Judges 4:14-24

14 And Deborah said to Barak, Rise thou up, for this is the day, in which the Lord hath betaken Sisera into thine hands; lo! the Lord is thy leader. And so Barak came down from the hill of Tabor, and ten thousand of fighters with him (And so Barak came down from Mount Tabor, and had ten thousand fighting men with him).
15 And the Lord made afeared Sisera, and all his chariots, and all the multitude, by the sharpness of sword, at the sight of Barak, in so much that Sisera leaped down off the chariot, and fled on foot. (And when they saw Barak, and all of his sharp swords, the Lord made Sisera, and all those in his chariots, and all those in his multitude, greatly afraid, in so much that Sisera leapt down off the chariot, and fled away on foot.)
16 And Barak pursued the chariots fleeing, and the host, till to Harosheth of heathen men (And Barak pursued the fleeing chariots, and the army, unto Harosheth of the heathen); and all the multitude of [the] enemies felled down till to death.
17 And Sisera fled, and came to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber (the) Kenite; for peace was betwixt Jabin, king of Hazor, and betwixt the house of Heber (the) Kenite (for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite).
18 Therefore Jael went out into the coming of Sisera, and said to him, My lord, enter thou to me, enter thou to me; dread thou not. And he entered into her tabernacle, and he was covered of her with a mantle (And he went into her tent, and she covered him with a cloak).
19 And he said to her, I beseech thee, give me a little water, for I thirst greatly (for I have a great thirst). And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave (it) to him to drink, and (then she) covered him (up again).
20 And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tabernacle, and when any man cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Whether any man is here? thou shalt answer, No man is here. (And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tent, and if anyone cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Is there anyone here? thou shalt answer, No one is here.)
21 And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a nail of the tabernacle, and she took also an hammer; and she entered privily, and with silence she put the nail upon the temple of his head, and she fastened the nail smitten with the hammer into his brain, unto the earth; and he slept, and died together, and he failed life, and was dead. (And then Jael, Heber's wife, got a tent peg, and she also got a hammer; and she quietly entered, and silently put the peg on the temple of his head, and struck it with the hammer into his brain, and she fastened the other end of the peg into the ground; and so he died in his sleep, yea, his life failed, and he died.)
22 And lo! Barak (had) followed Sisera, and came (up to the tent); and Jael went out into his coming, and said to him, Come, and I shall show to thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he had entered to her, he saw Sisera lying dead, and a nail fastened into his temples (and a tent peg fastened into his temple).
23 Therefore in that day (And so on that day), God made low Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel;
24 which increased each day, and with strong hand they oppressed Jabin, the king of Canaan, till they did him away.

Judges 4:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 4

This chapter shows how that Israel sinning was delivered into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, by whom they were oppressed twenty years, Jud 4:1-3; and that Deborah and Barak consulted together about their deliverance, Jud 4:4-9; and that Barak, encouraged by Deborah, gathered some forces and fought Sisera the captain of Jabin's army, whom he met, and obtained a victory over, Jud 4:10-15; who fleeing on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, was received into it, and slain by her while asleep in it, Jud 4:16-22; which issued in a complete deliverance of the children of Israel, Jud 4:23,24.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.