However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him.
He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”
Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground, for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and died. Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21, 22 Whose ancestors were strangers, but worshipped the true God,…
Whose ancestors were strangers, but worshipped the true God, and therefore were joined with Israel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–22 Jdg 4:17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet…
Jdg 4:17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
Ver. 17. For there was peace,] i.e., Non erant simultates aut bella inter illos, {a} there was no open hostility: or if there were a league, the Emperor of the world, saith Ferus, had now disannulled it, as having proscribed Sisera, and declared that he should be destroyed, and that by a woman.
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{a} Jun.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–21 To the tent of Jael; for women had their…
To the tent of Jael; for women had their tents apart from their husbands, Gen 24:67; 31:33. And here he thought to lurk more securely than in her husband’s tent.
There was peace; not a league or covenant of friendship, which they were forbidden to make with that cursed people, but only a cessation of hostilities, which he afforded them because they were a peaceable people, abhorring war, and wholly minding pasturage, and were not Israelites, with whom his principal quarrel was; and especially by God’s overruling disposal of his heart to favour them who were careful to keep themselves uncorrupted with Israel’s sins, and therefore are preserved from their plagues.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v17 We have seen the army of the Canaanites totally…
We have seen the army of the Canaanites totally routed. It is said (Psa 83:9, Psa 83:10, where the defeat of this army is pleaded as a precedent for God's doing the like in after times) that they became as dung for the earth. Now here we have,
I. The fall of their general, Sisera, captain of the host, in whom, it is likely, Jabin their king put an entire confidence, and therefore was not himself present in the action. Let us trace the steps of this mighty man's fall.
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1. He quitted his chariot, and took to his feet, Jdg 4:15, Jdg 4:17. His chariots had been his pride and his confidence; and we may suppose he had therefore despised and defied the armies of the living God, because they were all on foot, and had neither chariot nor horse, as he had. Justly therefore is he thus made ashamed of his confidence, and forced to quit it, and thinks himself then most safe and easy when he has got clear of his chariot, though we may well suppose it the best made, and best drawn, of any of them. Thus are those disappointed who rest on the creature; like a broken reed, it not only breaks under them, but runs into their hand, and pierceth them with many sorrows. The idol may quickly become a burden (Isa 46:1), and what we were sick for God can make us sick of. How miserable doth Sisera look now he is dismounted! It is hard to say whether he blusheth or trembleth more. Put not your trust in princes, if they may so soon be brought to this, if he who but lately trusted to his arms with so much assurance must now trust to his heels only with so little.
2. He fled for shelter to the tents of the Kenites, having no strong-hold, nor any place of is own in reach to retire to. The mean and solitary way of the Kenites' living, perhaps, he had formerly despised and ridiculed, and the more because religion was kept up among them; yet now he is glad to put himself under the protection of one of these tents: and he chooses the wife's tent or apartment, either because less suspected, or because it happened to be next to him, and the first he came to, Jdg 4:17. And that which encouraged him to go thither was that at this time there was peace between his master and the house of Heber: not that there was any league offensive and defensive between them, only at present there were no indications of hostility. Jabin did them no harm, did not oppress them as he did the Israelites, their plain, quiet, harmless way of living making them not suspected nor feared, and perhaps God so ordering it as a recompence for their constant adherence to the true religion. Sisera thought he might therefore be safe among them; not considering that, though they themselves suffered not by Jabin's power, they heartily sympathized with the Israel of God that did.
3. Jael invited him in, and bade him very welcome. Probably she stood at the tent door, to enquire what news from the army, and what the success of the battle which was fought not far off. (1.) She invited him in. Perhaps she stood waiting for an opportunity to show kindness to any distressed Israelite, if there should be occasion for it; but seeing Sisera come in great haste, panting and out of breath, she invited him to come and repose himself in her tent, in which, while she seemed to design the relieving of his fatigue, perhaps she really intended the retarding of his flight, that he might fall into the hands of Barak, who was not in a hot chase after him (Jdg 4:18), and it may well questioned whether she had at first any thought of taking away his life, but rather God afterwards put it into her heart. (2.) She made very much of him, and seemed mighty careful to have him easy, as her invited guest. Was he weary? she finds him a very convenient place to repose himself in, and recruit his strength. Was he thirsty? well he might. Did he want a little water to cool his tongue? the best liquor her tent afforded was at his service, and that was milk (Jdg 4:19), which, we may suppose, he drank heartily of, and, being refreshed with it, was the better disposed to sleep. Was he cold, or afraid of catching cold? or did he desire to be hid from the pursuers, if they should search that tent? she covered him with a mantle, Jdg 4:18. All expressions of care for his safety. Only when he desired her to tell a lie for him, and to say he was not there, she declined making any such promise, Jdg 4:20. We must not sin against God, no, not to oblige those we would show ourselves most observant of. Lastly, We must suppose she kept her tent as quiet as she could, and free from noise, that he might sleep the sooner and the faster. And now was Sisera least safe when he was most secure. How uncertain and precarious is human life! and what assurance can we have of it, when it may so easily be betrayed by those with whom it is trusted, and those may prove its destroyers who we hoped would be its protectors! It is best making God our friend, for he will not deceive us.
