“Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
Parallel Translations
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“Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
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Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
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Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Judges 5:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 1:42 She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
- Luke 1:28 Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
- Genesis 14:19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.
- Judges 4:17 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.
- Proverbs 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife…
Jdg 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
Ver. 24. Above women in the tent.] A fit place for women to be found in, but not for the men of Meroz; they should have been active in the field against the Church’s enemies, as she was in her tent. Others that were more remote are blamed: but they are bitterly cursed, and that by the authority of the angel.
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 Blessed above women; celebrated, and praised, and endowed with…
Blessed above women; celebrated, and praised, and endowed with all sorts of blessings more than they. But of this fact of Jael’s, See Poole "Jdg 4:21".
In the tent; in her tent or habitation, in her house and family, and all her affairs; for she and hers dwelt in tents. The tent is here mentioned in allusion to the place where this fact was done.
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 Deborah here concludes this triumphant song,
Deborah here concludes this triumphant song,
I. With the praises of Jael, her sister-heroine, whose valiant act had completed and crowned the victory. She had mentioned her before (Jdg 5:6) as one that would have served her country if it had been in her power; now she applauds her as one that did serve it admirably well when it was in her power. Her poetry is finest and most florid here in the latter end of the song. How honourably does she speak of Jael (Jdg 5:24), who preferred her peace with the God of Israel before her peace with the king of Canaan, and though not a native of Israel (for aught that appears) yet heartily espoused the cause of Israel in this critical conjuncture, jeoparded her life as truly as if she had been in the high places of the field, and bravely fought for those whom she saw God fought for! Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. Note, Those whose lot is cast in the tent, in a very low and narrow sphere of activity, if they serve God in that according to their capacity, shall in no wise lose their reward. Jael in the tent wins as rich a blessing as Barak in the field. Nothing is more confounding, grievous, and shameful, than disappointment, and Deborah here does most elegantly describe two great disappointments, the shame of which was typical of sinners' everlasting shame.
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1. Sisera found a fatal enemy where he expected a firm and faithful friend. (1.) Jael showed him the kindness of a friend, and perhaps at that time intended no other than kindness, until God, by an immediate impulse upon her mind (which impulses then were to be regarded, and carried so much of their own evidence with them that they might be relied upon, but cannot now be pretended to), directed her to do otherwise, Jdg 5:25. He asked only for fair water to quench his thirst, but she, not only to show her housewifery and good housekeeping, but to express her respect to him, gave him milk and brought forth butter, that is (say some interpreters), milk which had the butter taken from it; we call it butter-milk. No (say others), it was milk that had the butter still in it; we call it cream. Whichsoever it was, it was probably the best her house afforded; and, to set it off, she brought it in a lordly dish, such as she called so, the finest she had, and better than she ordinarily used at her town table. This confirmed Sisera's opinion of her friendship, and made him sleep the faster and the more secure. But, (2.) She proved his mortal enemy, gave him his death's stroke: it is curiously described, Jdg 5:26, Jdg 5:27. [1.] How great does Jael look, hammering Sisera, as it is in the margin, mauling that proud man who had been so long the terror of the mighty, and sending him down slain to the pit with his iniquities upon his bones! Eze 32:27. She seems to have gone about it with no more terror nor concern than if she had been going to nail one of the boards or bars of her tent, so confident was she of divine aid and protection. We read it she smote off his head, probably with his own sword, which, now that his head was nailed through, she durst take from his side, but not before, for fear of waking him. But because there was no occasion for cutting off his head, nor was it mentioned in the history, many think it should be read, she struck through his head. That head which had been proudly lifted up against God and Israel, and in which had been forged bloody designs for the destruction of God's people, Jael finds a soft place in, and into that with a good will strikes her nail. [2.] How mean does Sisera look, fallen at Jael's feet! Jdg 5:27. At the feet of this female executioner he bowed, he fell; all his struggles for life availed not; she followed her blow until he fell down dead. There lies extended the deserted carcase of that proud man, not on the bed of honour, not in the high places of the field, not having any glorious wound to show from a glittering sword, or a bow of steel, but in the corner of a tent, at the feet of a woman, with a disgraceful wound by a sorry nail struck through his head. Thus is shame the fate of proud men. And this is a very lively representation of the ruin of those sinners whose prosperity slays them; it flatters and caresses them with milk and butter in a lordly dish, as if it would make them easy and happy, but it nails their heads and hearts too to the ground in earthly-mindedness, and pierces them through with many sorrows; its flatteries are fatal, and sink them at last into destruction and perdition, Ti1 6:9, Ti1 6:10.
2. Sisera's mother had the tidings brought her of her son's fall and ruin when she was big with expectation of his glorious and triumphant return, Jdg 5:28-30, where we have, (1.) Her fond desire to see her son come back in triumph: Why is his chariot so long in coming? She speaks this, not so much out of a concern for his safety, or any jealousy of his having miscarried (she had no fear of that, so confident was she of his success), but out of a longing for his glory, which with a feminine weakness she was passionately impatient to see, chiding the lingering chariot, and expostulating concerning the delays of it, little thinking that her unhappy son had been, before this, forced to quit that chariot which they were so proud of, and which she thought came so slowly. The chariots of his glory had now become the shame of his house, Isa 22:18. Let us take heed of indulging such desires as these towards any temporal good thing, particularly towards that which cherishes vain-glory, for this was what she here doted on. Eagerness and impatience in our desires do us a great deal of prejudice, and make it intolerable to us to be crossed. But towards the second coming of Jesus Christ, and the glories of that day, we should thus stand affected (Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly), for here we cannot be disappointed. (2.) Her foolish hope and confidence that he would come at last in so much the greater pomp. Her wise ladies answered her, and thought they gave a very good account of the delay; yea, she (in her wisdom, says the Chaldee) tauntingly made answer to herself, "Have they not sped? No doubt they have, and that which delays them is that they are dividing the prey, which is so much that it is a work of time to make a distribution of it." In the spoil they pleased themselves with the thought of, observe, [1.] How impudently, and to the reproach and scandal of their sex, these ladies boast of the multitude of damsels which the soldiers would have the abusing of. [2.] How childishly they pleased themselves with the hope of seeing Sisera himself in a gaudy mantle of divers colours; how charmingly would it look! of divers colours of needle-work, plundered out of the wardrobe of some Israelitish lady; it is repeated again, as that which pleased their fancy above any thing, of divers colours of needle-work on both sides, and therefore very rich; such pieces of embroidery they hoped Sisera would have to present his mother and the ladies with. Thus apt are we to deceive ourselves with great expectations and confident hopes of honour, and pleasure, and wealth in this world, by which we prepare for ourselves the shame and grief of a disappointment. And thus does God often bring ruin on his enemies when they are most elevated.
