deliverance second.
And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Deborah's court is a tree. Israel has suffered twenty years under Jabin's chariots, and God's mind now reaches the nation through a woman in the hill country — which raises two questions: why a woman, and why a palm?
The earlier judges were men God raised up to lead and fight. This chapter opens another way, and that is part of the message.
Once again we meet something unusual. Before this record, the Lord raised up men to lead, to guide and to fight for Israel in their need. But here we find Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, sitting under her palm tree and judging the nation of Israel. This was a very, very unusual state of things. It indicated that men were somewhat lacking in leadership, in courage and in direction from the Lord.
The failure is real, but it does not stop God.
It was not a normal state of affairs, but if men fail in their responsibility, God does not fail, and He will use a woman to accomplish His ends.
Verse 4 names her and her husband. Both names carry meaning, and together they point to God's answer to human reason.
And here again the names themselves tell us the spiritual meaning… What does Deborah mean? Deborah and Debir are almost the same word, and both mean "the word." What a fitting instrument for the overthrow of mere human reason… More than that, she was a prophetess. It is not just God's word according to the letter, not just the written word, but the living word. That is the word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit… Then she is the wife of Lapidoth, that is, the wife of "a flaming torch."
The verse names the exact spot: the hill country, between two towns. Both names mean something, and both show where a person must live if their advice is worth having.
Deborah was not a military leader (v. 5), but she sat in quiet retirement under a palm tree between Ramah (meaning "height") and Bethel ("the house of God"). Ramah would speak of her dwelling above the level of her surroundings, as we also ought to. Bethel reminds us that the house of God was an important matter to her, as indeed should be the case with every believer today. In such a place she was able to give good advice to those who came to her for judgment.
The tree is not scenery. The palm runs all through Scripture, and it carries one settled meaning.
When Solomon built the temple for God, the palm tree was very prominent in the decoration… You remember when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. They cut down palm leaves and spread them in the way as He entered, the victorious Messiah, into His city (John 12:12-13)… In Revelation 7, John the prophet sees a vast company saved out of the tribulation. They stand before the throne, and in their hands is the emblem of victory. We believe this is what the palm tree represents above all else: victory.
Deborah's song describes a nation at a standstill. Her seat under the palm shows where the change began.
The power of the enemy appears to have brought everything to a standstill; there was no response toward God. But we read in verse 7, "Until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel." Deborah lived under the palm tree (ch. 4:5). She had the sense of victory in her soul, and with that sense of victory she marshalled the forces of God's people. The enemy was completely routed. Knowing divine love closely, and a real sense of the victory of Christ in our souls, are resources available to us today.
Israel came to Deborah "for judgment" before she ever called Barak. That order runs through the whole book.
The result was not just one battle with the enemy and one defeat. It was the most terrible oppression, persecution and misery, at times lasting for long periods of years. It ended only when someone was raised up to judge Israel. Now, the one raised up was always raised up by God to deliver, and so we find him alone with Him in communion first about the condition of His people… Othniel "judged Israel" before he "went out to war." (Judges 3:10.) Deborah likewise "judged Israel" before she called Barak to deliver them.
- Failure. A woman judging Israel signals that the men had lost courage and direction — yet where man fails, God does not.
- Word. Deborah means "the word," and as a prophetess she is that word living and applied, married to "a flaming torch."
- Height. She sat between Ramah, "height," and Bethel, "house of God." She lived above her surroundings and near God's dwelling, and that is why her advice was good.
- Victory. The palm is the emblem of victory, from Solomon's temple to the crowd before the throne in Revelation 7 — and Deborah sat under it before the fighting began.
- Order. Deborah judged Israel before she called Barak. Self-judgment among God's people comes first, and the enemy's overthrow follows.
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded? Go and draw towards mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun,
Jabin held the north of Israel, and Sisera's chariots made the odds look hopeless. The leader God used was a woman, and her message to Barak was not advice but a reminder: the order had already been given, down to the mountain, the tribes, and the number of men.
Deborah does not offer a plan. She asks a question Barak can only answer one way, and everything rests on who gave the order.
Deborah, true to her name, meets Barak with the Word: "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you?" How reassuring this is! It ties the battle to the strength of Almighty God. What are "10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun" compared with the huge armies and chariots of Sisera? Ah, if the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, the battle is already won.
Barak is not being asked to weigh a plan. He is handed orders, with the result already stated.
There is not a single sign of doubt, uncertainty, or hesitation in this message from Deborah. It is as clear and distinct as it can possibly be. She said, "The LORD has commanded you, Barak, to go with those two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. He has even named the exact number to call out of those tribes. You are to go and fight, and the battle is won. The LORD will deliver him into your hand."
Deborah sends; Barak goes. The verse also names his home town, Kedesh, and that name carries its own weight.
It is feeble Deborah who sends and calls for Barak. If the word is to be effective, it must find an instrument, and it is not Deborah but Barak who is to go to war. He comes from Kedesh — one of the cities of refuge, and its name points to where true shelter is found. It means "the sanctuary of the wrestler" — Kedesh-Naphtali — and no wrestler comes out to victory unless his home is in the sanctuary.
A woman was giving the orders. That fact says something about the men of Israel, and her name says something too.
No man in Israel was able to take the place of judge among them, so a woman, Deborah, had taken this responsibility. This was not a normal state of affairs. But if men fail in their responsibility, God does not fail, and He will use a woman to do what He intends. Deborah's name means "the word," reminding us that it is by the word of God that our true deliverance comes.
The meeting place and the two tribes are not chosen at random. The men called up come from the very ground Jabin controlled.
Barak, with Deborah beside him, leads his little army of men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Mount Tabor. This was the territory Jabin mostly controlled. Zebulun suggests the abiding communion, and Naphtali the spirit of true conflict. They are, therefore, fittingly united. The mountain suggests the lifting up of soul that comes from communion. It lets a man look over the whole conflict widely and calmly. The "mount of purpose" is a fitting place to start such a conflict from, for God cannot use someone who wavers.
An order from God brings something with it. Barak did not count on it.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If the command of God has been given, it is a pledge of His presence. What need then of the feeble instrument through whom that command had been given?
The way this victory came left no man able to claim it.
Clearly, from every side, the victory was entirely to the praise of God. As for the shape it took, man — Israel, the general and all — should have received it as a humiliation.
- Commanded — Deborah's question points back to an order already given. The authority is not hers but God's, and that settles the result before anyone draws a sword.
- Clear — the message names the place, the tribes, the number, and the result. Not one word of it hesitates.
- Called — the word must find an instrument. Deborah sends, Barak goes, and he comes from Kedesh, a city of refuge — no fighter wins unless he lives in the sanctuary.
- Coupled — Zebulun and Naphtali meet at Tabor, communion feeding conflict. The mountain is no place for a man who wavers.
- Credited — a command from God is a pledge of His presence. So the small force and the weak instruments leave all the praise with Him.
and I will draw unto thee, to the torrent Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will give him into thy hand.
Deborah brings Barak a message from God, and it is more than an order. God names the enemy, the place, the chariots and the ending, all before a single Israelite moves. That raises a question: if God has already settled the outcome, what remains for the man He calls?
God sends Barak against a force far larger than his own. One writer notes that the numbers stop mattering once you know who gave the order.
Deborah, true to her name, meets Barak with the Word: "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded?" How reassuring this is! How it links with the strength of Almighty God. What are "ten thousand from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun" compared with Sisera's mighty armies and chariots? Ah, if the LORD God of Israel has commanded, the battle is already won.
In the next verse Barak asks for a companion before he will go. One writer weighs that request against the command.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If God has given the command, it is a pledge of His presence. What need then of the feeble instrument through whom He gave that command?
God says He will draw Sisera out. Sisera will think he picked the battlefield himself, and the name of that place hints at what waits for him.
The scene of the conflict is at the river Kishon, where, at a later day, Elijah killed the false prophets (1 Kings 18:40). Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and translators have usually given it as "winding." Other words from the same root are closely connected with it: "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests a weapon of war, and the ambush that the trickster himself falls into. Kishon seems to be the place of his own choice for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet God had foreseen and provided for all of it.
The river itself had a part in the victory. One writer links that back to this promise.
The river Kishon also has a part in this victory (Judges 5:21). God had said He would influence Sisera to come to Kishon (ch. 4:7). It may be that the torrent itself swept many of his army away, perhaps because Israel's army had trapped them.
