After a brief interlude with the story of Ruth that was concurrent with the time of the first judges, Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, Judges 4 continues to chronicle Israel's judges. Continuing the chronological Bible study:
(Judges 4:1) And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead.
At the end of the third chapter of Judges, Ehud had delivered the Israelites from Moab. Shamgar had a brief mention as he delivered them from at least 600 Philistines, but it appears that Ehud was the stabilizing force that allowed Israel rest for eighty years (Judges 3:30). However, after he died, Israel returned to her wicked ways.
(2) And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
Because they did evil in His sight, the Lord delivered them into bondage to Jabin, the king of Canaan. During the time of Joshua, there was a King Jabin of Hazor whom Joshua killed (Joshua 11). This was evidently a successor by the same name who had rebuilt and reinhabited Hazor. It appeared that Jabin kept a standing army to keep Israel in check, and Sisera was the captain of his army. He dwelt in a place called Harosheth of the Gentiles.
(3) And the children of Israel cried to the Lord, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
The children of Israel cried out to the Lord after twenty years of oppression by Sisera. He had cruelly kept them in check with nine hundred chariots of iron. These were not chariots made of iron, but rather they were chariots equipped with iron scythes that stood out from the orbs of the wheels and could slash through any group of people, thus striking fear in the Israelites, and they cried out to their Lord for deliverance.
(4) And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
Deborah, a prophetess, a female prophet who by the Spirit of God declared His will, judged Israel at that time. It is said she was the wife of Lapidoth. However, he is not mentioned anywhere else. As the original word "ishshah" that was translated as "wife" can also mean "woman," this might have as easily been translated as "a woman of Lapidoth," making Lapidoth a place rather than a man. However, there is not a place known by Bible scholars with the name of Lapidoth, so who knows? The fact that it is only mentioned one time in the Bible makes it of little importance either way.
(5) And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
It appears Deborah sat in judgment in the open air under a palm tree that was called by her name. It was located between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. The Israelites came to her there for judgment.
(6) And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, 'Go and draw toward Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun'?"
Deborah called for Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh in Naphtali. She asked Barak if he knew it to be true that the Lord had commanded Israel to go to Mount Tabor and bring ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun. Whether or not Barak knew that the Lord had commanded him to do that, I'm not sure. It might be that this was Deborah's way of informing him that that was what the Lord had said to her, and therefore he could not dare question it.
(7) "'And I will draw to you to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand.'"
Deborah continued with the words of the Lord, that He would draw Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, to Barak at the river Kishon with all his army and 900 chariots of iron. The Lord declared through Deborah that He would deliver them into his hand.
(8) And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go."
I suppose Barak's answer does show faith that the Lord would deliver Sisera into his hand, as confirmed by Hebrews 11 where he is listed as one of the heroes of faith. However, it seems to show a little weakness in him that he must have a woman, Deborah, go with him into battle. Maybe it was because he highly regarded her as an oracle of God and wanted that word of the Lord leading him into battle.
(9) And she said, "I will surely go with you, notwithstanding the journey that you take shall not be for your honor, for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Deborah instantly agreed to go with Barak, but she told him that by her accompanying him, he would not be given the glory for defeating Sisera, but the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman. Indeed, I believe Deborah is better remembered than Barak. Deborah rose up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
(10) And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him.
Barak called the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to him in Kedesh, where ten thousand men were chosen, and those being under Barak's command, and Deborah, went forward with him.
(11) Now Heber the Kenite of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim which is by Kedesh.
Heber, a Kenite from the children of Hobab, actually the son of Moses's father-in-law Jethro, along with all the children of Hobab (see Joshua 1:16), had severed himself from the Kenites, and he dwelt in the plain of Zaanaim which was close to Kedesh.
(12) And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.
It was reported to Sisera that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor. It does not say exactly who reported it. It could have been Canaanites, but it also could have been some of the Kenites who had remained at peace with Jabin as we will see in verse 17. Whether it was out of good will or perhaps ill will to further God's will, either way it was surely God's will that Sisera be informed about Barak being at Mount Tabor.