II. She concludes all with a prayer to God, 1. For the destruction of all his foes: "So, so shamefully, so miserably, let all thy enemies perish, O Lord; let all that hope to triumph in Israel's ruin be thus disappointed and triumphed over. Do to them all as unto Sisera," Psa 83:9. Though our enemies are to be prayed for, God's enemies, as such, are to be prayed against; and, when we see some of God's enemies remarkably humbled and brought down, this is an encouragement to us to pray for the downfall of all the rest. Deborah was a prophetess, and this prayer was a prediction that in due time all God's enemies shall perish, Psa 92:9. None ever hardened his heart against God and prospered. 2. For the exaltation and comfort of all his friends. "But let those that love him, and heartily wish well to his kingdom among men, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength; let them shine so bright, appear so glorious in the eye of the world, cast such benign influences, be as much out of the reach of their enemies, who curse the rising sun because it scorches them; let them rejoice as a strong man to run a race, Psa 19:5. Let them, as burning and shining lights in their places, dispel the mists of darkness, and shine with more and more lustre and power unto the perfect day." Pro 4:18. Such shall be the honour, and such the joy, of all that love God in sincerity, and for ever they shall shine as the sun in the firmament of our Father.
The victory here celebrated with this song was of such happy consequence to Israel that for the best part of one age they enjoyed the peace which it opened the way to: The land had rest forty years, that is, so long it was from this victory to the raising up of Gideon. And well would it have been if, when the churches and the tribes had rest, they had been edified, and had walked in the fear of the Lord.
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 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber…
Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,.... Under the same influence that Meroz was cursed, Jael is blessed, the one for not helping Israel in a public way, the other for doing it in a private manner; this blessing is pronounced, either in a way of prayer that it might be, or in a way of prophecy that it should be, and indeed in both:
blessed shall she be above the women in the tent; above all women that dwell in tents: this being a proper description of a woman, whose character it is to abide in her tent, dwell at home, and mind the business of her family; and may have respect to the manly action she performed in her tent, equal, if not superior, to what was done in the field.
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 Blessed - Celebrated, and endowed with all sorts of…
Blessed - Celebrated, and endowed with all sorts of blessings more than they. In the tent - In her tent or habitation, in her house and family, and all her affairs: for she and hers dwelt in tents. The tent is here mentioned as an allusion to the place where the fact was done.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 24. Blessed above women shall Jael - be]…
Verse 24. Blessed above women shall Jael - be] She shall be highly celebrated as a most heroic woman; all the Israelitish women shall glory in her. I do not understand these words as expressive of the Divine approbation towards Jael. See the observations at the end of Jdg 4:24. The word bless, both in Hebrew and Greek, often signifies to praise, to speak well of, to celebrate. This is most probably its sense here.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 5:24. Blessed, &c. — This is a beautiful…
Jdg 5:24. Blessed, &c. — This is a beautiful and striking transition, whereby the prophetess passes from the curse pronounced by the command of the angel on the Merozites to the blessing of Jael, on whom she passes the finest encomium, because, though only a sojourner in Israel, she had done them most signal service in taking off Sisera, their most inveterate enemy. Blessed above women — Celebrated and endowed with all sorts of blessings more than they. In the tent — In her tent and habitation; in her house and family, and all her affairs. The Kenites lived not in houses, but in tents. But the tent is here mentioned as an allusion to the place where the fact was done.
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 The blessing here pronounced is in strong contrast with…
The blessing here pronounced is in strong contrast with the curse of Meroz. Deborah speaks of Jael’s deed by the light of her own age, which did not make manifest the evil of guile and bloodshed; the light in ours does.
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 Among. Hebrew, "above." After cursing those who befriended the…
Among. Hebrew, "above." After cursing those who befriended the enemy, Debbora pronounces a blessing upon Jahel. (Haydock) --- The blessed Virgin is surely still more entitled to praise. (Worthington) --- Tent. It was esteemed a mark of virtue for a woman to keep at home. (Drusius)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain The Fate Of The Enemy
The Fate Of The Enemy
Jdg_5:24-31
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24Blessed among women be Jael,
The wife of Heber, the Kenite,
Blessed among women of the tents!
25He asks for water, she gives him milk,
In a beautiful bowl she carries him cream.
26With her left she takes the nail,57
With her right the heavy hammer,
Swings it over Sisera, smites his head,
Crashes through, and transpierces his temples.58
27At her feet he curls himself and falls,
At her feet he lies, curls himself again, and falls,
And as he curls himself again, falls—dead!59
Through the window she looks, at the lattice laments 28the mother of Sisera:
Why lingers his car so long,
Why stay the steps of his chariots?
29Wise ladies answer her,60
Herself also refutes her own words:
30Will they not find booty and divide it?
Two maidens for each man;
Booty of purple robes for Sisera,
Yea, booty of purple robes!
Color-embroidered vestments, two for each neck of the captured!61
31So may all thy foes fall, O God,
But those who love thee rise as the sun in his strength!
And the land rested forty years.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_5:26.—The rendering of יָרָהּ by “her left hand,”—if admissible at all,—must be justified by the assumption of an intended contrast with יְמִינָהּ in the next line. The form תִּשְׁלַחְנָה, according to Gesenius, Gram. 47, 3, 3 is an improper use of the 3d plural for the 3d singular; according to Green, 88, p. 119, it stands for תִּשְׁלָחֶנָּה—“her hand, she puts it forth;” according to Ewald, 191 c, it is simply the 3d fem. sg. תִּשְׁלַח, with an additional feminine characteristic (נָה) in order to distinguish it from the 3d masc. singular. Ewald’s view is also adopted by Bertheau, Keil, and (in the main, by) Bachmann, and is probably the true one.—Tr.]
[2 Jdg_5:26.—Dr. Cassel’s rendering of the last two lines of this verse is as follows:—
Schwingt ihn auf Sisra, schlägt ihn an’s Haupt,
Schmettert nach und durchbohrt ihm die Schlafe.
We have endeavored to reproduce his alliteration as nearly as possible, but have nevertheless lost the paranomasia of הָלְמָה with חַלְמוּת, hammer, in the preceding line, for which our author has Schlägel, mallet, beetle. The awful energy of the lines, and their onomatopoetic character, may be distantly and somewhat inelegantly imitated in English, thus—
“She hammers Sisera, mashes his head,
Smashes (him), and crashes through his temples.”—Tr.]