Why would a man with that promise want company? One writer looks for the motive underneath.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and tangible prop as well. There are many such souls in Christendom. On their part there is so little sense of the presence of God, so slight a knowledge of His will, so little decision about the way they live. So, to go on in the path of God, they prefer leaning on another person to depending on Him alone.
God kept His word to give Sisera into Barak's hand — but not in the way Barak would have chosen. Every instrument He used was small and weak.
Again the people fell under the power of their enemies, and Jabin, king of Hazor, enslaved them. Scripture describes his oppression as "mighty."... God used an instrument, especially in the case of Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army: "a nail of the tent" — just an iron spike for holding the ropes. A woman directed Barak. With his ten thousand men he faced Jabin's mighty army and utterly defeated it, though nine hundred chariots of iron strengthened it. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had heard beforehand that the venture he took up so unwillingly and fearfully would not be for his honour; and so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
One writer reads Sisera as a picture of a greater enemy. His name says what that enemy does.
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we are well aware that the great captive-maker is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him — a woman and a tent peg crushed his head and killed him, and Jesus, the woman's Seed, has crushed the serpent's head.
- Command. God's order carries His presence with it; once He has spoken, the battle is already decided.
- Draw. God moves the enemy as well as His own people — Sisera marches to Kishon thinking he picked the ground.
- Snare. Kishon's name suggests a bow and a trap; the schemer falls into the pit he dug, and God had foreseen all of it.
- Prop. Barak believed God, but he still wanted something he could see to lean on. One writer finds the same habit today.
- Glory. God kept His promise through a woman, a tent peg and a river, so no one could mistake whose victory it was.
And Barak said to her, If thou goest with me, then I will go, but if thou goest not with me, I will not go.
God has just given Barak a direct order through Deborah, with a promise: He will hand Sisera over to him. Barak's reply attaches a condition to it. Why would a man holding such a promise still need someone at his side, and what does God do about it?
Deborah did not bring Barak a suggestion. She brought a command that carried God's presence with it. That is why his hesitation stands out.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If the command of God has been given, it is a pledge of His presence. Why then does he need the weak person through whom that command came? He had said, "I will draw to you ... Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand."
Barak does obey. But he will only go with someone else beside him.
He obeys. But he does not have the faith to go forward as a man who has heard directly from God and so needs no one else. Barak will not go without Deborah. But this lack of faith is nothing to his credit. Men will hold the place that matches the measure of their faith, and God will again be glorified through a woman. Barak has faith enough to obey if someone near him leans straight on God, but not enough to do it himself. This is too often the case. God does not reject him, but He does not honour him.
Barak's condition is not open unbelief. It is dependence on God plus something he can see, and one writer finds the same thing common today.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and tangible prop as well. There are many such souls in the Christian world. They have so little sense of God's presence, so little knowledge of His will, and so little firmness about how they live, that to keep walking in God's path they would rather lean on another person than depend on Him alone. The counsel of "spiritual directors" guides them, instead of the Lord, His Spirit and His Word. What if the leader they follow is wrong? But God, the Lord, His Spirit, His Word, are never wrong!
Barak's request did more than expose his own weakness. It also changed Deborah's position.
Barak's lack of character made him want to be the woman's helper, when Scripture makes her the helper of the man. He lowered the office God had set him in, and worse, he tried to take Deborah out of her place of dependence as a woman.
God does not cancel the victory. He moves the honour, and His answer matches the terms Barak set.
How slow we are to take in the thoughts of God, and how weak our faith often turns out to be when the hour of testing comes. If Barak will not act on the divine command without the support of a woman, then to a woman will be the chief honour in the hour of victory.
Barak's name appears later in a list of men of faith. One writer notes that its order is not the order of history.
In the book of Judges the names come in the order of history: Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson. In the letter the order follows the rank of faith: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah. Is this change of order in the perfect word of God without a purpose? Gideon was a man whose heart and conscience had been searched. Barak's faith was so weak that he would not face the enemy without Deborah, and so he lost the honour God offered him.
The verse invites a verdict on Barak. One writer turns the verdict around on the reader.
And this in the face of a plain command! Ah, if we are inclined to blame Barak too harshly, let us include ourselves. How often have we held back, waiting for some weak human helper, some human strength to lean on, when the living God has given us His command.
- Command — God's order to Barak carried His presence with it. He needed nothing more to be sure of winning.
- Condition — Barak added a condition to that command, and so kept the place that matched the measure of his faith.
- Prop — His fault was not refusing God. He wanted God plus something visible to lean on — a human guide instead of the Lord, His Spirit and His Word.
- Consequence — The victory still came, but the chief honour went to a woman; God did not reject Barak, yet He did not honour him.
- Caution — Barak's name still stands on the list of the faithful. Before blaming him, count how often you have held back from a plain command of God.
And she said, I will by all means go with thee, only that it will not be to thine honour upon the way which thou goest, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
God had given Barak a plain command through Deborah, and Barak answered that he would only go if she came with him. This verse is her reply: she will go, but the glory will not be his.
Barak had a plain command from God. He still would not move without a person at his side.
If God has given the command, it is a pledge of His presence. What need is there then of the weak instrument through whom that command came?… Barak clearly did not fully grasp this. He says to Deborah, "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." And this in the face of a plain command! If we are inclined to blame Barak too harshly, let us include ourselves. How often have we held back and waited for some weak instrument of nature, some human arm! And the living God had already given us His command.
The motive under Barak's condition is a common one.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and visible support as well. There are many such souls in the Christian world. They have so little sense of God's presence, so slight a knowledge of His will, and so little firmness about their own walk. So to keep going in God's path, they prefer leaning on another to depending on Him alone. What if the leader they follow is mistaken? But God, the Lord, His Spirit and His Word are infallible!
Deborah does not refuse him. God does not drop him from the work either. What changes is the share of credit he will carry away.
Barak will not go without Deborah. But this lack of faith is not to his credit. Men will keep the place that matches the measure of their faith; and God will again be glorified through a woman. Barak has faith enough to obey if he has someone near who can lean directly on God, but not enough to do so himself. This is too often the case. God does not reject him, but He does not honour him. In fact, it is by no means the same faith in God. And it is by faith that God is honoured.
Her words are not a bid for the leading role. She names the shame of the situation and still refuses to take a place that is not hers.
She sees that it would be to the shame of the leaders in Israel that God should give a post of public activity to a woman among them… But Deborah keeps the place God's Word assigns to woman. She does so in all her exercise of authority for God, to the confusion of this people made weak by sin. And her circumstances might have proved a great snare to her. Otherwise she would not have been a woman of faith. This chapter gives us the history of two women of faith, Deborah and Jael.
The prophecy is precise, yet Deborah herself is not filling in the details. Commentators note that she is not pointing at anyone in particular when she says it.
However, Deborah agreed to go, but not without rebuking his timidity, telling him that the glory of the victory would not be his, for she assured him, "the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (v. 9). This was a true prophecy, though Deborah was probably not thinking of Jael (vv. 17–21) when she spoke it.
The word "woman" lands twice in the story — first in Deborah, then in Jael, who kills Sisera in her tent.
"Another woman!" So on every side, the victory clearly belonged to the praise of God alone. In the shape it took, man — Israel, the general and all — should have received it as a humiliation.
The end of the battle matched Deborah's warning.
To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent peg! Barak had been told beforehand that this venture would not be for his honour. He took it up reluctantly and timidly, and so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
Barak lost the chief honour. That is not the last word on him.
Barak's faith is like that of many who can follow if someone else will lead, though they cannot take first place. It is very gracious of God to mention Barak in Hebrews 11:32. He puts him in the cloud of witnesses who had become victorious by their faith.
- Command. God's word to Barak was plain. Asking Deborah to come with him was hesitation in the face of a clear command.
- Condition. He had faith enough to obey if someone near him leaned on God, but not enough to lean there himself.
- Consequence. God did not reject him, but He did not honour him. A man keeps the place that matches the measure of his faith.
- Crown. Barak's condition moved the honour elsewhere. Sisera fell to a woman and a tent peg, and the small means made the glory God's alone.
- Grace. The story still names Barak among those who conquered by faith. God graciously remembers a man who could follow but could not lead.
And Barak called together Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and there went up at his feet ten thousand men; and Deborah went up with him.
Barak obeys. He calls two tribes to Kedesh, ten thousand men follow him, and Deborah goes up with them. Two questions sit inside the verse. Where did such a force come from? And why did a commander with a command from God still want a woman at his side?
