Judges 4

Jud 4:1-17.

DEBORAH AND

BARAK

DELIVER

ISRAEL FROM

JABIN AND

SISERA.

1. The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when

Ehud was dead--The removal of the zealous judge Ehud again left his

infatuated countrymen without the restraint of religion.

2, 3. Jabin king of Canaan--"Jabin," a royal title

(see on

Jos 11:1).

The second Jabin built a new capital on the ruins of the old

(Jos 11:10, 11).

The northern Canaanites had recovered from the effect of their

disastrous overthrow in the time of Joshua, and now triumphed in their

turn over Israel. This was the severest oppression to which Israel had

been subjected. But it fell heaviest on the tribes in the north, and it

was not till after a grinding servitude of twenty years that they were

awakened to view it as the punishment of their sins and to seek

deliverance from God.

4. And Deborah, a prophetess--A woman of extraordinary knowledge,

wisdom, and piety, instructed in divine knowledge by the Spirit and

accustomed to interpret His will; who acquired an extensive influence,

and was held in universal respect, insomuch that she became the

animating spirit of the government and discharged all the special

duties of a judge, except that of military leader.

the wife of Lapidoth--rendered by some, "a woman of splendors."

5. she dwelt under the palm tree--or, collectively, "palm-grove." It

is common still in the East to administer justice in the open air, or

under the canopy of an umbrageous tree.

6. she sent and called Barak--by virtue of her official authority as

judge.

Kedesh-naphtali--situated on an eminence, little north of the Sea of

Galilee, and so called to distinguish it from another Kedesh in

Issachar.

Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded?--a Hebrew form of making an

emphatic communication.

Go and draw toward mount Tabor--an isolated mountain of Galilee,

northeast corner of the plain of Esdraelon. It was a convenient place

of rendezvous, and the enlistment is not to be considered as limited to

ten thousand, though a smaller force would have been inadequate.

8. Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go--His

somewhat singular request to be accompanied by Deborah was not

altogether the result of weakness. The Orientals always take what is

dearest to the battlefield along with them; they think it makes them

fight better. The policy of Barak, then, to have the presence of the

prophetess is perfectly intelligible as it would no less stimulate the

valor of the troops, than sanction, in the eyes of Israel, the uprising

against an oppressor so powerful as Jabin.

9. the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman--This was a

prediction which Barak could not understand at the time; but the strain

of it conveyed a rebuke of his unmanly fears.

11. Now Heber the Kenite . . . pitched his tent--It is not uncommon,

even in the present day, for pastoral tribes to feed their flocks on

the extensive commons that lie in the heart of inhabited countries in

the East (see on

Jud 1:16).

plain of Zaanaim--This is a mistranslation for "the oaks of the

wanderers." The site of the encampment was under a grove of oaks, or

terebinths, in the upland valley of Kedesh.

13. the river of Kishon--The plain on its bank was chosen as the

battlefield by Sisera himself, who was unconsciously drawn thither for

the ruin of his army.

14. Barak went down from mount Tabor--It is a striking proof of the

full confidence Barak and his troops reposed in Deborah's assurance of

victory, that they relinquished their advantageous position on the hill

and rushed into the plain in face of the iron chariots they so much

dreaded.

15. the Lord discomfited Sisera--Hebrew, "threw his army into

confusion"; men, horses, and chariots being intermingled in wild

confusion. The disorder was produced by a supernatural panic

(see on

Jud 5:20).

so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his

feet--His chariot being probably distinguished by its superior size

and elegance, would betray the rank of its rider, and he saw therefore

that his only chance of escape was on foot.

16. But Barak pursued . . . unto Harosheth--Broken and routed, the

main body of Sisera's army fled northward; others were forced into the

Kishon and drowned (see on

Jud 5:21).

17, 18. Sisera fled . . . to the tent of Jael--According to the usages

of nomadic people, the duty of receiving the stranger in the sheik's

absence devolves on his wife, and the moment the stranger is admitted

into his tent, his claim to be defended or concealed from his pursuers

is established.

19. she . . . gave him drink, and covered him--Sisera reckoned on this

as a pledge of his safety, especially in the tent of a friendly sheik.

This pledge was the strongest that could be sought or obtained, after

he had partaken of refreshments, and been introduced in the inner or

women's apartment.

20. he said unto her, . . . when any man doth come and enquire of thee

and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No--The privacy

of the harem, even in a tent, cannot be intruded on without express

permission.

21. Then Jael took a nail of the tent--most probably one of the pins

with which the tent ropes are fastened to the ground. Escape was almost

impossible for Sisera. But the taking of his life by the hand of Jael

was murder. It was a direct violation of all the notions of honor and

friendship that are usually held sacred among pastoral people, and for

which it is impossible to conceive a woman in Jael's circumstances to

have had any motive, except that of gaining favor with the victors.

Though predicted by Deborah

[Jud 4:9],

it was the result of divine foreknowledge only--not the divine

appointment or sanction; and though it is praised in the song

[Jud 5:24-27],

the eulogy must be considered as pronounced not on the moral character

of the woman and her deed, but on the public benefits which, in the

overruling providence of God, would flow from it.