[3 Jdg_5:27.—The above translation of this verse disregards the Masoretic text-division (according to which שָׁכַכ, “he lies,” belongs to the first line), and takes כַּאֲשֶׁר in a temporal instead of local sense. The radical meaning of כָּרַע is probably “to bend or contract one’s self” (cf. Ges. Lex., Keil, Bachmann), the usual sense “to kneel” being derivative. The mortally wounded Sisera, pinned to the ground (Jdg_4:21), involuntarily curls himself together, as Dr. Cassel says—i. e. brings his knees forward and upward. But Dr. Cassel’s idea that this involuntary muscular contraction was repeated three times is inconsistent with the proper local sense of בַּאֲשֶׁר, and with the repeated נָפַל. Dr. Cassel, it is true, seeks to avoid the latter difficulty by supposing (see the com. below) that Sisera “seeks to rise, and falls back;” but how could he rise so as to fall back when his head was pinned to the ground? It is altogether more likely that in this song of victory, נָפַל is used as in military language (and perhaps not without a touch of contemptuous irony), for “to die,” “to be slain,” in this sense, נָפַל, like πίπτειν, cadere, and our “fall,” is frequently used, cf. the Lexica. The repetition of the idea of the first line in the second and third springs from the great interest of the singer in the destruction of the much-dreaded chieftain, and serves to intensify the impression to be produced on those who hear her. Accordingly, we would render:—
At her feet he curls himself, he falls, he lies.
At her feet he curls himself, he falls!
Where he curls himself, there he falls—destroyed.
So also Bertheau, Keil, Bachmann. For בֵּין, in the sense of “at” cf. remarks of Hengstenberg on Zec_13:6, in Christol. iv. 106, Edinb. edition.—Tr.]
[4 Jdg_5:29.—The above translation neglects both the suffix in שָׂרוִתֶיהָ, and the construct state of חַכְמוֹת (fem. of חָכָם). In תַּעֲנֶנָּה Dr. Cassel apparently finds the 3d fem. sing. imperf. with the suffix of the 3d fem. sing. But as the subject is plural, it is better to take תַּעֲנֶנָּה as standing for תַּעֲנֶינָה. The accented é in the latter form seeks to strengthen itself by doubling the following consonant, in which case the י naturally falls away, although it may also remain, as in Mic_7:10. Cf. Ewald, Gram. 17 c. The true rendering of the second line of this verse is much disputed. According to Keil the sense of the line is: “Sisera’s mother, however, does not allow herself to be quieted by the speeches of her wise ladies, but repeats the anxious question, Why does Sisera delay to come?” He and Bachmann translate the verse thus:—
“The wise ones of her princesses answer:
—But she repeats to herself her words—”.—Tr.]
[5 Jdg_5:30.—On our author’s text-division in this verse, see the Commentary below. Bachmann, who adheres to the Masoretic punctuation, translates as follows:—
“Will they not find, divide booty?
A maiden, two maidens for the head of a man,
Booty of colored garments for Sisera,
Booty of colored garments, (of) variegated work,
A colored garment, two variegated for the neck of the booty.”—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
The closing part of Deborah’s Song has justly been regarded as a specimen of poetical representation that cannot be surpassed. In it the singer shows that she is a woman. The triumph with which Jael’s deed is praised and Sisera’s mother mocked, evinces an almost passionate mental exaltation. The picture of Sisera’s death is drawn with startling vividness. On the back ground of a divine enthusiasm, there rises an ecstatic delight in the deed of one woman, and in the misery of another, such as springs up in none but a woman’s heart. That which in heathen female characters becomes demoniac in its nature, is in Deborah purified by the divine thoughts which animate her. No subjective interest, no private feeling, no personal passion, influences her; the highest interests of her God and people fill her soul. It is not her triumph, but that of her ever-living Maker, that she celebrates; and yet at the height of its exultation her Song breaks out in a mood by which the woman might be recognized, even if neither name nor other information on the authorship had been handed down to us. That which especially gives to the conclusion of the Song its great value and attractiveness, is the fact that from it the genuineness of the whole becomes even more psychologically than grammatically evident—that the mantic power of a prophetic woman, unweakened and in the full glow of its burning ecstasy, is nowhere else filled and controlled as it is here, by rational enthusiasm born of an objective, divinely-given truth. How well it was said of her, that she was a “woman of a fiery spirit” (Jdg_4:4), becomes here most manifest. The more terrible the tyranny, the more common-place the enemy, the more intensely burns her soul in her song of victory. The glowing heat of her prophetic enthusiasm shines through the irony, with which she places the vain pride of unbelieving enemies over against the almighty power of God. It is not an irony of hatred, disfiguring the face with scornful smiles, but such as springs from the consciousness that God’s wisdom and power are superior to all heroes and heathen. Verse 23, pronouncing the ban against Meroz, says, “thus proclaims the messenger of God.” The name of God is the source of all power and authority. Apostasy from God incurs the ban; whoever helps to advance his works, is blessed.
Jdg_5:24-25. Blessed among women be Jael. Meroz did not come to the help of the people of God. Jael came, though a woman; and not of Israel, but a dweller in tents. The name of her husband is mentioned to distinguish her from others of the same name, and also to give him an interest in the fame of his wife. Accordingly, for her sake, he also has obtained a place in the records of history. The blessing which she enjoys before all women “in the tent,” i.e. before all who like herself and the Kenites wandered about in tents, after the manner of nomads, she did not win by accident. She made an energetic use of her opportunity. She deceives the flying Sisera by the signs of homage which she presents to him. He asks only for water; she offers him milk, and, as was befitting with such a guest, כְּסֵפֶל אַרּירִים, in a bowl such as princes use. She takes the handsome show-bowl, not used on ordinary occasions, and hands him תֶמְאָה. This word, which also signifies butter, expresses in general the more solid forms of milk. Here, where it stands parallel with תָלָכ, it signifies, in harmony with the “show-bowl,” the best milk, the cream. There is absolutely nothing to suggest the opinion of older expositors (Schnurrer, p. 83, received by Herder also) that she wished to intoxicate him with the milk. Moreover, we need not assume that the milk was camel-milk; and, at all events, the intoxicating property of that milk62 must have been known to Sisera. Before Bochart (cf. Serarius, p. 145), Junius and Tremellius had already expressed the opinion, approved by Scaliger, that in סֵפֶל the Latin simpulum reappears. But saph, sephel, are Hebrew forms of a widely-diffused term for round, scooped-out vessels, whether of larger or smaller size, and may be recognized in the Greek σκάφη, bowl, trough, tub, Latin scaphium, and in the German Schaff (tub, pail), Scheffel (modius), a round measure).63 It is true, however, that sephel continued to be used among the Jews (in the Talmud) and Syrians, and that the shape of the vessel may be most nearly expressed by simpulum, which, as Cicero’s proverb, “fluctus in simpulo”—a tempest in a nutshell—proves, was a smaller drinking-vessel.