One writer traces the willingness of those ten thousand men back to the same source as the order itself:
Since the Lord had given the command, He also moved the 10,000 men to respond to the call of Barak to arms (v. 10).
Set beside Sisera's armies and chariots, ten thousand men look few:
Deborah, true to her name, meets Barak with the Word: "Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded?" How reassuring this is! It links them to the strength of the Almighty. What are ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun next to the huge armies and chariots of Sisera? If the Lord God of Israel has commanded, the battle is already won.
Barak's home town matters. Kedesh was a city of refuge, a place people fled to for safety, and its name points to a sanctuary:
If the word is to have effect, it must find an instrument, and it is not Deborah but Barak who is to go to war. He comes from Kedesh — one of the cities of refuge. Its name points to where true shelter is found. Kedesh-Naphtali means "the sanctuary of the wrestler," and no wrestler can go out to victory unless his home is in the sanctuary.
Commentators differ on where the men actually gathered:
Some think Barak gathered his army not at Kedesh in Naphtali. They place it nearer to Mount Tabor and the river Kishon, where Sisera had his troops.
One writer reads the two tribe names, and the mountain they climbed, as a picture of what a believer needs before a fight:
Barak leads his little army of men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Mount Tabor, with Deborah beside him. This was the region where Jabin's power was strongest. Zebulun suggests abiding communion, and Naphtali the spirit of true conflict. So the two belong together. The mountain suggests that lifting up of soul which comes from communion. It lets a person take a wide and calm view of the whole conflict… The "mount of purpose" is the right place to begin such a conflict, for God cannot use one who wavers.
Her going was not wrong; his reason for wanting it was. One writer sees in Barak a man who believed God, but wanted something he could see as well:
He was willing to depend on God, but he also wanted a human support he could see and touch. There are many such people in the Christian world. They have so little sense of the presence of God, so slight a knowledge of His will, so little decision about their walk. So, to keep going in the path of God, they prefer leaning on another person to depending on Him alone.
The way this victory came left no room for anyone to boast:
At first sight you would not think it likely that a woman should be called out not only to direct men, but to direct them in a campaign — to direct the leader or general of the Lord's armies. So there must have been a clear and necessary reason why God arranged it this way… On every side, then, the victory was entirely to the praise of God. As for the way it came, man — Israel, the general and all — should have taken it as a humbling.
Yet the man who hesitated is not written off:
It is interesting that when we turn to Hebrews 11, it is Barak who is commended for his faith (v. 32). We cannot question the inspired word of God. Perhaps, if we had written it, we would have said Deborah deserved this praise for faith. But I think Barak was credited with it too, because in chapter 5 Deborah and Barak sang the song together.
- Command — the order came from God through Deborah, and a command from Him is already a pledge of the outcome.
- Response — the God who gave the command also moved ten thousand men to answer it. Obedience never has to raise its own army.
- Refuge — Barak gathered at Kedesh, a city of shelter; no one wins the fight whose home is not first in the sanctuary.
- Prop — Barak leaned on a helper he could see instead of on God alone; the victory still came, but not to his credit.
- Praise — a hesitant general and a small force left no room for boasting. The credit went to God, and Barak is still named among the faithful.
(Now Heber the Kenite had severed himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak of Zaannaim, which is by Kedesh.)
Judges 4 races toward a battle, then stops for one line about a family and a place. Heber had moved away from his relatives and pitched his tent near Kedesh. The detail looks small. Yet commentators read this move in opposite ways: was it a step toward God's people, or away from them?
Heber's roots lie in Midian, among the people Moses married into. That family had to decide what to do about Israel, and they did not all answer the same way.
This family came out of Midian and had ties to Moses. Its history is full of interest. Jethro visited Israel in the desert, then returned to his own land. Moses asked his son Hobab to be eyes for the children of Israel, and to guide them where they camped in the wilderness. Hobab refused. Yet his sons, like Caleb, faithfully followed in the steps of the people of God. Like Rahab, these children of a stranger among the nations went up out of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to cast in their lot with Israel. They stayed with Judah for good, as Ruth did.
The name of this spot has been read in two ways, and no one can now point to it on a map.
Instead of "the Plain of Zaanaim," a better translation is the "oak of Zaanaim." Judges 4:11. It is the same place as Zaanannim in Joshua 19:33. All we know is that it lay somewhere near Kedesh in Naphtali.
The note breaks into the account of Barak's ten thousand men. Heber's people were not Canaanites, and they were not Israelites. So where did this move place him?
The Lord had given the command, and He also moved the 10,000 men to answer Barak's call to arms (v. 10). At this point the report of verse 11 breaks in. Heber the Kenite came from the descendants of Moses' father-in-law. He had separated himself from the Kenites, and was now living near Kadesh. The Kenites did not belong to the peoples of Canaan, though they were not Israelites either. But Heber evidently decided to identify himself with Israel, and no longer with the Kenites.
Another writer looks at what the move saved Heber: quiet, while his people suffered.
Heber's act does not seem to have been one of faith. He separated himself from the people while they were low, so that he would not have to carry the burden of Israel's sad condition. On top of that, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people; and he had managed things so that Jabin never troubled him. But a weak woman lived under Heber's tent. She refused safety at such a price, and did not acknowledge an alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had undivided possession of her heart.
Others read the same move the other way. They weigh what the names mean, and they note that Heber was a foreigner, not bound by Israel's duties.
Heber's name means "companion." Yet he separates from his relatives and finds a refuge in Naphtali, close to Kedesh, which means "the sanctuary." So he suggests the opposite of what we saw in his relatives. He was a foreigner, so peace with Jabin did not lay him open to the charge of failure, as it would for an Israelite. But there is no guilty partnership with the commander of Jabin's army.
So what did Heber leave behind? His relatives had settled among God's people, but on their own terms.
They are the Midianite tribe out of which Moses' wife had come... and who, at Moses' invitation, had accompanied them into the land. But they never join themselves to the people of God, even though they settle among them. Balaam's prophecy views them as separate right to the end. The play on the name there — "you put your nest (ken) in the rock" — shows what it means. They are Midianites, men of the world, but not at war with Israel... they make a nest for themselves among them, and it is for the nest that they are there... All this describes only too well the state of many who attach themselves to the people of God in every age, yet are not of them.
- Kinship. Heber came from Hobab's family, outsiders from Midian. They left Jericho and threw in their lot with Israel, like Rahab and Ruth.
- Tent. The verse pauses the battle to record where one man pitched: away from his relatives, at the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh, "the sanctuary."
- Dispute. Commentators differ. One sees Heber choosing Israel and finding refuge near the sanctuary. Another sees him dodging the burden of Israel's low condition.
- Price. Jabin never troubled Heber, because his house was at peace with Israel's enemy. That is safety bought by staying neutral.
- Verdict. Under that same tent lived a woman who refused safety at that price. Israel had all of her heart.
And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to mount Tabor.
One report reaches the enemy camp, and the armies begin to move. It reads like military intelligence, but commentators see a trap closing on the man who thinks he is setting it.
Sisera answers a small threat with his whole army. One writer traces the meaning hidden in the name of the river he picked for the fight:
Sisera, in his pride, hears of this gathering, and collects his mighty army to crush the feeble effort. The place of the conflict is the river Kishon, where Elijah later killed the false prophets (1 Kings 18:40). Its name comes from a root meaning "to bend," and people have usually taken it as "winding." Other words from the same root stand close to it — "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests the weapon of war, and the ambush into which the schemer himself falls. Kishon seems to be the place of his own choice for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet all had been foreseen and provided by God.
The report carries one detail: where Barak went. The same writer draws out what that mountain, and the two tribes who climbed it, stand for:
Barak, with Deborah, leads his little army from Zebulun and Naphtali up to Mount Tabor. This was the territory where Jabin mainly held power. Zebulun suggests abiding communion, and Naphtali the spirit of true conflict. So the two belong together. The mountain suggests that lifting up of soul which comes from communion. It lets a man take a wide and calm view of the whole conflict… Some have given its meaning as "purpose," and that would fit its spiritual sense well. The "mount of purpose" is a fitting place to begin such a conflict, for God cannot use one who wavers.
Sisera thinks he is the one reacting. Another writer turns that around: it was God who drew him down to the water, and Sisera's end was already assigned:
Here God draws Sisera to the stream Kishon which is to sweep his army away. Sisera himself is reserved to fall by the hand of the woman.