4. When he lay fast asleep she drove a long nail through his temples, so fastened his head to the ground, and killed him, Jdg 4:21. And, though this was enough to do the business, yet, to make sure work (if we translate it rightly, Jdg 5:26), she cut off his head, and left it nailed there. Whether she designed this or no when she invited him into her tent does not appear; probably the thought was darted into her mind when she saw him lie so conveniently to receive such a fatal blow; and, doubtless, the thought brought with it evidence sufficient that it came not from Satan as a murderer and destroyer, but from God as a righteous judge and avenger, so much of brightness and heavenly light did she perceive in the inducements to it that offered themselves, the honour of God and the deliverance of Israel, and nothing of the blackness of malice, hatred, or personal revenge. (1.) It was a divine power that enabled her to do it, and inspired her with a more than manly courage. What if her hand should shake, and she should miss her blow? What if he should awake when she was attempting it? Or suppose some of his own attendants should follow him, and surprise her in the face, how dearly would she and all hers be made to pay for it? Yet, obtaining help of God, she did it effectually. (2.) It was a divine warrant that justified her in the doing of it; and therefore, since no such extraordinary commissions can now be pretended, it ought not in any case to be imitated. The laws of friendship and hospitality must be religiously observed, and we must abhor the thought of betraying any whom we have invited and encouraged to put a confidence in us. And, as to this act of Jael (like that of Ehud in the chapter before), we have reason to think she was conscious of such a divine impulse upon her spirit to do it as did abundantly satisfy herself (and it ought therefore to satisfy us) that it was well done. God's judgments are a great deep. The instrument of this execution was a nail of the tent, that is, one of the great pins with which the tent, or the stakes of it, were fastened. They often removing their tents, she had been used to drive these nails, and therefore knew how to do it the more dexterously on this great occasion. he that thought to destroy Israel with his many iron chariots is himself destroyed with one iron nail. Thus do the weak things of the world confound the mighty. See here Jael's glory and Sisera's shame. The great commander dies, [1.] In his sleep, fast asleep, and weary. It comes in as a reason why he stirred not, to make resistance. So fettered was he in the chains of sleep that he could not find his hands. Thus the stout-hearted are spoiled at thy rebuke, O God of Jacob! they are cast into a dead sleep, and so are made to sleep their last, Psa 76:5, Psa 76:6. Let not the strong man then glory in his strength; for when he sleeps where is it? It is weak, and he can do nothing; a child may insult him then, and steal his life from him; and yet if he sleep not he is soon spent and weary, and can do nothing either. Those words which we here put in a parenthesis (for he was weary) all the ancient versions read otherwise: he struggled (or started, as we say) and died, so the Syriac and Arabic, Exagitans ses mortuus est. He fainted and died, so the lxx. Consocians morte soporem, so the vulgar Latin, joining sleep and death together, seeing they are so near akin. He fainted and died. He dies, [2.] With his head nailed to the ground, an emblem of his earthly-mindedness. O curve in terram animoe! His ear (says bishop Hall) was fastened close to the earth, as if his body had been listening what had become of his soul. He dies, [3.] By the hand of a woman. This added to the shame of his death before men; and had he but known it, as Abimelech (Jdg 9:54), we may well imagine how much it would have added to the vexation of his own heart.
