Deborah and Barak
1After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of Yahweh. 2So Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3Then the Israelites cried out to Yahweh, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
- JUDG 4:1[FULFILLS]When each judge died, Israel would turn back to idols and the cycle would start again ← JUDG 2:18-19MEDIUM
- JUDG 4:2[FIELD NOTES]Hazor was dug by Yigael Yadin and Amnon Ben Tor. Its great fire is debated, and some date it to Deborah's time. See the Hazor Burned Field Notes page in Joshua.
4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.
- JUDG 4:4[NOTE]Deborah was a prophetess and the judge of all Israel, the only woman judge in the book. See the Big Question pages Deborah: A Woman Leading Israel.
6She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely Yahweh, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
- JUDG 4:6[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → HEB 11:32
- JUDG 4:6[FULFILLS]Naphtali is a deer let loose; he uses beautiful words ← GEN 49:21MEDIUM
- JUDG 4:6[NOTE]RED LETTERS. Deborah is passing on God's words, so only His words are red, from Go to the end of 4:7.
8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
9“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because Yahweh will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh, 10where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
- JUDG 4:9[PROPHECY]Deborah prophesied Sisera would be killed by a woman, not Barak → JUDG 4:21
11Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor, 13he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.
14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not Yahweh gone before you?”
So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15And in front of him Yahweh routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
16Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
Jael Kills Sisera
17Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.
20“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
- JUDG 4:21[FULFILLS]Deborah prophesied Sisera would be killed by a woman, not Barak ← JUDG 4:9
- JUDG 4:21[NOTE]In that culture the women set up the tents, so Jael knew exactly how to use a tent peg and a hammer. Deborah's word in 4:9 came true: the honor went to a woman.
22When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple.
23On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.