On paper the report gives Sisera every advantage. One writer weighs those chariots against the God of Israel:
Sisera heard that Barak and his men were on the move. He was well prepared, with an army that included 900 chariots of iron (vv. 12-13). But this was nothing to the God of Israel, and Deborah's faith did not flinch. Her words to Barak were firm and clear. She told him to act at once, for this was the day the Lord had given Sisera into Barak's hand. "Does not the Lord go out before you?" — these words gave Barak strong encouragement (v. 14).
The report names the man: "Barak the son of Abinoam." Scripture is kind to that name:
Barak's faith is like that of many who can follow if someone else will lead, though they cannot take first place. God is very gracious to name Barak in Hebrews 11:32. He stands there in the cloud of witnesses who won their victory by faith.
The report set a huge army marching. One writer describes what met it, and who took the credit:
A woman gave the direction, and Barak and his ten thousand men faced Jabin's mighty army and completely defeated it, though it had nine hundred chariots of iron… To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had been told in advance that this task, which he took up so unwillingly and fearfully, would not be for his honour. And so it turned out. The means God used were weak and small, and that made it plain that all the honour and glory was God's.
- Told — one report about Tabor set Sisera's whole force moving. He thought he was the hunter: "He falls into the pit he had dug for others."
- Drawn — the march to Kishon was God's, not Sisera's: "Here God draws Sisera to the stream Kishon which is to sweep his army away."
- Elevated — commentators read Tabor as "the mount of purpose," a place of calm view over the battlefield, "for God cannot use one who wavers."
- Outnumbered — nine hundred iron chariots "was nothing to the God of Israel." Deborah's question steadied Barak: "Does not the Lord go out before you?"
- Outshone — Barak could follow but not lead. God named him among the faithful anyway, and won the battle by means so slight that "all the honour and glory was God's."
Then Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth-Goim to the torrent Kishon.
Sisera hears that Barak is on the move. His answer is to empty Harosheth-hagoyim of every fighting man and every chariot he owns, and march them down to the Kishon. The verse raises two questions the rest of the chapter answers. What can ten thousand men with no weapons do against nine hundred iron chariots? And who really chose the battlefield?
Sisera moves fast and holds nothing back. One writer sets that muster beside the answer Deborah gave it.
Sisera heard of the movement of Barak and his men. He was well prepared, with an army that included 900 chariots of iron (vv. 12-13). But this was nothing to the God of Israel, and Deborah's faith was undaunted. Her words to Barak were firm and decided. She told him to act at once, for this was the day the Lord had delivered Sisera into Barak's hand.
The contrast is sharper than a headcount suggests. On one side, chariots of iron; on the other, a nation stripped of arms and leadership.
It was a day of great weakness. The song of Deborah shows it, when she said, "Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?" Besides, a woman judged Israel — "Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth." When rule is in a woman's hand, it is evidence that the man has failed.
The name of Sisera's base carries a meaning of its own.
Barak comes from Kedesh, the sanctuary. In sharp contrast stands the home of the warlike Sisera — Harosheth of the Gentiles, "Artifice of the Gentiles." The word may still hold the thought of cutting out, or doing a craftsman's work. But it also seems to carry the suggestion of deceit, so common in the building of human systems of thought — "by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Eph. 4:14). Anyone outside the sanctuary lies open to all this artifice.
Sisera picked the battlefield himself. The name of the river tells what came of it.
Sisera, in his pride, hears of Barak's gathering, and collects his mighty host to crush the feeble effort. The place of the battle is the river Kishon. Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and most render it "winding." Other words from the same root are closely connected with it: "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests a weapon of war, and the ambush into which the man of cunning himself falls. Kishon seems to be the place of his own choice for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet all had been foreseen and provided by God.
One writer reads the whole scene as a picture of a greater captor broken. Sisera's name and the way he died both carry the point.
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we are well aware that the great captive-maker is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him. A woman and a tent peg crushed his head, even to death. And JESUS, the woman's Seed, has bruised the serpent's head.
The mismatch was not an accident of history. It was the point.
A woman directed them. Barak and his ten thousand men faced Jabin's mighty host and defeated it completely, though nine hundred chariots of iron strengthened that host. "All the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left" is the brief record of Scripture. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had been told beforehand: the task he began so reluctantly and timidly would not bring him honour. And so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
- Drawn out. Sisera gathers all nine hundred chariots and all his people, yet the move only brings him to the battlefield God had foreseen and provided.
- Drawn down. He chose the Kishon himself. Its name is tied to bending and to laying a snare, and he fell into the pit he dug for others.
- Drawn from Harosheth. His base, "Artifice of the Gentiles," marks him as a power of craft and deceit, and anyone outside the sanctuary lies open to it.
- Drawn against nothing. Israel had no shield or spear among forty thousand. So the contest was never army against army. It was iron against the God of Israel.
- Drawn to one conclusion. The smallness of the means — ten thousand men, a woman, a tent peg — left all the honour and glory God's.
And Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Jehovah hath given Sisera into thy hand! Is not Jehovah gone out before thee? And Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
Sisera had massed nine hundred iron chariots at the foot of the hill, and Barak had ten thousand men on foot. Deborah names the day and gives Barak a question instead of a battle plan, and that question points to Someone already in the field ahead of them.
Deborah did not weigh the odds before speaking. The chariots counted for nothing against the word she carried:
Sisera, hearing of the movement of Barak and his men, was well prepared with an army including 900 chariots of iron (vv. 12-13). But this was nothing to the God of Israel, and Deborah's faith did not waver. She spoke to Barak firmly and clearly, telling him to act at once, for this was the day the Lord had handed Sisera over to him.
The verse speaks of Sisera as already given over, before a blow falls:
How reassuring this is! It ties them to the strength of Almighty God. What are ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun next to the huge armies and chariots of Sisera? Ah, if the Lord God of Israel has commanded, the battle is already won.
God did not send them out alone. One writer sets Deborah's words in a long line of times when God took the field with His people:
When they were in the Egyptian furnace, He was in the burning bush. When they travelled through the desert, He was in the chariot of cloud. When they camped outside the hostile walls of Jericho, He was the captain of their army. Later He was in the field with the judges, the deliverers of Israel. So Deborah encourages Barak: "Up! Does not the LORD go out before you?" Here is sympathy.
Barak had refused to move unless Deborah came with him. Commentators call that a failure to trust the command he already had:
If the command of God has been given, it is a pledge of His presence. Why then did he need the weak person who brought him that command? He had said, "I will draw to you… Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand."
The same writer turns the point on his readers:
If we feel ready to blame Barak too harshly, let us include ourselves. How often have we held back for some feeble instrument of nature, some arm of flesh, when the living God has given us His command.
Barak had to leave the high ground for the valley where the chariots waited. His men came from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and one writer finds meaning in both the tribes and the mountain:
Zebulun suggests the abiding communion, and Naphtali the spirit of true conflict. They are, therefore, fittingly united. The mountain suggests the lift of soul that comes from communion with God. From there a person can survey the whole conflict widely and calmly… The "mount of purpose" is a fitting place to enter a conflict like this, for God cannot use someone who wavers.
Sisera chose the Kishon valley as ideal chariot country. The name itself carries a warning:
Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and people usually translate it as "winding." Other words from the same root stand close to it — "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name points to the weapon of war, and to the ambush that the trickster himself falls into. Into the pit which he had dug for others, he falls himself. Yet all had been foreseen and provided by God.
Barak hesitated, so the final blow would fall to a woman. Commentators see God's design in that:
Another woman! So on every side the victory went wholly to the praise of God. And as far as its form went, man, Israel, the general and all should have taken it as a humbling.
One writer reads the whole battle as a picture of a greater defeat:
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we are well aware that the great captive-maker is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him. A woman and a tent peg bruised his head and killed him. And Jesus, the woman's Seed, has bruised the serpent's head.
- Command. God's order is not a call for volunteers to try their luck. When He has commanded, the battle is already won.
- Presence. The command is a pledge of His presence; He goes out ahead, in the field with His people, not watching from a distance.
- Descent. Faith leaves the safe height. From the mount of settled purpose it goes down into the valley where the chariots wait.
- Trap. Sisera chose Kishon himself and fell into the pit he had dug for others — all of it foreseen and provided by God.
- Praise. Barak leaned on a person instead of the word, so the honour went elsewhere. God shaped the victory so that all the praise went to Him.