II. The glory and joy of Israel hereupon. 1. Barak their leader finds his enemy dead, (Jdg 4:22), and no doubt, he was very well pleased to find his work done so well to his hand, and so much to the glory of God and the confusion of his enemies. had he stood too nicely upon a point of honour, he would have resented it as an affront to have the general slain by any hand but his; but now he remembered that this diminution of his honour he was sentenced to undergo, for insisting upon Deborah's going with him (the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman), though then it was little thought that the prediction would be fulfilled in such a way as this. 2. Israel is completely delivered out of the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, Jdg 4:23, Jdg 4:24. They not only shook off his yoke by this day's victory, but they afterwards prosecuted the war against him, till they had destroyed him, he and his nation being by the divine appointment devoted to ruin and not to be spared. The Israelites, having soundly smarted for their foolish pity in not doing it before, resolved now it is in their power to indulge them no longer, but to make a thorough riddance of them, as a people to whom to show mercy was as contrary to their own interest as it was to God's command; and probably it is with an eye to the sentence they were under that this enemy is named three times here in these last two verses, and called king of Canaan; for as such he was to be destroyed; and so thoroughly was he destroyed that I do not remember to read of the kings of Canaan any more after this. The children of Israel would have prevented a great deal of mischief if they had sooner destroyed these Canaanites, as God had both commanded and enabled them; but better be wise late, and buy wisdom by experience, than never wise.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–22 Howbeit, Sisera fled away on his feet,.... Got off,…
Howbeit, Sisera fled away on his feet,.... Got off, and made his escape
to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; before spoken of, Jdg 4:11; and he made to that, because he might think himself safer in a tent than in a town; and especially in the tent of a woman, where he might imagine no search would be made; for women of note, in those times, had separate tents, see Gen 24:67; and the rather he made his escape hither for a reason that follows:
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for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; which Jabin might the more readily come into, because these were not Israelites, nor did they make any claim to the country, and lived only in tents, and attended their flocks, and were a quiet people, and not at all disposed to war; and it might be so ordered by the providence of God, as a rebuke to the Israelites for their sins, when those who were only proselytes kept close to the worship of God, and so enjoyed liberty, peace, and prosperity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 The tent of Jael - For women had their…
The tent of Jael - For women had their tents apart from their husbands. And here he thought to lurk more securely than in her husband's tent. Peace - Not a covenant of friendship, which they were forbidden to make with that cursed people, but only a cessation of hostilities, which he afforded them because they were peaceable people, abhorring war, and wholly minding pasturage, and were not Israelites, with whom his principal quarrel was; and especially by God's over-ruling disposal of his heart to favour them who were careful to keep themselves uncorrupted with Israel's sins, and therefore preserved from their plagues.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18–22 Verse 18. Jael went out to meet Sisera] He…
Verse 18. Jael went out to meet Sisera] He preferred the woman's tent because of secrecy; for, according to the etiquette of the eastern countries, no person ever intrudes into the apartments of the women. And in every dwelling the women have a separate apartment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv18, 21 Jdg 4:18-19. Jael said unto him, Turn in, my…
Jdg 4:18-19. Jael said unto him, Turn in, my lord — If Jael now intended to betray and deliver him to Barak, or otherwise to injure him, her addressing him in this manner was dissimulation and treachery, and is not to be excused. But it is highly probable that she had now no other intention toward him, in inviting him into her tent, than merely to afford him that shelter and protection which he sought of her, and such relief and refreshment as she would have afforded to any weary and distressed Israelite. Accordingly she covered him with a mantle, that he might take rest in sleep, and when he asked for a little water to drink, because he was thirsty, she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink. In what she did afterward she seems to have been actuated by a divine impulse or suggestion, of which she had beforehand neither thought nor conception. God, it must be remembered, had foretold by the prophetess, not only before the battle, but before the enterprise to shake off the yoke of Jabin was undertaken, that he would deliver Sisera “into the hand of a woman,” Jdg 4:9. This method then, God, who is wise in all his ways, and holy in all his works, took to accomplish this prediction. He brought Sisera to Jael’s tent, disposed her mind to invite him in, and when he lay sunk in sleep, powerfully suggested to her mind what before was the very reverse of all her thoughts, namely, to take his life, and that in a way so very singular and unprecedented, that one can hardly suppose she would ever have thought of it, had not God put it into her mind, and impelled her to it. Bishop Patrick justly observes, “she might as well have let Sisera lie in his profound sleep till Barak took him, if she had not felt a divine power moving her to this, that the prophecy of Deborah might be fulfilled.” Dr. Waterland is of the