Jdg_5:26-27. The first of these verses shows that the narrator in Judges 4 was in possession of traditional information beside that furnished by this Song. The prophetess passes over intermediate, self-evident matters. Sisera, of course, must lie down and sleep, before a woman can approach his head with hammer and nail. The verse depicts the dreadful work and vigor of Jael, as she approaches and drives the nail into Sisera’s head. The terms employed (הָלַם ,מָתַק ,מָתַץ) are such as cause us to hear the blows of the hammer, sounding repeatedly, till she finishes her work. What a terrible picture! Before the warrior stands the kindled woman—the heavy hammer (as Herder finely translated הַלְמוּת עֲמֵלִים, for עַמֵל is one who works hard or heavily, a toiler) in her right hand. The smitten chieftain draws himself together, he seeks to rise, and falls back. Twice more he writhes convulsively, and dies. There he lies, the haughty warrior, who thought to destroy the People of God—slain by a woman in disgraceful flight, far from his kindred, alone and unlamented, an example to conquerors of human weakness and divine power. (שָׁדוּד is the condition of utter lifelessness, when every sound and motion has ceased; hence it stands in contrast with כָּרַע, which describes the wounded man instinctively bending and drawing himself together, as if about to rise.)
Jdg_5:28-31. But the fall of Sisera in the tent of a woman does not complete the picture of the extraordinary triumph. The prophetess shows yet another view. She carries her hearers to a distant scene. While Sisera lies here in ignominious death, what takes place in the palace of his capital? The return of the chieftain, accustomed to victory, has already been long expected. His mother stands at the window above,64 in the airy upper room. Her view commands the road to a great distance. She peers and listens; but still the rolling of the victorious chariots is not heard. No triumphal procession, with Sisera at its head, gorgeously attired and proud of victory, lights up the horizon. A sad presentiment steals over her heart: Why does his chariot delay? she cries, wailingly;65 why does he tarry so long? Is there no car66 coming, to bring tidings at least?—Who should first suffer anxiety, if not a mother? Of a wife, nothing is said; such love thrives not in the harem of a prince. He is his mother’s pride, the great hero, who had hitherto been invincible. What she has in him, and what she loses, concerns no other woman. With this pride, her women, noble ladies, whom her high rank as mother of the all-powerful commander draws around her, comfort her. Victory, they say, has also its occupations. If he has not come yet, it is because these detain him. No other explanation of his non-arrival is possible. Anxiety, therefore, is improper. For it is precisely victory that delays him. This is what her women say to her; the flattered mother admits the justness of their observations, and with them confutes her own foreboding questions.67 The prophetess, with delicate irony, calls the women who thus counsel, “wise ones.” It is the wisdom of a pride that deems it inconceivable that Sisera should not have been victorious; how could he prove unfortunate against this insignificant people! What to them is the God of Israel! It is the booty that hinders his coming. Booty, of course, delays the victor; for he must cause it to be divided. The mother and her women naturally think first of the booty; to them, that is the pith of all victories. Their fancy then proceeds to picture at pleasure the conquered treasures. How much time must it take, before every soldier has the two maidens whom he obtains as booty, assigned to him!68 And then the heap of costly clothing. The purple garments fall naturally to Sisera, for they are suitable only for princes. But each of the others also obtains embroidered garments, always two for each maiden that fell to his share. In this strain they talk with each other, and already imagine themselves to be looking over the goods which Sisera is bringing with him. But all at once the message comes: No booty, no victory—the hero is dead, the army is shattered! All is lost—the castle falls…. So perish they who set themselves against God. Fearful sorrow breaks their pride. But they who love God conquer. Their type is the sun, who like a fame-crowned victor, every morning, every spring, triumphs gloriously, with hero-like power, over clouds and darkness.
Account must here be given for departures from the ordinary division and translation in Jdg_5:30. That verse, like several others in Deborah’s Song, has undergone an incredible amount of conjecture and emendation. It reads as follows:—
הֲלֹא יִמְצְאוּ יְתַלְּקוּ שָׁלָל 1.
רַחַם רַחֲמָיִם לְרֹאשׁ גֶּכֶר 2.
שְׁלַל צְבָצִים לְסִיסְרָא 3.
שְׁלַל צְבָעִים 4.
רִקְמָה צֶבַע רִקְמָתַיִם לְצַוְּארֵי שָׁלָל. 5.
Victors found their greatest satisfaction and joy in the booty. Hence, Moses also makes Pharaoh say (Exo_15:9): “I will pursue, I will divide the spoil.” The women took for granted that Sisera will find (יִמְצְאוּ) much booty, and that consequently a division will commence. Lines 2–5 point out the method of the division. First (line 2) each man gets two maidens, or women. Then the garments are divided. But how this was done, depends upon the explanation of line 5, particularly of the words לְצַוּארֵי שָׁלָל. The difficulty69 under which expositors labored, originated in their failing to perceive that שָׁלָל means the booty of maidens mentioned in line 2. It cannot be denied that שָׁלָל is booty of persons as well as of things, cf. Num_31:11. Zec_2:13 (9) says, “They become a spoil to those who have served them.” In Isa_10:2, widows are called שָׁלָל, cf. Jer_21:9, as also Jer_1:10, where the Chaldeans are spoken of as booty. An entirely analogous error used to be made in interpreting the celebrated chorus in the Antigone of Sophocles:—
̓́Ερως ἀνίκατε μάχαν,
̓́Ερως, ὅς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις·
the word κτήμασι being understood, not of “the unfree,” but always of things (cf. Weimar. Jahrbuch fur Deutsche Lit., ii. 359). The “unfree” booty consists of men, animals, and things. So here, צַוְּארֵי שָׁלָל are the necks of the women taken as booty. For each neck two cloths are allowed. Thus the רִקְמָה רִקְמָתַיִם of line 5 corresponds to the רָחַם רַחֲמָתָיִם of line 2. The division was thus systematized. As many women as each had, so many times did he receive two cloths (for doubtless the dual form here really signifies the dual number). Now, it must not be overlooked that רִקְמָה is used only in connection with the division of the cloths according to the number of maidens. Elsewhere also (Eze_26:16, excepted) רִקְמָה appears as an article of female adornment, cf. Psa_45:15, for instance; also in Eze_16:13, the figure is that of a woman. This confirms the above division, and explains the expression of line Judges 3 : שְׁלַל צְרָעִים לְסִיסְרָא. The רּקְמָתַים, which the chieftain is to receive, are distinguished from the רּקְמָתַיִם, which fall to the maidens. The latter are beautifully-colored female dress-cloths;70 the former belong to Sisera, and are therefore to be taken as purple garments. It is true, צָבַע, in itself, means only to dip, i.e. to dye; but the spirit of the passage invites us to think not of merely colored, but of purple-colored garments, κατ̓ ἐξιχήν. Such garments were worn by princes in battle (cf. Jdg_8:26), and distinguished kings and rulers; by reason of which it was an honor for Mordecai to wear them (Est_8:15; cf. Rosenmüller, Morgenland, iii. 37). It is a proud thought for Sisera’s mother, that the princely garments belong to her son. The repetition of the words שְׁלַל צְבָעִים (line 4) is to be taken as expressive of this her joy. The women do not speak, as has perhaps been supposed, of what they themselves shall receive, but simply represent to themselves how much time must be consumed in dividing so much booty among so many persons, in order to explain that which so greatly needed explanation—the delay of Sisera.