And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got down from [his] chariot, and fled on foot.
Ten thousand Israelites faced a trained army with nine hundred iron chariots at the river Kishon. This verse gives the result in one stroke: the Lord won the battle, and the enemy commander ended the day on foot.
The verse names the Lord as the one who routed Sisera. It also says the rout came "by the edge of the sword," and that it happened "before Barak." Both are true at once. God won the day, and the swords of Israel were His tool. One writer adds the weather to the picture.
The Lord routed Sisera and his chariots and his army by the swords of the Israelites. It seems a severe storm and the flooding of the river Kishon completed the overthrow (Judges 4:6–17; Judges 5:20–21).
Deborah's song looks higher than the two armies. It puts the stars above and the river below on Israel's side.
Heaven and earth unite against the oppressors of the people of God. The stars from their courses fought against them above; the Kishon swept them away with its stream below... Such is the strength of those who are with God: the mightier the foes, the mightier only is the overthrow.
On paper, the numbers settled the matter before the fighting began.
The Canaanite army is enormous, nine hundred war chariots in front... but, as Alaric said to the Romans, "The thicker the grass, the easier it is mown." God was not "on the side of the big battalions" that day... The brave warriors of Zebulun and Naphtali break the line of iron chariots. Sisera leaps down and runs.
The name of the river hints at what Sisera's choice of battlefield would cost him.
Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and is usually translated "winding." Other words from the same root are closely tied to it — "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests a weapon of war, and the trap into which the schemer himself falls. Kishon seems to be the place he chose himself for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet God had foreseen and provided it all.
The verse leaves us with a picture of human strength collapsing: the man with the chariots leaves the field on foot.
When the feeble are with God, what a mighty victory they win over the power of reason and the strife of tongues! Man's arrogant pride is humbled, Sisera the leader flees away on foot. Barak and his men chase the fleeing hosts and destroy them all, not leaving one. Where is all the proud strength, the boasted resources of the mind of man?
Look at what God used to break Jabin's mighty army.
Directed by a woman, Barak and his ten thousand men faced Jabin's mighty host and crushed it, even though nine hundred chariots of iron strengthened it. "All the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left" is the terse record of Scripture. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent peg!... The very weakness and insignificance of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
- The Lord routed. Scripture gives the victory to God, though it came by the sword — Israel's soldiers were His tool, not the cause.
- The Lord commands all. Heaven and earth joined against the oppressors of His people — the stars above, the river Kishon below.
- The Lord outmatches. Nine hundred iron chariots gave Sisera no advantage — the mightier the foe, the mightier the overthrow.
- The Lord traps. Sisera chose Kishon himself and fell into the pit he had dug for others — his own planning served God's foreseen purpose.
- The Lord keeps the glory. A woman leading, ten thousand men, a tent peg at the end — the means were so weak that the honour could belong to no one but God.
And Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth-Goim; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left.
Barak's men chase the beaten chariots back to the city they came from, and not one of Sisera's soldiers survives. Two questions follow: why was the defeat so total, and why is the one name everyone remembers missing from the dead?
Sisera came out with every soldier he could raise. It made no difference to the result:
The conflict begins at once. The free and independent movement of the Spirit of God alarms the enemy at once. Sisera gathers all his forces against Israel. But the battle is the Lord's, and the outcome was never in doubt. The host is routed and wiped out, and Sisera flees away alone to the tent of Jael.
Harosheth was not a random place to stop. It was Sisera's home base, the town he had ruled from during the twenty years of oppression:
The city where Sisera lived. At his defeat Barak pursued the enemy to this city.
The name itself is read as a description of what Sisera stood for, and as the opposite of Kedesh, the "sanctuary" town Barak's men had mustered from:
What a contrast is the home of the warlike Sisera — Harosheth of the Gentiles, "Artifice of the Gentiles." This may not rule out the idea of carving or of a craftsman's work, but the word also seems to suggest deceit. Such deceit is common in the building of human systems of thought — "human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:14). If someone is outside the sanctuary, he is exposed to all this scheming.
The verse says the army was wiped out. It does not say the same about the man who led it:
With the Lord going before them, the victory was certain and decisive. Sisera, his chariots and his whole army were totally routed (v. 15). Sisera himself left his chariot and fled on foot. He seems to have escaped Israel's notice, but apart from him "not a man was left" of the entire Canaanite army (v. 16).
Sisera's escape kept the full victory out of Barak's hands. One writer explains why:
So the full victory will not be his; Sisera will fall by the hand of Jael, a weak woman. How our blessed God would check, with a holy jealousy, every attempt to take His place — even by the instrument He is pleased to use.
Ten thousand foot soldiers faced nine hundred iron chariots, and a woman gave the orders:
Directed by a woman, Barak and his ten thousand men faced Jabin's mighty army and crushed them, though nine hundred iron chariots strengthened that army. "All the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left" is Scripture's brief record. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell to a woman and a tent peg! Barak had been told beforehand that this venture would not be for his honour. He took it up with reluctance and fear, and so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory belonged to God.
The destruction of a proud army is drawn out as a lesson about human strength, not just a piece of military history:
When the weak are with God, what a mighty victory is won over the power of reason and the strife of tongues! Man's arrogant pride is humbled, and Sisera the leader flees away on foot. Barak and his men chase the fleeing armies and destroy them all, leaving not one. Where now is all the proud strength, all the boasted resources of the mind of man?
One writer reads the whole episode as a picture of a larger defeat:
The Canaanites, with Sisera as captain of their armies, picture the devil and his power, and in the victory of Deborah and Barak we shall see the way the devil has been, and still may be, a defeated foe.
- Certain — The battle belonged to the Lord. The result was settled before the armies met.
- Pursued — Barak chased the chariots back to Harosheth, Sisera's own city. Its name speaks of craft and deceit.
- Complete — Not a man of the army was left. The power that had oppressed Israel fell in one day, and man's proud strength with it.
- Excepted — One man slipped away. Barak had been told the honour of that day would not be his, and it fell to Jael instead.
- Credited — A reluctant leader, a woman's direction, and a tent peg: the means were so weak that the glory could only be God's.
And Sisera fled on foot 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.
Judges 4 ends with a beaten general on foot. Verse 17 turns from the battlefield to a private tent, and to a household that had stayed out of the war. The peace between Jabin and Heber's house is what sends Sisera walking toward Jael.
Heber's household had a standing peace with the king Sisera served. So the tent looked like the safest door in the country.
Israel crushed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites. He managed to escape alone and find the tent of Heber the Kenite (v. 17). He thought Heber was friendly to him, because at that time there was no conflict between Heber and Jabin.
Heber had moved away from his own people and settled in the north. One writer reads the treaty as the price he paid for a quiet life.
Heber's act does not look like an act of faith. He separated himself from the people while they were brought low, so that he would not carry the responsibility for Israel's sad condition. What is more, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people, and he had arranged things so that Jabin left him alone. But a weak woman lived in Heber's tent. She refused safety at such a price, and she would not acknowledge any alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had her whole heart.
Commentators differ here. Another writer answers that Heber was not an Israelite. A treaty with Jabin did not make him guilty the way it would have made Israel guilty.
Heber's name means "companion," yet he separates from his own relatives and finds a refuge in Naphtali, close to Kedesh, which means "the sanctuary." So he pictures the opposite of what we saw in his relatives. As a foreigner, he could be at peace with Jabin without opening himself to the charge of failure, as it would have been for Israel. But there is no guilty partnership with the commander of Jabin's army.
Whatever the treaty meant, God used the person with no standing and no army. One writer sets her beside Rahab, the woman of Jericho who hid Israel's spies.
God used Heber's wife Jael, and not Heber himself. Her faith ties her to the people of God and makes their enemies her own. Like Rahab, she sees where God's truth is and acts on it — though, like Rahab, her faith may be so weak that it shows itself in deception. Notice the lesson repeated all through this book: the way to power runs through weakness, and God will only use the instrument weak enough to hand itself over to Him.
The verse sends Sisera to a tent, not a house. One writer reads that detail as a picture of how God's people live.
Jael is a woman, and she kills Sisera with her tent peg. The tent speaks of a pilgrim life, and a tent is a good house to live in while the Lord is not yet here. It is the only place for a pilgrim to live. A tent means being outside the way things are set up here. People want everything to speak of solidity and permanence — the exact opposite of living in a tent.