same opinion. “It can scarce be doubted,” says he, “but that Jael had a divine direction or impulse to stir her up to this action. The enterprise was exceeding bold and hazardous, above the courage of her sex, and the resolution she took very extraordinary, and so it has the marks and tokens of its being from the extraordinary hand of God.” Certainly, as Dr. Dodd remarks, “nothing but this authority from God could warrant such a fact, which seemed a breach of hospitality, and to be attended with several other crimes; but was not so when God, the Lord of all men’s lives, ordered her to execute his sentence upon Sisera. In this view all is clear and right, and no objectors will be able to prove there was any treachery in it: for she ought to obey God rather than man; and all obligations to man cease, when brought in competition with our higher obligations toward God.” And that this is the true view of the action appears still more evident from the celebration of it by Deborah the prophetess, in a hymn or song of solemn praise and thanksgiving offered to God on the occasion of it: see Jdg 5:24-27. In Dr. Leland’s answer to Christianity as Old as the Creation, p. 2, and in Saurin’s 11th Discourse, vol. 3, the reader will find a more complete justification of this affair.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 21 Sisera went, not to Heber’s tent, but to Joel’s,…
Sisera went, not to Heber’s tent, but to Joel’s, as more secure from pursuit. Women occupied a separate tent. Gen 18:6, Gen 18:10; Gen 24:67.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 Tent. The women had separate tents from their husbands.…
Tent. The women had separate tents from their husbands. Haber, it seems, was from home, and was not molested by the Chanaanites. He continued neuter during this war. What then must we think of the conduct of his wife? Commentators generally justify her, as the Scripture gives her great commendations, and as the family of the Cinites enjoyed the religion and privileges of the Israelites. Hence this portion of it could not make a league with the enemy of God’s people, to the detriment of the latter; and if they did, they were bound to break it as soon, at least, as God manifested his will, that the enemy should be destroyed. Jahel might however deserve the praise of fortitude, which the Scripture gives her, and yet mingle some human imperfection in her manner of acting. She seems to speak with fraud, and to betray the sacred rights of hospitality; and it is doubtful whether Haber himself could renounce the alliance with Jabin, (particularly if they had taken mutual oaths to observe it, as was then customary) without informing him of his resolution. Fides, quando promititur, etiam hosti servanda est. (St. Augustine, ep. i. ad Bonif.) See Grotius, Jur. iii. 19. (Calmet) --- Yet, if she told a lie, it was only an officious one, (Menochius) such as Sisara desired should be told for his safety, ver. 20. (Haydock) --- It is lawful to use stratagems against an enemy. (Salien, in the year of the world 2741. See Josue ii., and viii. 4. Debbora pronounces the name of Jahel to be most blessed, (chap. v. 24,) which shews that she was inspired by God to kill Sisara. If we consider her action in any other light, it will certainly appear very shocking, as Rahab could not escape the accusation of treason towards her country by any other means. Aod, Judith, &c., who washed their hands in the blood of sinners, (Psalm lvii. 11,) would undoubtedly have been condemned at any merely human tribunal, which would not admit the plea of inspiration. (Haydock) --- Besides this secret impulse, Jahel might be acquainted with the prediction of Debbora, (ver. 9,) and with the miraculous victory which encouraged her to destroy the common enemy, (Abulensis, Josephus, &c.; Tirinus) the only remnant of an immense army. (Haydock) --- The peace which subsisted between her family and the Chanaanites, was a forced one, (Tirinus) and perhaps consisted only in the former being allowed to live quietly (Du Hamel) in the midst of these idolaters, whose manners they abhorred; (Haydock) while the Israelites, though at a greater distance, were so severely treated even when they were so weak as to adore the idols (Tirinus) of their oppressors. Thus the divine Providence was pleased to reward virtue, and to punish infidelity. (Haydock) --- The Fathers consider Debbora as a figure of the Synagogue, which begins the attack against the empire of the devil, while the victory is reserved for the Christian Church, represented by Jahel, a woman living among the Israelites, though of a different nation, and engrafted, as it were, like the wild olive on the good olive tree. She gains strength in the midst of persecutions, and, armed with the cross of Christ, destroys the captain of the worldly empire. (Origen, hom v.; St. Augustine, contra Faust. xii. 31, &c.) (Calmet) --- Jahel was also a figure of the blessed Virgin, who crushed the serpent’s head. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 20, 21 Sisera fled . . . to the tent of…
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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17–22 17. Tent of Jael — According to Dr. Thomson,…
17. Tent of Jael — According to Dr. Thomson, Heber had removed for the time from his home near Kedesh, and pitched his tent for winter quarters at the border of the Plain of Esdraelon. Hence the tent of Jael was not so far from the battle field as Kedesh, which was nearly two days’ journey distant. “I once,” says Thomson, “crossed the lower part of Esdraelon in the winter. It was then full of Arab tents, and at first I felt a little nervous; but my guide assured me there was no danger, for he was well acquainted with these Arabs. Their home was in the mountains north of Nazareth, and they only came down here to pass the cold months of winter. This was the very thing that Heber did, and who knows but these Arabs are lineal descendants of that heroic Jaal.”