(13) And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon.
Therefore Sisera gathered together all his nine hundred chariots of iron and all his people from Harosheth of the Gentiles where he resided to the Kishon River which was near Mount Tabor where Barak and his men were.
(14) And Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand; is not the Lord gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him.
Deborah told Barak to rise up for she had been told by a spirit of prophecy that that was the day when the Lord had delivered Sisera into his hand. She assured Barak that the Lord had gone out before him so he might be sure of victory. Therefore he and his ten thousand men went down from Mount Tabor.
(15) And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak, so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet.
The word that was translated as "discomfited" literally meant "to put in commotion." The Lord confused, troubled, and frightened Sisera and his men and even his chariots. The historian Josephus wrote that there was a great storm of rain and hail, and a great wind blew rain in the faces of the enemy that blinded their eyes. The hail numbed their hands so that they could not hold their swords. If all that is true, there would be no doubt that it was the Lord who stirred up the commotion that allowed Barak to come in with the sword and destroy them. However, Sisera jumped off his chariot and ran away.
(16) But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host to Harosheth of the Gentiles, and all the host of Sisera fell on the edge of the sword; there was not a man left.
Barak pursued after the chariots and Sisera's army all the way back to where they had started at Harosheth of the Gentiles. Everyone of Sisera's army was killed. There was not a single man left of his army, but Sisera himself had escaped.
(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.
Sisera had fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, because there had been peace between Jabin the king and the house of Heber, so he felt he would be safe there.
(18) And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not." And when he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a rug.
Indeed, Jael went out to meet Sisera and invited him to turn into her tent and not be afraid, insinuating he would be safe there. When he came into her tent, she covered him with a rug perhaps to hide him, or it may have been a blanket made similarly as a rug just to comfort and warm him.
(19) And he said to her, "Give me, I pray you, a little water to drink for I am thirsty." And she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink and covered him.
Sisera asked Jael for some water because he was thirsty. She actually gave him milk, possibly as a courtesy to give him something more nourishing, or perhaps something more than water to make him sleep. She then covered him.
(20) Again he said to her, "Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be when any man comes and enquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' that you shall say, 'No.'"
Sisera spoke to Jael again and asked her to stand in the doorway of her tent, so that if anyone came looking for a man, they would have no need to enter her tent for she would be in the doorway and would answer that there was no one in her tent besides her.
(21) Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent and took a hammer in her hand and went softly to him and struck the nail into his temples and fastened it into the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
When Sisera was fast asleep for he was so weary, Jael took a tent spike and a hammer and went quietly to him and drove the spike through his temples, fastening him to the ground, where he, of course, died. Some of the Biblical scholars I study had a moral dilemma with what Jael did. Only God knows the heart, but He definitely used Jael to deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman as Deborah had prophesied (verse 9). Jael may have been sincere when she encouraged Sisera to come into her tent, but she was later struck by the Spirit of God to kill him. She may have witnessed the rain and hail and chaos that had struck Sisera and his army and may have come to realize that it was of God, and she was therefore led to do what she did. Whatever was in her heart and spirit at the time, we can be sure that God put it there, or He knew what was there and used it for His purposes.
(22) And 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." And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
As Barak was still pursuing Sisera and neared Jael's tent, she went out to meet him and told him she would show him the man for whom he was seeking. This tells me that she was probably Spirit led to do what she did as she knew without a doubt that Barak was looking for Sisera, and she felt safe to invite him into her tent to see him for himself. Indeed, Barak went into Jael's tent and saw that Sisera was dead with the spike still in his temples.
(23) So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. (24) And the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
Thus God had subdued Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children of Israel. The Israelites prevailed against the king of Canaan until they had destroyed him. Scripture does not tell specifically how King Jabin died, but his army and its captain being defeated, the king was apparently easily destroyed.