Jael later killed the man who took shelter in her tent. Writers judge that act differently. One says the time of war justifies her.
If she had acted from selfish motives, this would have been murder. But Sisera was an oppressor of the people of God, and it was a time of war. So the Lord approved of her killing this enemy of God.
Another accepts the faith behind the act while refusing to sign off on the act itself.
We must beware of giving divine approval and endorsement to what was done here, and above all to Jael's deed in its detail. It was an act of courage and of faith. Faith moved her, and that faith led her to kill Sisera, the enemy of Israel.
- Flight — Sisera arrives on foot and alone. He heads for the one household in the north with no quarrel with his king.
- Treaty — the peace between Jabin and Heber is the hinge of the verse. One writer calls it an escape from responsibility. Another says a non-Israelite could hold it without blame.
- Tent — the shelter Sisera trusted was a pilgrim's home. It stands outside the settled order that people build for permanence.
- Weakness — the husband had the treaty; the wife had the faith. God used the instrument weak enough to leave itself in His hands.
- Verdict — commentators divide over the killing. One says the Lord approved it in a time of war. Another says her faith was real, but warns us not to endorse the deed in its detail.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he turned in to her, into the tent, and she covered him with the quilt.
Sisera's army is beaten, and he has escaped alone. The first face he sees is a woman at a tent door, welcoming him in. Her invitation sounds like safety. The title "my lord," the reassurance, the covering — every part of it tells a hunted man he can stop running.
Heber the Kenite was on good terms with Sisera's king, so the fugitive read the camp as neutral ground.
Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, was badly beaten by Israel. He escaped alone and found the tent of Heber the Kenite (v. 17). He thought Heber was friendly to him, because at that time there was no conflict between Heber and Jabin. When Sisera came near, Jael, the wife of Heber, met him with welcoming words (v. 18). She invited him into the tent, and there she covered the weary man with a blanket.
That friendly arrangement had a cost. Heber had pulled away from his own people at their lowest point. He bought quiet by keeping on good terms with their oppressor. His wife never agreed to that bargain.
Heber's act does not seem to have been one of faith. He separated himself from the people when they were brought low, so that he would carry none of the responsibility for Israel's sad condition. What is more, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people, and he had arranged things so that Jabin would not trouble him. But a weak woman lived in Heber's tent who refused safety at such a price, and would not accept an alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had all her heart.
Her first move toward Sisera was not violence. One writer sees in what she offered him a picture of truth given even to an enemy — and of what follows when it is refused.
When Sisera asked for water, she gave him milk, a picture of giving the simple, elementary truth of God even to an enemy (v. 25). But Sisera pictures one who does not respond to the truth, and grace refused results in judgment.
This is where commentators differ, and honestly so. Some hold back from calling the whole episode a model:
We must be careful not to give God's approval and endorsement to what was done here, above all to Jael's deed in its detail. It was an act of courage and of faith; she was moved by faith and that faith led her to kill Sisera, the enemy of Israel.
Others answer that this deed stands in a class of its own, because God had already announced the outcome:
Many have shown great anger at this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her harshly. But it was foretold that the LORD would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." And right after the deed it is added, "So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel." … Where an act plainly carries out God's righteous judgment, it rises far above what ordinary rules of hospitality or of warfare would justify.
Barak would not receive the glory of the victory. The tent door is where that came true.
Therefore the full victory will not be his; Sisera will fall by the hands of Jael, a feeble woman. See how our blessed God, with a holy jealousy, checks all taking of His place — even by the instrument He is pleased to use.
Barak came to the tent to find the work already done.
With what feelings of humiliation Barak must have looked at Jael's victory, seeing a woman honoured by God in a path which he, though leader and judge, had not been willing to walk.
Jael let the enemy in before she overcame him. That order teaches something to anyone who faces arguments against the faith.
Here a man comes to you with all his arguments. You do not agree with them, but you listen to him. That is how you take him in his own craftiness. If I can get the nail of pilgrim truth through his head, I am willing to listen to his case for unbelief. If, after hearing all he has to say, I can give him a divine testimony — the witness of a pilgrim walk — that will always be enough to overthrow him.
- Peace — Sisera turned aside because Heber had made terms with Israel's oppressor. That quiet cost Heber any share in the battle.
- Heart — the same tent held a wife who refused safety at that price. Israel had all her heart.
- Milk — she gave the enemy better than he asked for. Truth offered and refused turns into judgment.
- Weakness — God gave the victory to the feeblest hand, so no leader could claim His place.
- Debate — commentators differ. Some will not endorse the details of what she did. Others answer that a deed God foretold is judgment, not treachery.
And he said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened the flask of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
Sisera has lost his army and reaches a tent whose owner is at peace with his king. He asks for water, gets milk instead, and lies hidden under a covering — kindness that commentators also read as the first move toward his death.
The commander did not pick this tent at random.
Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, was badly defeated by Israel. He escaped alone and found the tent of Heber the Kenite (v. 17). He thought Heber was friendly to him, because at that time there was no conflict between Heber and Jabin. When Sisera came near, Jael, Heber's wife, met him with welcoming words (v. 18). She invited him into the tent and covered the weary man with a blanket. He asked for water to drink, and she gave him milk.
The peace that drew Sisera in was Heber's arrangement, not his wife's conviction.
Heber's act does not seem to have come from faith. He kept apart from his people when they were brought low, so that he would not have to carry the burden of Israel's sad condition. He was also at peace with the open enemy of his people, and he had arranged things so that Jabin would not trouble him. But a weak woman lived in Heber's tent, and she refused safety at that price. She did not recognize any alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had her whole heart.
He asked for one thing and received something better. One writer sees honour in the gift, not scorn.
When the enemy of the people of God comes to her, this woman shows grace. She brings out the best thing she has in her tent, honouring Sisera's rank, and hands him the drink in a bowl fit for a lord. Is this not the very opposite of contempt? Is this not how we should act towards the enemies of God, giving them more than they ask for their thirst and their food? God's witnesses keep showing grace even to the worst enemies of Christ.
The same writer notices that her tenderness has a limit, and that the limit is set by who Sisera is.
Jael hides him; he asks for a drink of water, and she gives him what was better, milk. She does not treat him at first as an enemy, but with pity; yet in presence of the enemy of her people she becomes pitiless.
Read as a picture, the drink and the peg belong to one lesson:
When Sisera asked for water, she gave him milk, a picture of giving the simple, elementary truth of God even to an enemy (v. 25). But Sisera pictures one who does not respond to the truth, and grace refused results in judgment. The tent peg speaks of the truth of God also as that which sustains the pilgrim character of a believer, for it keeps the tent in place.
One writer applies this to how believers should treat people in error.
There is such a thing as keeping peace on the surface in order to win a victory… We can be kind and friendly to those who are in error, and still be loyal and firm in holding to the truth.
Commentators disagree about the way Jael acted. One writer grounds the deed in God's own authority:
It was foretold that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman, and right after the deed we read that on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. Sisera was an enemy not only of God's people, but of the Lord Himself. So God empowered Jael to take his life. Where an act is plainly the carrying out of God's righteous judgement, it rises far above what would be right under the ordinary rules of hospitality or war. Of course, in some cases the thing done may be according to the will of God, while the way it is done is not.
Another separates the result from the method:
Even if her action is praised, that does not mean the way she carried it out is approved. It was completely treacherous… If she had taken a more open and honest course, trusting God, she would have succeeded just as well.
- Tent — Sisera ran to this tent because Heber was at peace with his king. The shelter he trusted rested on that peace alone.
- Heart — Heber bought safety by keeping clear of his people's trouble. His wife refused safety at that price, and her whole heart was with Israel.
- Milk — he asked for water and got something better. God's witnesses give enemies more than they ask, and that is honour, not contempt.
- Peg — the drink and the tent peg go together: grace offered first, and grace refused ending in judgment.
- Line — you can be kind to a person in error and still stand firm for the truth. On Jael's own method, commentators disagree.
And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be if any one come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
Sisera, the beaten commander of the Canaanite army, is lying on the floor of a stranger's tent under a blanket. He is still giving orders. He posts the woman of the tent at the door and tells her what to say if anyone comes looking for him. His whole survival now rests on a lie he asks someone else to tell for him.
Sisera did not stumble into Jael's tent by accident. He picked it because he had reason to think the household would shield him.
Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, was badly defeated by Israel. He escaped alone and found the tent of Heber the Kenite (v. 17). He thought Heber was friendly to him, because at that time there was no conflict between Heber and Jabin. When Sisera came near, Jael, the wife of Heber, met him with welcoming words (v. 18). She invited him into the tent and covered the tired man with a blanket. He asked for water to drink, and she gave him milk.
His order asks someone else to carry his deception for him. The question he expects is whether a man is in the tent. She never meant to obey.
Then he told her to stand at the tent door while he slept. She was to lie to anyone who came and asked if a man was in the tent (v. 20). But she had no such intention. While he slept, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple. She struck so hard that the peg went into the ground below (v. 21).
Sisera's calculation was about the husband. He never reckoned with the wife. The household's neutrality had been bought at a price she was not willing to pay.
Heber's act does not seem to have been an act of faith. He kept himself apart from the people while they were brought low, so that he would not have to carry the burden of Israel's sad condition. What is more, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people, and he had managed things so that Jabin left him undisturbed. But a weak woman lived in Heber's tent. She refused safety at such a price, and she would not own an alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had all of her heart.
Commentators differ here. The question splits in two: the deed itself, and the way it was done. Some hold that God empowered Jael, so her act carried out His judgment and cannot be measured by ordinary rules of hospitality.
Many have been very angry at this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her harshly. But it was foretold that the LORD would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman"... So God empowered Jael to take his life. When an act is plainly the carrying out of God's righteous judgment, it rises far above what would be right under the normal rules of hospitality or of war. Of course, in some cases the thing done may be according to the will of God, while the way it is done is not.
Others press that final distinction much harder. Praising a result, they argue, is not the same as endorsing the method that produced it.
Jael did a great service to Israel, no doubt... But praise for what she did does not mean that the way she did it is approved. It was completely treacherous. Some excuse her by saying that any deception is fair in war, but that does not apply here. Jael's people were not at war with Sisera — unless she counted herself as one with Israel. Had she taken a straighter course, trusting God, she would have succeeded just as well.
Another reading finds real faith in Jael, though faith in a weak form.
She has faith that makes her one with the people of God, and makes their enemies her own. Like Rahab, she sees where God's truth is, and she acts on it. Yet, like Rahab too, her faith may be so weak that it shows itself in deception... the way of power is through weakness. God will only use the instrument that is weak enough to hand itself over to Him.
Whatever we make of Jael's motives, the lesson for readers today is plain.
We must surely remember that our God is a God of truth. He does not want us to use trickery and deceit to win victories for Him.
- Calculation. Sisera ran to this tent because Heber's household was at peace with his king. He thought neutral ground would keep him safe.
- Command. His order was to have someone else tell a lie for him. She had no intention of obeying.
- Conviction. The husband bought quiet by staying out of Israel's trouble. The wife refused safety at that price. Israel had all her heart.
- Controversy. Commentators differ. Some say God empowered her, so the act stood above the normal rules of hospitality. Others praise the result but not the treacherous method.
- Conclusion. Whichever reading you take, one point stands: God is a God of truth, and He does not want us to win victories for Him by deceit.
And Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took the hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it penetrated into the ground; for he had fallen into a deep sleep and was faint; and he died.
The commander of Jabin's mighty army dies on the floor of a woman's tent. A tent peg and a hammer killed him. The verse raises two questions: why did God arrange the victory this way, and was what Jael did right?
Count the armies on the field, then look at what finished Sisera.
A woman directed Barak and his ten thousand men. They faced Jabin's mighty army and defeated it completely, even though nine hundred iron chariots strengthened it. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell to a woman and a tent peg! Barak had been told beforehand that the work he took up so reluctantly and timidly would not be for his honour; and so it turned out. The very weakness and insignificance of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory belonged to God.
Jael's husband Heber had an arrangement with Jabin that kept his family safe. Jael broke with it.
Heber's act does not seem to have been one of faith. He separated himself from the people while they were low so as to escape the responsibility of Israel's sad condition. What is more, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people, and he had managed things so that Jabin never troubled him. But a weak woman lived under Heber's tent who refused safety at that price, and would not accept an alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had her whole heart.
Her only tools were a tent-dweller's. Commentators read that detail as a picture of the believer's place in the world.
Sisera is asleep, and then Jael takes the witness of her pilgrim life — she is a pilgrim and a stranger — and kills him. The only weapon she has is feeble enough. But it says, "here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." The tent peg killed the mighty man. Lot could not have used a tent peg on the men of Sodom. He had no tent to live in; I doubt a tent peg could be found anywhere in Sodom. Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, and that is the last we hear of any pilgrim character in his life.
Driving the peg still took a steady hand.
Jael does not look for a helper, as Barak did; she depends entirely on the Lord. The secret of her action lies between herself and God. She handles the weapons of her small sphere as skilfully as a man could have done, for if her hand had trembled in the least, everything would have been ruined.
Commentators differ here. One reading treats the deed as carrying out a sentence God had already announced.
Many have shown great anger at this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her severely. But it was foretold that the Lord would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." And right after the deed Scripture adds, "So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel." Deborah, in her song of praise, called Jael "most blessed of women." … Where an act is clearly the carrying out of God's righteous judgment, it rises altogether above what would be justifiable under ordinary circumstances of hospitality or of warfare.
Others accept the result but refuse to approve the method.
Jael did Israel a great service, no doubt. But praising her action does not necessarily mean approving the way she carried it out. It was wholly treacherous. Some say any deception is fair in war, but that excuse does not apply here. Jael's people were not at war with Sisera — unless she identified herself with Israel. Had she taken a more straightforward course, trusting God, she would have been just as successful.
One writer sees Sisera's death — a woman, a blow to the head — as a small picture of a much larger victory.
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we know well that the great taker of captives is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him. A woman and a tent peg bruised his head, even to death. And Jesus, the woman's Seed, has bruised the serpent's head. Men despised Him because He was gentle and humble. His death looked like weakness and foolishness in their eyes. But by what seemed like defeat, He won the reward and the crown, and trod all our foes beneath His feet by being trodden down.
- Weakness chosen. God picked means so small that no one could claim the credit — a woman and a tent peg against nine hundred iron chariots.
- Weakness committed. Heber bought safety by staying neutral; Jael would not, and the peg in her hand was her refusal of that alliance.
- Weakness armed. She used what a tent-dweller owns. Commentators read the peg as the mark of the pilgrim life — the thing Lot no longer had once he settled toward Sodom.
- Weakness questioned. Writers differ. Some say God had announced this judgment, so the act stands above ordinary rules. Others accept the result but not the deception.
- Weakness crowned. A woman crushed his head. That points forward to the woman's Seed bruising the serpent's head — a victory that also looked like weakness.
And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And he went into her [tent], and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the pin was in his temples.
The battle ends at a tent door, not on a battlefield: Barak arrives still hunting Sisera, and Jael shows him the body. Two questions press here — why a woman and not Barak, and was what Jael did right?
One writer ties the moment back to what Deborah had told Barak at the start.
Barak and his army had missed Sisera and were looking for him. When Barak came near the tent of Heber, Jael came out to meet him (v. 22). She invited him in to find the man he was looking for. Then Barak would see the truth of Deborah's prophecy: the Lord would sell Sisera into the hands of a woman (v. 9).
Barak had an army, but the last blow was not his. One writer sees God guarding His own place in that.
So the full victory will not be his. Sisera will fall by the hands of Jael, a weak woman. How our blessed God checks, with a holy jealousy, every attempt to take His place — even by the instrument He is pleased to use.
Barak walks in and sees a famous soldier killed by a household tool.
To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had been told beforehand that this undertaking, which he took up so unwillingly and fearfully, would not be for his honour. And so it turned out. The means God used were so weak and so small that all the honour and glory clearly belonged to Him.
The tent belonged to Heber, who had made his peace with Jabin. His wife made a different choice, and used what the tent gave her.
Heber's act does not seem to have been one of faith. He cut himself off from the people in their low condition, to free himself from any responsibility for Israel's sorrowful state. What is more, he was at peace with the open enemy of his people. He had arranged things so that Jabin left him alone. But a weak woman lived in Heber's tent. She refused safety at that price, and she would not accept an alliance with the enemy of her nation. Israel had undivided possession of her heart. The only weapons she had were the tools of a woman who keeps the tent, and with them she strikes the fatal blow at the head of the enemy. She does not, like Barak, look for a helper; she depends entirely on the Lord.