Peace between Jabin… and… Heber — This shows why Sisera so readily entered Jael’s tent, and seemed to have such confidence in her. He was probably acquainted with Jael, and knew of Heber’s alliance with Jabin, and fled to her tent with the purpose and expectation of being sheltered there.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21, 22 17. Clause a taken with Jdg_4:22 implies that Sisera,…
17. Clause a taken with Jdg_4:22 implies that Sisera, as he fled from the battle, found a place of refuge close by; but according to clause b taken with Jdg_4:11 Jael’s tent was in the north, near Kedesh-naphtali, 40 or 50 miles from the Kishon valley. The inconsistencies of the narrative can only be explained by supposing that the two stories of Jabin and Sisera have been combined by a sentence designed to harmonize them, 17b. Jael certainly belongs to the story of Sisera; it has been suggested that Heber belongs to that of Jabin. But we cannot separate Jael from Heber; it would be irregular to name a prominent Bedouin woman, living in an encampment with her family, without mentioning her husband. Probably we must separate Heber from Jabin, and suppose that the connexion between them is merely editorial; see above on Jdg_4:11. The composite character of Jdg_4:17 is responsible for another difficulty. In Jdg_4:17 Sisera aims for Jael’s tent because of the friendly relations between Heber and Jabin; but in Jdg_4:18 he comes upon it while he is flying, and is persuaded by Jael to turn aside. By inserting after fled away on his feet a verb and came we gain some relief, but it is better to regard clause b as not belonging to the original form of the narrative. ‘Jael’s tent’ is mentioned because as the wife of a Bedouin chief she would have a tent of her own.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17–22 (17) Fled away on his feet to the tent…
(17) Fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael.—In a different direction from that taken by his army, which fled towards Harosheth (Kimchi). The expression is probably used by anticipation. He could hardly have meant to fly to Jael rather than to Heber, until Jael came to meet him, unless there are circumstances unknown to us. Women had separate tents (Gen_18:6), and these were regarded as inviolably secure. He thought that there he would lie unsuspected till the pursuers passed (comp. Gen_24:67). The name Jael means “gazelle” (like Tabitha, Dorcas), “a fit name for a Bedouin’s wife—especially for one whose family had come from the rocks of Engedi, the spring of the wild goat or chamois” (Stanley).
For there was peace.—This enabled Sisera boldly to appeal to these nomads for dakheel—the sacred duty of protection. A poor strolling Bedouin tribe might well be left by Jabin to its natural independence; tribute can only be secured from Fellahîn—i.e., from settled tribes. Three days must have elapsed since the battle before it would be possible for Sisera to fly on foot from the Kishon to “the nomad’s terebinth.” It may well be conceived that the unfortunate general arrived there in miserable plight—a starving and ruined fugitive.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 Vers. 17-22. Vide Jud 5:24-27. M.
Vers. 17-22. Vide Jud 5:24-27. M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv18, 20 Jael went out to meet Sisera.
Jdg_4:18-24
Jael went out to meet Sisera.
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Lifes crises
Emphatically are we reminded that life continually brings us to sudden moments in which we must act without time for careful reflection, the spirit of our past flashing out in some quick deed or word of fate. Siseras past drove him in panic over the hills to Zaanaim. Jaels past came with her to the door of the tent; and the two as they looked at each other in that tragic moment were at one, without warning, in a crisis for which every thought and passion of years had made a way. Here the self-pampering of a vain man had its issue. Here the woman, undisciplined, impetuous, catching sight of the means to do a deed, moves to the fatal stroke like one possessed. It is the sort of thing we often call madness, and yet such insanity is but the expression of what men and women choose to be capable of. The casual allowance of an impulse here, a craving there, seems to mean little until the occasion comes when their accumulated force is sharply or terribly revealed. The laxity of the past thus declares itself; and on the other hand there is often a gathering of good to a moment of revelation. The soul that has for long years fortified itself in pious courage, in patient welt-doing, in high and noble thought, leaps one day, to its own surprise, to the height of generous daring or heroic truth. We determine the issue of crises which we cannot foresee. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Jael and Sisera
What then! might we, upon the first cursory perusal of this narrative, be inclined to exclaim. Has the all pure and all holy Jehovah belied His unspeakable attributes, has He laid aside His thunder, and renounced those direful visitations which, by the mouth of His servant Moses, He had threatened against the wilful shedder of mans blood? Why are the rights of hospitality, so jealously hedged in, in the Mosaic law, and so sacredly observed in many previous instances (as in the preservation of his guest by the besieged Lot and the sparing of the Gibeonites by the deceived yet forbearing Joshua), why are these rights, here first, with impunity violated?
I. The whole of the Canaanitish nations had long since by their idolatrous iniquities and abounding profligacy and wickedness, merited the condemnation and fiery wrath of Jehovah, which had indeed been denounced against them unambiguously by the mouth of Moses on the other side of Jordan in the wilderness. No one who has read the intimations of their guilt in the Book of Leviticus can question for one moment the justice of the Almighty in blotting them from the face of the earth. Jabin, king of Canaan, trusted in the number and weight of his iron chariots, and in the almost countless host of his armed men. The God of Israel designed, therefore, to humble him to the dust by scattering his forces before the resolute assault of but a few ill-equipped Israelites, while He would sell the mighty leader of all this armament into the hands of a weak and unarmed woman. Thus would He teach the rebellious nations to put not their strength in horses, nor in the sons of men, but to fear and reverence the one true and only God, the Lord of lords, and King of kings--the fearful God of Sabaoth.