We omit recounting the various different expositions of this section. Nor is room allowed us to notice the manifold endeavors that have been made to analyze the arrangement of the whole Song. Neither Köster’s, nor Ewald’s, nor Bertheau’s division holds good. Le Clerc attempted to arrange the Song according to endings of similar sound,—an attempt that must necessarily fail. On the other hand, alliteration is of such frequent occurrence, as to betray more than anything else the presence of conscious art. Since the Song, however, is not built up of regular strophes, it of course cannot be subject to the same regular laws which govern the Scandinavian poems. But the alliterative form, in its perfect freedom, enhances the power of the Song to an extraordinary degree. It resembles in its effects the pebble-stones of the brook, over which the current flows with augmented force. It would transcend the limits of our present task to institute a comparison between the various productions of the Hebrew muse with reference to this alliterative form. Let it suffice, that in the rendering of the original we have endeavored to give prominence to the delicacy of the alliteration as it appears in this Song of Deborah.
And the land rested forty years. These words do not belong to the Song; but connect themselves with the prose narrative, at Jdg_4:24, into which the poem was inserted.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Deborah, the prophetic Singer. After the victory, Deborah sings a noble song, and thereby enables us to recognize that the spirit which animates her is the spirit of prophecy. The other Judges conquer like herself, but they have left us no songs of victory. But, indeed, they are not said to have been prophets. Only prophetic tongues can sing. True poetry is a sacred art. For that reason, all prophecy is a sublime hymn on judgment and divine redemption. Whatever the prophet sees, he proclaims and sings to the harp of faith. What they believed, that they spake. The wonderful works of God are always spoken of and preached with other tongues and in ecstatic song. Thus, from David’s time till now, the church of God has sung. Hallelujah is the keynote of all church-hymns.
But, just as Deborah, like Moses and Miriam, sang among the people, so the prophecy of song is not confined within the limits of the church. All popular poetry is the product of popular faith. The decay of literature is bound up in the decay of prophetic inspiration. Rhymes and verbal decorations do not rouse the masses. But when the jubilant heart, redeemed, strikes up its Easter-song, then every pulse will beat responses.
Starke: Although God has not committed the regular office of preaching to women, he has nevertheless many times imparted his prophetic Spirit to them, and through them has spoken great things.—The same: All who share in the benefits of God, should also join in bringing Him praise and thanksgiving.—Gerlach: An age in which this sublime, high-wrought, and spirited song could be composed, though full of restless and wildly antagonistic movements, was certainly not without deep and living consciousness of the high and glorious calling of the covenant-people.
[Wordsworth: We have a song of victory in Exodus; we have a song of victory in Numbers; we have a song of victory in Deuteronomy; we have this song of victory in Judges; we have a song of victory in the first of Samuel; we have a song of victory in the second of Samuel; we have the song of Zacharias, and the Magnificat, or Song of the Blessed Virgin, and the song of Simeon, in the Gospel; and all these songs are preludes to the new song, the song of Moses and of the Lamb, which the Saints of the Church glorified, from all nations, will sing, at the crystal sea, with the harps of God, when all the enemies of Christ and his Church will have been subdued, and their victory will be consummated forever (Rev_14:1-3; Rev_15:2-4).—The same (on Jdg_5:17): Here, in Dan and Asher, is the second hindrance to zeal for God’s cause; the other was that in the case of Reuben—comparative distance from the scene of danger, and rural occupation (see Jdg_5:15-16). They who live in commercial and maritime cities, engaged in worldly business, are tempted to prefer their own worldly interest to the cause of God and his Church. They who thus act, imitate Dan, and forfeit the blessing of Deborah. They also who live in country villages, removed from the din of controversy, and engaged in farming and other rural occupations, have strong temptations to live merely to themselves, and to stand aloof from their brethren, and not to listen to Deborah’s voice, and not to flock to Barak’s standard, and fight God’s battle together with them against the heresy and infidelity which assail his Church.—The same (on Jdg_5:18): Zebulun and Naphtali, in “Galilee of the Gentiles,” sent forth champions to the Lord’s battle against the enemies of the Hebrew Church; and their land was afterwards honored as the scene of Christ’s preaching (see Mat_4:13), and gave birth to many of the Apostles, the first champions of the Christian Church against the spiritual Siseras of this world.—The same (on Jdg_5:31): After the stirring emotions of the tempest of the elements, and the rush of the combatants, and the din of arms, and shock of battle, described with wonderful energy in this divine poem, the land had rest; a beautiful contrast, and an emblem of the peaceful calm which will prevail when the storms of this world will be lulled in the Sabbath of Eternity.—Henry: And well had it been if, when the churches and the tribes had rest, they had been edified, and had walked in the fear of the Lord.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[57][Jdg_5:26.—The rendering of יָרָהּ by “her left hand,”—if admissible at all,—must be justified by the assumption of an intended contrast with יְמִינָהּ in the next line. The form תִּשְׁלַחְנָה, according to Gesenius, Gram. 47, 3, 3 is an improper use of the 3d plural for the 3d singular; according to Green, 88, p. 119, it stands for תִּשְׁלָחֶנָּה—“her hand, she puts it forth;” according to Ewald, 191 c, it is simply the 3d fem. sg. תִּשְׁלַח, with an additional feminine characteristic (נָה) in order to distinguish it from the 3d masc. singular. Ewald’s view is also adopted by Bertheau, Keil, and (in the main, by) Bachmann, and is probably the true one.—Tr.]