Jael gave Sisera a drink before she struck him. One writer reads both acts as a single lesson.
When Sisera asked for water, she gave him milk — a picture of giving the simple, basic truth of God even to an enemy (Judges 5:25). But Sisera pictures a man who does not respond to the truth, and grace refused ends in judgment. The tent peg also pictures the truth of God as that which keeps a believer living as a pilgrim, for the peg holds the tent in place. Jael did not hesitate to use it to kill Sisera in his sleep (Judges 5:26). She illustrates the faith that is willing to use the truth, whether in grace or in judging for God.
Commentators differ on how far to approve what she did. Some defend it outright, resting on what happened next and on Deborah's song:
Many have been outraged by this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her harshly. But it was foretold that the Lord would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." And right after the deed we read, "So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel." In her song of praise Deborah called Jael most blessed of women. Where an act is plainly God carrying out His righteous judgement, it rises far above what would be right under the ordinary rules of hospitality or of war.
Others accept her faith but will not approve the details of what she did:
We must be careful not to give God's approval and endorsement to the deeds done here, above all to the details of Jael's act. It was an act of courage and of faith; faith moved her, and that faith led her to kill Sisera, the enemy of Israel.
- Word — Deborah said the Lord would sell Sisera into a woman's hand. At the tent door Barak sees that it came true.
- Withheld — Barak took up the task reluctantly, so the full victory was not his. God will not let the tool He uses take His place.
- Weakness — a famous commander fell to a woman armed with a tent pin. She used the tools she had, so the glory could only be God's.
- Wholeheartedness — Heber bought safety by a deal with Israel's enemy. His wife refused that price, and God used her.
- Warning — Jael met Sisera first with milk, then with the peg: grace refused ends in judgment.
So God subdued on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
Israel had fallen under Jabin's power, and the verse that closes the battle credits no general and no army — God Himself brought the Canaanite king down. That leaves two questions: why did He use such unlikely rescuers, and why was Jabin only subdued that day?
God's rescue came through people nobody would have picked: a woman giving the orders, a hesitant commander, and a tent peg. One writer shows how that settles who gets the honour.
A woman directed Barak and his ten thousand men. They faced Jabin's mighty army and crushed it, though nine hundred chariots of iron strengthened that army... To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak took up the task with reluctance and fear. He had been told beforehand that it would not be for his honour, and so it turned out. The very weakness and insignificance of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
Another writer names what that weakness achieved.
The LORD had worked a wonderful deliverance through two weak women and a man who lacked character. The very weakness of His instruments made His grace and power shine out all the more.
The name Jabin appears earlier in Israel's history. Joshua had destroyed a king of that name and wiped out his city, so this second Jabin is a puzzle.
Remember that Joshua conquered Jabin more than a hundred years before this time. That is significant. When Israel first took the land, they overthrew him, his people and all his chariots of war. They destroyed Hazor off the face of the earth, and did not even live in it, as they did other cities. You may ask: if Joshua had won the victory, if Joshua had completely overthrown Hazor, why do we hear of it again, with a king of the same name?
One writer traces the answer to Israel's own unfaithfulness.
Israel, unfaithful, falls under the government of the world. Hazor, their old enemy, rises from its ashes and comes back to life. It is rebuilt inside the borders of Canaan, and the people's inheritance becomes the kingdom of Jabin!
Jael killed Sisera with a tent peg in her own tent. Many readers find that shocking, and one writer answers them.
Many have reacted with great anger to this act of Jael, and even Christians have blamed her harshly. But it was foretold that the LORD would "sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Right after the deed, Scripture adds, "So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel." And Deborah, in her song of praise, called Jael "most blessed of women."... When an act plainly carries out God's righteous judgement, it stands far above what the ordinary rules of hospitality or war would allow.
The verse says God subdued Jabin "on that day," but the next verse describes pressure that went on until he was gone. One writer explains the gap: God was disciplining a weakened people.
Here God does not destroy the enemy at once. Instead He disciplines His people through war, to recover them from the moral weakness they had fallen into. They began with small things. A woman was the instrument. Fear does not honour God, and God cannot let His glory rest on such a condition. But little by little the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, until they destroyed him.
The change shows in the rest of the book.
After this we read of no more military action by the Canaanites against Israel in the book of Judges.
God's act did not leave the nation as spectators.
All honour to these women! God used them to wake the children of His people to a sense of their responsibility, for once awakened, "they destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan."
- Weakness — God chose instruments so slight that no one could mistake whose power won the day.
- Relapse — a beaten enemy came back, because Israel's unfaithfulness gave him room inside their own inheritance.
- Judgement — Jael's act shocked many readers, yet it carried out a sentence God had already announced.
- Discipline — God subdued Jabin in one day, then trained His fearful people through the long work of finishing him.
- Responsibility — the deliverance was God's. It woke the nation, and their own hand pressed on until Jabin was gone for good.
And the hand of the children of Israel ever advanced, and prevailed against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin king of Canaan.
Judges 4 does not end on the night Sisera died. It ends with a campaign. Israel's hand grows heavier on Jabin until the king is gone. The closing line raises two questions. Why did God spread the victory over time instead of finishing it in a day? And why did He win it through people who looked incapable?
One writer reads the slow pressure of this verse as deliberate. God wanted more than a dead king. He wanted a restored people.
Here we do not have the enemy destroyed at once. Instead, war disciplines the people, to recover them from the moral weakness they had fallen into. They began with small things. A woman was the instrument, for fear does not honour God, and God cannot let His glory rest on a condition like this. But little by little "the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin, until they destroyed him."
The result was lasting. Another writer notes where this leaves the Canaanite power in the rest of the book.
So God subdued Jabin, king of Canaan, that day. Israel could then press him harder and harder until he was destroyed. After this we read of no more military action of the Canaanites against Israel in the book of Judges.
The urgency of the word "destroyed" comes from history. Joshua, the leader who first brought Israel into the land, had already destroyed a king of this same name and city.
It is significant when we remember that Jabin was conquered by Joshua more than a hundred years before this time. When they first took possession of the land, they overthrew him, his people, and all his war chariots. They destroyed Hazor off the face of the earth, and did not even live in it, as they did in other cities. You may ask: if Joshua had won the victory, if Joshua had completely overthrown Hazor, why do we hear of it again, with a king of the same name? And remember what the name means. Jabin means "understanding." For God's people, the apostles have already defeated it by giving us the truth. So we may be tempted to ask: can human understanding rule again?
The instruments God chose for this deliverance were, by every human measure, the wrong ones — and that was the point.
The Lord had worked a wonderful deliverance through two weak women and a man lacking in character. The very weakness of His instruments served to magnify His grace and power.
Another writer points to the armoured strength on the losing side. Sisera commanded Jabin's army.
A woman directed them. Barak and his ten thousand men faced Jabin's mighty army and crushed it, even though nine hundred iron chariots strengthened it... To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Beforehand, Barak heard that this task would bring him no honour, since he took it up so unwillingly and fearfully. And so it turned out. The very weakness and insignificance of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
Verse 24 credits the destruction of Jabin to the people themselves, not to Deborah or Jael. One writer traces the line from the women's faith to the nation's action.
The faith of these women shines out in this chapter. Jael does not look for a helper, as Barak did; she depends entirely on the Lord... All honour to these women! God used them to wake the children of His people to a sense of their responsibility, for once they were awake, "they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan" (v. 24).
One writer asked earlier whether human understanding could rise again. He also names the one weapon that beats it.
When will we learn to use that "Thus says the Lord"? When will that be enough for us? How it settles everything... Unbelief is always enmity against God, and the only way of victory over that unbelief is by the word of God. I do not mean only open, blatant, declared unbelief... I mean the more subtle and more dangerous kind of unbelief. It creeps into the Church of Christ and leads people captive... It is the exaltation of the mind of man over the word of God. It sets reason up as judge over the very thing that judges us.
- Small beginnings. God started with what looked like nothing — a woman, a reluctant soldier, a tent pin. Fear does not honour God, and the weakness of the means left all the honour and glory to Him.
- Awakened people. The women's faith woke the nation to its responsibility. Only then did Israel destroy Jabin.
- Pressed harder. The victory did not come in one day. It came little by little, as discipline to recover a people sunk in moral weakness.
- Until destroyed. Joshua had beaten this enemy once, and he rose again. This time Israel finished him, and the Canaanites made no further military move in the book.