II. The Scripture narrative simply details the progress of these wonderful events for our warning and exhortation, but not necessarily for our example. It would be as reasonable to assert that, because in the book of Gods revealed truth we read of the cruelty of Saul and the transgression of David, that therefore we are to imitate them in their wickedness, as to infer from this history of the slaughter of Sisera that hence treachery is allowable. Jaels conduct, like that of the unjust steward in the parable, is commended to our notice--not for imitation, but for warning. (F. F. Statham, B. A.)
The defence and example of Jael
If Jael received Sisera into her tent with the intention of murdering him, she must be left to the execrations of posterity. But there are, we think, plain and straightforward reasons from which to infer that Jael had no design of killing Sisera--that she acted, therefore, with perfect honesty, and not with atrocious duplicity, when she offered him shelter. What likelihood is there that Jael proposed to murder Sisera? He was not her enemy, for there was peace between her husbands family and the Canaanites. She had nothing to gain by his death; and if she had, she needed only to refuse him a shelter. The enemy was in pursuit, and would quickly have overtaken the fugitive. Had she wished his death ever so much, she had nothing more to do than to leave him to his fate. He was a doomed man, and there was no necessity that she should endanger herself to ensure his destruction; for let it be well observed that the killing of Sisera was a most dangerous undertaking for a lonely woman. Whatever account may be given of her subsequent conduct, the only candid construction to be put on this part of the narrative is that Jael was thoroughly sincere in offering an asylum to Sisera--that it was not with the language of deceit, nor in order to cloak a bloody purpose, but simply in truthfulness of heart, and with the earnest desire of succouring a distressed man, that she invited the fugitive into her tent, covered him with a mantle, and refreshed him with milk. Nevertheless, you will say, she killed Sisera; whether premeditated or not, the murder was committed. What is to be urged in extenuation of so barbarous a deed? This brings us to examine by what motives Jael was instigated, or on what principles she acted in putting to death her slumbering guest. We reckon it a satisfactory explanation of her conduct, and one which removes every difficulty, that she was led by a Divine impulse, or in obedience to a Divine command, to take away Siseras life. She had probably acted from her natural feeling when offering shelter to the fugitive and giving most hospitable entertainment. We only think it a kindly part that she should go out to meet Sisera in his distress, and endeavour to shield him from further injury; but when the deep slumber was on him there came an intimation to Jael, I cannot tell you how conveyed--but certainly in such a manner as that there could be no doubt of its origin--an intimation from God that her guest must die, and that, too, by her hand. And if such were the case, again we remind you that nothing but a Divine command will explain a Divine approval. If such were the case, we challenge you to find in all the annals of Scripture a mightier display of the power of faith than was exhibited by Jael. What if Sisera should awake just in time to discover and defeat the murderous design! It was likely. He seemed indeed in deep sleep, but fresh as he was from battle, his brain must have been full of confused imagery, and the least noise must startle him as though his foes were at the door; and she having but a womans hand and a womans strength--shall she dare to attempt the nailing the sleeping warrior to the earth? Will not her courage fail her at the most critical moment, when there is enough done to arouse Sisera, but not to overcome? Besides, why must she be the executioner? There was little probability that Sisera could escape; in a short time the pursuers would arrive, and then the fate of Sisera could be sealed without her interference, We will believe that thoughts such as these crowded into Jaels mind; we can believe that it was a moment of terrible perplexity when she felt that she had received a commission from God, and considered the fearfulness and the peril of its execution. There must have been the natural shrinking from the shedding of blood; there must have come the cutting reflection that Sisera was her guest, and that she was pledged to his defence; there must have been dread of his revenge if she should betray her cause in its execution; but the faith of this woman triumphed over all that is most calculated to confound and dismay her. There is yet another question, which will, perhaps, suggest itself to your minds as full of great importance as those already considered. You may, perhaps, now be disposed to allow the great probability, if not the certainty, that Jael acted on a Divine command, conveyed to her after Sisera had been admitted into the tent, and you may on this account acquit her of any charge of treachery or cruelty. Then you will ask, how it could be consistent with the character of God to issue such a command? Since murder is a crime which is expressly forbidden, with what propriety could He enjoin its perpetration? Now, just think! No one would have felt any surprise had Sisera perished in the battle. He was the oppressor of the Lords people: what marvel, then, that he should be overtaken by vengeance? Thus also with the Canaanites; their wickedness marked them out for extermination, just as did that of the unbelief of the world before the flood came; so that if in place of employing the sword of the Israelites, God had employed a deluge, or a pestilence, we should not have had a word to say, but must have admitted the justice of His ridding the land of those by whom it was profaned. And could either Jael or the Israelites be charged with murder in performing by