[58] [Jdg_5:26.—Dr. Cassel’s rendering of the last two lines of this verse is as follows:—
Schwingt ihn auf Sisra, schlägt ihn an’s Haupt,
Schmettert nach und durchbohrt ihm die Schlafe.
We have endeavored to reproduce his alliteration as nearly as possible, but have nevertheless lost the paranomasia of הָלְמָה with חַלְמוּת, hammer, in the preceding line, for which our author has Schlägel, mallet, beetle. The awful energy of the lines, and their onomatopoetic character, may be distantly and somewhat inelegantly imitated in English, thus—
“She hammers Sisera, mashes his head,
Smashes (him), and crashes through his temples.”—Tr.]
[59] [Jdg_5:27.—The above translation of this verse disregards the Masoretic text-division (according to which שָׁכַכ, “he lies,” belongs to the first line), and takes כַּאֲשֶׁר in a temporal instead of local sense. The radical meaning of כָּרַע is probably “to bend or contract one’s self” (cf. Ges. Lex., Keil, Bachmann), the usual sense “to kneel” being derivative. The mortally wounded Sisera, pinned to the ground (Jdg_4:21), involuntarily curls himself together, as Dr. Cassel says—i. e. brings his knees forward and upward. But Dr. Cassel’s idea that this involuntary muscular contraction was repeated three times is inconsistent with the proper local sense of בַּאֲשֶׁר, and with the repeated נָפַל. Dr. Cassel, it is true, seeks to avoid the latter difficulty by supposing (see the com. below) that Sisera “seeks to rise, and falls back;” but how could he rise so as to fall back when his head was pinned to the ground? It is altogether more likely that in this song of victory, נָפַל is used as in military language (and perhaps not without a touch of contemptuous irony), for “to die,” “to be slain,” in this sense, נָפַל, like πίπτειν, cadere, and our “fall,” is frequently used, cf. the Lexica. The repetition of the idea of the first line in the second and third springs from the great interest of the singer in the destruction of the much-dreaded chieftain, and serves to intensify the impression to be produced on those who hear her. Accordingly, we would render:—
At her feet he curls himself, he falls, he lies.
At her feet he curls himself, he falls!
Where he curls himself, there he falls—destroyed.
So also Bertheau, Keil, Bachmann. For בֵּין, in the sense of “at” cf. remarks of Hengstenberg on Zec_13:6, in Christol. iv. 106, Edinb. edition.—Tr.]
[60] [Jdg_5:29.—The above translation neglects both the suffix in שָׂרוִתֶיהָ, and the construct state of חַכְמוֹת (fem. of חָכָם). In תַּעֲנֶנָּה Dr. Cassel apparently finds the 3d fem. sing. imperf. with the suffix of the 3d fem. sing. But as the subject is plural, it is better to take תַּעֲנֶנָּה as standing for תַּעֲנֶינָה. The accented é in the latter form seeks to strengthen itself by doubling the following consonant, in which case the י naturally falls away, although it may also remain, as in Mic_7:10. Cf. Ewald, Gram. 17 c. The true rendering of the second line of this verse is much disputed. According to Keil the sense of the line is: “Sisera’s mother, however, does not allow herself to be quieted by the speeches of her wise ladies, but repeats the anxious question, Why does Sisera delay to come?” He and Bachmann translate the verse thus:—
“The wise ones of her princesses answer:
—But she repeats to herself her words—”.—Tr.]
[61] [Jdg_5:30.—On our author’s text-division in this verse, see the Commentary below. Bachmann, who adheres to the Masoretic punctuation, translates as follows:—
“Will they not find, divide booty?
A maiden, two maidens for the head of a man,
Booty of colored garments for Sisera,
Booty of colored garments, (of) variegated work,
A colored garment, two variegated for the neck of the booty.”—Tr.]
[62][When soured. See Winer’s Realwörterbuch, i. 648.—Tr.]
[63]Of two hollow measures, still in use in Damascus, the one is called mudd, the other sumbul.
[64] שָׁקִף .בְּעַד חַחַלּוֹן נִשְׁקְפָח invariably expresses the act of looking out from a height, from a mountain, for instance, or from heaven; also from the upper chambers (Gen_26:8), to which persons of quality (Eglon, for example) retired to cool themselves.
[65] יָבַב ,וַתְּיַבֵּב occurs only in this passage. It is an onomatopoetic word, like the German “jammern,” [cf. the English “wailing.”] In Chaldee, however, it chiefly has the sense of “crying,” “sounding,” in a favorable as well as unfavorable sense.
[66]“Why delay פַּעַם .פַּעְמֵי מַרְבוֹתָיו may be used of any kind of repeated motion, like that of treading; and therefore also of the rolling of wheels.
[67] חָּשִׁיב אֲמָרֶיהָ. The mother replies herself to her own words, corrects herself. She does not answer the others,—an interpretation neither philologically congruous, nor in harmony with the fact that they have not said anything which the mother would wish to refute. Cf. Job_35:4, and Pro_22:21.
[68]The following passage from a letter written by the Emperor Claudius II., after his great victory over the Goths, may serve to confirm our explanation of Jdg_5:30 : “Tantum mulierum cepimus, ut binas et ternas mulieres victor sibi miles possit adjungere.” Trebellius Pollio, cap. 8.
[69]Observable also in Keil’s exposition.
[70][This general explanation of רִקְמָה, as cloth or garments “worked in colors,” is probably to be preferred to the more definite “embroidered in colors,” adopted by Dr. Cassel in his translation of the passage. Keil (on Exo_26:36) remarks that in the only passage where the verb רָקַם occurs, Psa_139:15, it signifies “to weave.” Robinson (Bibl. Repos., i. 610) says: “The verb רָקַם, both in Hebrew and Arabic, signifies to diversify, make variegated, sc. in color; and is not necessarily applied to needlework.” Cf. also Bachmann, in loc.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain is a most graphic picture of the treatment of…
is a most graphic picture of the treatment of Sisera in the tent of Jael.