Divine command a just though severe action? They were only the executioners of a righteous sentence: could they on that account contract guiltiness? Why, when the law of the land has condemned a man to death, who thinks of charging the executioner with murder, because he is instrumental in executing the penalties of that law? Indeed, he has not actually invaded and rifled the sanctuary of life, as a midnight assassin who steals on his victim, and leaves him weltering in his blood; but because a competent authority has directed him to inflict death, he is no murderer, but only an obedient servant of the State when he takes the life of a fellow-man. And now having vindicated Jael, we shall not hesitate to go further, and hold her forth as an example which it should be your endeavour to imitate. We do not merely mean that having displayed strong faith, and obeyed the law, when obedience was beyond measure difficult, she has left a pattern to be followed by all who are summoned to special difficulties and sacrifices in the service of God; over and above this, the case of Jael and Sisera has a peculiar similarity to many--yea, even all--amongst yourselves, who are required by God to inflict death where they have offered hospitality. Yea, if it be the Scriptural demand that we crucify--crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts--oh, then, there is vast similarity between our own ease and that of Jael. We too must put to death the enemy whom we have cherished and received. We too must determine that we will act the executioner where we have been the patron and the host. We too must be ready to strike down that which we have embraced, and pierce that which we have admitted not only into the tent, but into the heart. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Jael, a type of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause
Long has the error prevailed that religion can be helped by using the worlds weapons, by acting in the temper and spirit of the world. Of that mischievous falsehood have been born all the pride and vainglory, the rivalries and persecutions that darken the past of Christendom, surviving in strange and pitiful forms to the present day. If we shudder at the treachery in the deed of Jael, what shall we say of that which through many a year sent victims to inquisition, dungeons, and to the stake in the name of Christ? And what shall we say now of that moral assassination which in one tent and another is thought no sin against humanity, but a service of God? Among us are too many who suffer wounds keen and festering that have been given in the house of their friends, yea, in the name of the one Lord and Master. The battle of truth is a frank and honourable fight, served at no point by what is false or proud or low. To an enemy a Christian should be chivalrous, and surely no less to a brother. Granting that a man is in error, he needs a physician, not an executioner; he needs an example, not a dagger. How much farther do we get by the methods of opprobrium and cruelty, the innuendo and the whisper of suspicion? Besides, it is not the Siseras to-day who are dealt with after this manner. It is the schismatic within the camp on whom some Jael falls with a hammer and a nail. If a Church cannot stand by itself, approved to the consciences of men, it certainly will not be helped by a return to the temper of barbarism and the craft of the world (2Co_10:4). (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Sin slain
If the story of the worlds sufferings under different tyrants could all be written, there would be no man found who would be capable of reading it. I believe that even the despots themselves, who have committed the atrocities to which I refer, would not be sufficiently cold-blooded to sit down and read the account of the agonies which their own victims have endured. I have been struck in passing through many lands with the horrible sufferings which in the olden times were endured by the poor at the hands of the rich kings and lords who were their oppressors. In almost every town in which you enter, you either have shown to you the rack, the dark dungeon, the thumb-screw, or the infernal machine, or instruments too horrible to describe--that make ones blood run chill at the very thought and sight of them. Sin has brought more plagues upon this earth than all the earths tyrants.
I. First let us try to picture The sinner growing uneasy under the yoke of his sins, and planning a revolt against his oppressors. It is said that when a man is born a slave, slavery is not near so irksome as when he has once been free. You will have found it, perhaps, in birds and such animals that we keep under our control. If they have never known what it is to fly to and fro in the air from tree to tree, they are happy in the cage; but if, after having once seen the world, and floated in the clear air, they are condemned to live in slavery, they are far less content. This is the case with man--he is born a slave. Until the Spirit of God comes into the heart--so strange is the use of nature--we live contented in our chains; we walk up and down our dungeon, and think we are at large. It is one of the first marks of Divine life when we grow discontented and begin to fight against sin.
II. And now we have the second picture--the sinner having gone to war with his own sins has, to a great extent, by Gods grace, overcome them; but he feels when this is done, that it is not enough, that external morality will not save the soul. Like Barak, he has conquered Sisera; but, not content with seeing him flee away on his feet, he wants to have his dead body before him. Rest not content till the blood of thine enemy stain the ground, until he be crushed, and dead, and slain. Oh, sinner, I beseech thee never be content until grace reign in thy heart, and sin be altogether subdued. Indeed, this is what every renewed soul longs for, and must long for, nor will it rest satisfied until all this shall be accomplished.
III. I stand at the door to-day, not of a tent, but of a tomb, and as I stand here I say to the sinner who is anxious to know how his sins may be killed, how his corruption may be slain, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest, and when you shall come in, you shall see your sins lying dead, and the nails in their temples. Sinner, the sin thou dreariest is forgiven, thou hast wept sore before God, and thou hast cast thyself on Christ and on Christ alone. In the name of Him who is the Eternal God I assure thee that thy sins are all forgiven. Further--dost thou ask where thy sin is? I tell thee thy sin is gone, so that it never can be recalled. Thou art so forgiven that thy sins can never have a resurrection. The nail is not driven through the hands of thy sins, but through their temples. The spear that pierced the Saviours heart pierced the heart of thine iniquity; the grave in which He was buried was the tomb of all thy sins; and His resurrection was the resurrection of thy spirit to light and joy unspeakable. God forbid we should ever glory in sin, but it is a theme for joy to a Christian when he can look upon his sins drowned in the blood of Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jaels deed
When Jael received him, she did so no doubt in good faith, nor had she heard of his overwhelming disaster. She would be only too ready to afford shelter to the proudest warrior of those regions. It is not unlikely that while he was sleeping she began to reflect upon the strangeness of his being in a condition to need such succour, and that from fugitives and others passing by she learned the story of that eventful day. She found that it was no longer a victor, but a baffled and helpless fugitive, who lay in her tent. She probably had a dim idea also of his character, as an enemy of the God of heaven whom the Israelites worshipped. A sudden impulse seized her; she would despatch him as he lay. Was he not the worst of oppressors? Did he deserve to live? Besides, the cries of the pursuers already echo through the mountains, and their weapons flash amid the foliage. The wretched Sisera is too exhausted to offer a dangerous resistance. She enters the apartment and strikes him. He staggers up; then in a swoon he falls at her feet. An iron tent pin, to which the cords of the tent were fastened, is in her hand, and a mallet. She drives the iron pin through his temples into the earth, with a blow given in the superhuman strength of frenzied excitement. Then voices are heard in the forest. The pursuers have come up; it is Barak himself (Jdg_4:22). The whole story appears perfectly natural; nor is there any need for the supposition of Jael acting under a Divine impulse or a special Divine commission. Her act was dictated as much by self-interest as by any other motive. It was a moment of wild excitement, and cannot be judged by the rules of our peaceable and decorous time. If in the great Indian mutiny we had heard of Nana Sahib having been entrapped and killed by some wild woman of a wandering tribe, the public opinion of England would not have scrutinised too closely the morality of the action, in its joy at being rid of the most infamous of murderers. It is, in fact, the eulogy pronounced by Deborah which has constituted the difficulty. And a difficulty it must always remain to those who believe that every word uttered by those who of old had the name and rank of prophets is a direct utterance of the Divine will. The difficulty, however, disappears if we view the splendid ode of Deborah as being included by the guidance of the Spirit of God among the records of His ancient Church, and as expressing the feelings of an Israelite patriot of that day. The holiest and most devout of the Church of that age would respond to Deborahs language. Whether such sentiments would be appropriate in our own day is not in question: we believe in the doctrine and in the fact of progressive light. (L. H. Wiseman, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v18 Sisera’s Death
Sisera’s Death
v. 18. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, after the manner of Oriental hospitality, her object being to coax him into the house, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. She wanted to disarm all suspicions. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, probably feeling safer in the women’s apartments, she covered him with a mantle, with a close, ruglike covering.
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v. 19. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty, for it was a rule of hospitality that whoever had eaten or drunk anything in the tent was received into the peace of the house. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him, having effectually allayed all his suspicions.
v. 20. Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No He felt altogether secure, and lay down to sleep after giving Jael these instructions.
v. 21. And Jael, Heber’s wife, mindful of the fact that the man lying in her tent was a tyrant, a ruthless enemy of a nation with which her family was joined in the bonds of the closest relationship, took a nail of the tent, one of the tent-pins, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary, from his long flight. So he died.
v. 22. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. Deborah’s word that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman had been literally fulfilled.
v. 23. So God subdued on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children of Israel, by this complete defeat of his general and the entire army.
v. 24. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, they gained in power, and prevailed against Jabin, the king of Canaan, resting ever more heavily upon him, until they had destroyed Jabin, king of Canaan. The rule of this one king at least was definitely at an end. Note: Faith shows its power also in weak instruments, for it is the strength of God and not of men. Faith, which always keeps God’s Word and promise before the eyes, is able to enter into battle at all times and to gain the victory. That is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 19, 21 Sisera ... Jabin ... Hazor
Sisera ... Jabin ... Hazor
See how you translated these names in Judges 4:2.
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ran away on foot
This is an idiom that means he was walking rather than riding a horse or in a chariot. (See: Idiom)
Jael
This is the name of a woman. (See: How to Translate Names)
Heber
See how you translated this man's name in Judges 4:11.
Kenite
See how you translated this in Judges 1:16.
Turn aside
This means to change course during a journey in order to rest. AT: "Come here" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
blanket
a large covering for the body to sleep under for warmth, made of wool or animal skins
translationWords
tent
peace
king
house
turn
lord
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.