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 24. Blessed… be Jael — From the cursing of…
24. Blessed… be Jael — From the cursing of Meroz the prophetess turns to the blessing of Jael, and puts the blessing in contrast with the curse. Note at end of chap. 4. This blessing of the inspired poetess, as well as the curse pronounced on Meroz, breathes the spirit of the vindictive psalms. The blessing does not require us to defend the absolute morality of Jael’s act. Grotius had not then written on the laws of nations, nor had the softening spirit of the Gospel yet done its work in exalting the standard of morality. The act of Jael and the song and soul of Deborah were at the level of the laws of war in their age. The prophetess aims to immortalize the heroine.
Women in the tent — Women that dwell in tents; shepherdesses.
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 24. The courageous devotion of Jael is set effectively…
24. The courageous devotion of Jael is set effectively against the unpatriotic selfishness of Meroz. Jael here receives enthusiastic praise for what strikes us as nothing less than a treacherous murder. According to the standards of the times, however, it would not appear in this light at all, and such are the standards by which we must judge the morality of the deed.
the wife of Heber the Kenite] interrupts the parallelism and spoils the rhythm of the verse; it is evidently a gloss from Jdg_4:17, where the words are in place.
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women in the tent] The Bedouin are described as dwellers in tents Jdg_4:11, Jdg_8:11; Jer_35:7.
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 (24) Blessed above women.—Jael would be regarded as a…
(24) Blessed above women.—Jael would be regarded as a patriotic heroine, whose daring had secured to Israel the fruits of their victory. The morals of that early age were not sufficiently enlightened to understand that treachery and assassination are never justifiable, however good may be the end in view. But, as serious moralists, even in the nineteenth century, have held up to admiration the murder of Marat by Charlotte Corday, and have even given to her the title of “the Angel of Assassination,” we can hardly be surprised that Deborah should exult in Jael’s heroism, and her choice of the right side, without expressing—perhaps even without the degree of later moral enlightenment which would have led her to feel—any moral reprobation of the means by which the end was accomplished. But to compare this outburst of patriotic approval for such a deed with the salutation of “Blessed art thou among women,” addressed by the angel to the blessed Virgin Mary (as is done by some commentators), seems to me a most dangerous way of handling the mere words of Scripture, apart from their context and true significance.
Above women in the tent.—The honour paid to her because of her deed would raise her far above the common mass of ignorant and downtrodden nomad women. Instead of a Kenite woman, she would be lauded and honoured as a heroine of Israel.
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 Blessed above women, etc. With the selfish indifference of…
Blessed above women, etc. With the selfish indifference of the men of Meroz she contrasts the valorous enthusiasm of Jael the Kenite, and blesses her for it as emphatically as she curses the inhabitants of Meroz.
The conduct of Jael.
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A moral perplexity to modern times. This arises from the advance, amounting almost to a revolution, in the spiritual sentiment of the world. It is from the higher platform of the New Testament that we see the deed in its true relations and proportions.
I ITS JUSTIFICATION. There are several grounds, upon any or all of which the deed may be defended.
1. That of a relative and imperfect morality. Morality in that age was not perfectly revealed or realised. With increasing light of revelation and spiritual experience come new moral levels and tests. A thing may be comparatively or relatively right which is not absolutely so. The fact that we condemn the action is not due to our superior natural light, but simply to the teachings of Christianity, the outgrowth and perfecting of the crude morality of the Old Testament.
1. On the principle that the obligation to tell the truth depends upon the existence of a normal and friendly relation between men; the permission to kill carrying with it that of dissimulation (Mozley).
2. Because Jael followed as a mere instrument the impulse of the Absolute. Is it not credible that persons may be moved by a superior reason to do things justifiable from the standpoint of that superior reason, but which, if they fully realised what they were doing, would be utterly unlawful for them to do?
II ITS BEARINGS UPON INSPIRATION, etc. OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. The inspiration of Scripture cannot be affected by the inspired sanction of such a deed. Inspiration does not necessarily involve a knowledge of the" whole counsel of God." It has its degrees, and is reliable so far as it goes. A merely human production would have avoided such apparent self-contradictions. That there are moral mysteries and difficulties in the Bible, which are nevertheless seen to have possible solutions beyond the immediate knowledge of man, is a strong presumption in favour of its being Divine.
III HOW FAR IS JAEL AN EXAMPLE TO BE IMITATED? In no wise. This is an exceptional case, all of whose circumstances must be taken into account She is, like many whom a special destiny seems to isolate from their fellows, almost to be pitied, save for the thought that she acted as the servant of God. The instincts by which we condemn her deed are evidently of God, and must therefore be followed. 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 Blessed above women shall Jael . . . be.
Jdg_5:24-27
Blessed above women shall Jael . . . be.
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The blessing of Jael
And whose lips are they which pronounce this blessing? Indeed, it is Deborah the prophetess who sings this song; it is Deborah, by whom God spake, who gives utterance to this strain. It is clear that, revolting as her action appears at first view, there must be a way of looking at it in which it deserves all our sympathy and applause.
I. First, we would observe that human actions are, in Gods holy Word, spoken of as good and righteous, although at the same time it is certain that the best deeds of the best men are alloyed with evil. It would not, therefore, be out of harmony with the tenor of the inspired volume, that Jael should be called blessed for her deed, that her deed should meet with commendation from the prophetess, without it being thereby implied that she was quite undeserving blame. If her act contained some elements of good, amidst much of evil, it might, if the good preponderated, be esteemed and proclaimed as blessed. To this general observation we would add another, namely, that under the Jewish dispensation there was a lower standard of religious perfection than under the Christian. Hence it is that you find the most renowned characters of the Old Testament polluted with sins from which men of ordinary morality among ourselves would recoil. So that Jaels deed is to be judged, not by itself in the abstract, still less by the light of the gospel, but in reference to the code under which she lived, in reference to the knowledge of the Divine will then published among men; and so judged, it is not requisite that it should have been free from all blame in order to obtain praise.
II. But what were the elements of good in this famous act of the Kenite woman? Now we must here remind you of the real character of the Israelitish warfare. It is of course true that always the sword is Gods weapon, as much as the famine or the pestilence. War is the scourge wherewith the Eternal lashes the nations when they wax proud against Him. But the difference between the case of the Israelites and every other conquering race is this, that the Israelites knew their mission, and went forth to execute it at Gods bidding. And now, again, let us apply these principles to the case of Jael. The people of the Lord were in arms against the enemies of the Lord. We do not know whether Jael was a daughter of Israel; if not, her faith, as we shall see, is more remarkable. She had heard of the violence of the Canaanite for twenty years; she had heard that Deborah, in whom dwelt the spirit of prophecy, had aroused the men of Israel against Sisera. To her mind it was not a mere struggle of hostile nations for liberty and power. To her it was the battle of the Lord of hosts against the heathen who refused to worship Him; it was as the mustering of the armies of heaven against the armies of hell. We are aware that it is still open to you to object, that even if the killing Sisera can be justified, the craft which beguiled him must be reprehensible. In answer to this, we remind you of the observations wherewith we started, namely, that we need not prove Jaels act to be free from all defect, we are only concerned to show that it had in it many elements of good; and now we set it forth as an act evidencing strong faith in the God of Israel (faith still more marvellous if the Kenites wife was not a daughter of Israel), as prompted by love for Him, and zeal for His cause. Such love and such zeal, even when evinced by an action not perfectly faultless, might well earn praise. But we go further. It may be doubted how far the treachery of the act, as it appears, was sinful. Is it wrong to use craft against Satan? May we resist the devil only by open force? May we not use prudence and tact and wiliness in avoiding temptation or in abating its force?
III. The whole history of the Israelites is typical of the history of the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ. The delivery of the Jews from their enemies, often as it occurs, is symbolical of the greater deliverance of all people from the thraldom of Satan. And whilst the general history is thus broadly significant, the distinct parts of that history lead us almost irresistibly to the remembrance of particular features in the history of Christs salvation. (Bp. Woodford.)
The blessing of Jael by Deborah
I. The difficulty is not to be surmounted by denying the inspiration of Deborahs utterance. If this were so--if it might be maintained that Deborah is wrong when she pronounces Jael blessed--how are we to know that she is right in her other statements? Upon what principle are we to draw the exact line of demarcation?
II. In what sense are we to understand Deborahs language, and how are we to reconcile it with what would seem, at first sight, to be the true character of Jaels action?
1. Siseras life was, in Deborahs judgment, rightly forfeited. He was the Lords enemy. He represented, in Deborahs eye--
(1) An impure and cruel system of idolatry, which had been sentenced to extermination by God;
(2) a long career of plunder and murder, which had brought untold miseries upon the poor peasants of Naphtali and Zebulun.
2. Deborahs language about Jael is relative language.
(1) Relative to the conduct of other persons than Jael. The contrast is really between the motive and the absence of motive; between the will to do what is right and the absence of will.
(2) Relative to the time and circumstances in which Jael lived, and to the opportunities at her command; or, rather, to the absence of such opportunities. Jaels loyalty to Israel, and to the one ray of truth she knew, is admirable; the method she chose for expressing her loyalty, though for her quite a matter of course and custom, is deplorable. For acting fully up to all the light she possessed she deserved the meed of praise awarded her by Deborah.
III. Concluding lessons.
1. Note the equitableness of Deborahs estimate of Jael. How often do we, in our judgment of others, measure their failures by some standard of which they have never heard, and refuse them credit for excellences which in them are even consummate! Their standard is a very poor and low one, it may be, but if they have had no chance of learning something better, it is the standard by which they will be judged. We do not risk loyalty to higher truth than any of which they know if in judging them we are strong enough to be equitable.
2. This history would be sorely misapplied if we were to gather from it that a good motive justifies any action that is known to be bad. Jael could not have been pronounced blessed had she been a Jewess, much less had she been a Christian. The blessings which the ignorant may inherit are forfeited when those who know, or might know, more act as do the ignorant. (Canon Liddon.)
Deborahs praise of Jael
We need not weight ourselves with the suspicion that the prophetess reckoned Jaels deed the outcome of a Divine thought. No; but we may believe this of Jael, that she is on the side of Israel, her sympathy so far repressed by the league of her people with Jabin, yet prompting her to use every opportunity of serving the Hebrew cause. It is clear that if the Kenite treaty had meant very much, and Jael had felt herself bound by it, her tent would have been an asylum for the fugitive. But she is against the enemies of Israel; her heart is with the people of Jehovah in the battle, and she is watching eagerly for signs of the victory she desires them to win. Unexpected, startling, the sign appears in the fleeing captain of Jabins host, alone, looking wildly for shelter. Turn in, my lord; turn in. Will he enter? Will he hide himself in a womans tent? Then to her will be committed vengeance. It will be an omen that the hour of Siseras fate has come. Hospitality itself must yield; she will break even that sacred law to do stern justice on a coward, a tyrant, and an enemy of God. A line of thought like this is entirely in harmony with the Arab character. The moral ideas of the desert are rigorous, and contempt rapidly becomes cruel. A tent woman has few elements of judgment, and, the balance turning, her conclusion was be quick, remorseless. Jael is no blameless heroine; neither is she a demon. Deborah, who understands her, reads clearly the rapid thoughts, the swift decision, the unscrupulous act, and sees, behind all, the purpose of serving Israel. Her praise of Jael is therefore with knowledge; but she herself would not have done the thing she praises. All possible explanations made, it remains a murder, a wild, savage thing for a woman to do; and we may ask whether among the tents of Zaanaim Jael was not looked on from that day as a woman stained and shadowed, one who had been treacherous to a guest. Not here can the moral be found that the end justifies the means, or that we may do evil with good intent; which never was a Bible doctrine, and never can be. On the contrary, we find it written clear that the end does not justify the means. Sisera must live on and do the worst he may rather than any soul should be soiled with treachery or any hand defiled by murder. There are human vermin, human scorpions and vipers. Is Christian society to regard them, to care for them? The answer is that Providence regards them and cares for them. They are human after all--men whom God has made, for whom there are yet hopes, who are no worse than others would be if Divine grace did not guard and deliver. Rightly does Christian society affirm that a human being in peril, in suffering, in any extremity common to men, is to be succoured as a man, without inquiry whether he is good or vile. What, then, of justice, and mans administration of justice? This, that they demand a sacred calm, elevation above the levels of personal feeling, mortal passion and ignorance. Law is to be of no private, sudden, unconsidered administration. Only in the most solemn and orderly way is the trial of the worst malefactor to be gone about, sentence passed, justice executed. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 See how you translated this name in Judges 4:18.
Jael
See how you translated this name in Judges 4:18.
Read full note →
Heber
See how you translated this name in Judges 4:11.
Kenite
Translate the name of this people group as you did in Judges 1:16.
brought him butter
Here "butter" refers to curdled milk. This was the best milk and a favorite drink among Jael's people. AT: "brought him yogurt" or "brought him curds"
a dish fit for princes
This phrase means the dish was of the best quality because princes were given the best things. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
bless
life
tent
prince
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.