Deborah and Barak

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.

Conclusion of Joshua's Conquest of Canaan

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 11:1) And it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor had heard, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 

In the last chapter and post, Joshua had continued his conquest and had destroyed the Canaanite cities of the south.  Jabin, the king of Hazor in the north, heard about Joshua's conquest of the south and was undoubtedly alarmed.  He sent word to kings who were in the north as well, although their exact locations are not known.

(2) And to the kings on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor in the west, (3) To the Canaanites in the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

Jabin sent word to other kings in the north as far south as the plains south of Chinneroth which Biblical commentators think are the plains of Jezreel, and to the west to the borders of Dor on the Mediterranean Sea.  He also sent word to kings in the northern mountainous region to Mount Hermon which was north of Dan.  The map used in the last post to show the southern conquest also identifies some of these places in the north:

(4) And they went out, they and all their armies with them, much people, even as the sand upon the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. (5) And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

These kings went out from their cities with their huge armies, people so numerous as to be compared with the number of sand particles on the seashore, and with many horses and chariots.  The kings all met together and camped at a place called Merom, although that exact location is not known.  Their intention was to fight against Israel.

(6) And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver them up all slain before Israel; you shall hock their horses and burn their chariots with fire."

Even though these armies were apparently much larger than any Joshua had encountered in Canaan thus far, the Lord told him not to fear, for He would deliver them into Israel's hand slain.  He said that Israel was to hamstring their horses rendering them useless and burn their chariots.  The Lord did not want them to fear their many horses and chariots, but it appears neither did He want the Israelites to keep the horses and chariots as they were not to put their trust in such things; it was only in their God who fought for them they should put their trust.

(7) So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell upon them.

Joshua and his army came upon the encamped kings and their armies at Merom suddenly and took them by surprise.

(8) And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel who killed them and chased them to great Sidon and to Misrephoth-Maim and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward, and they struck them until they left none remaining.

The Lord indeed delivered the great armies into the hand of Israel.  The Israelite army killed them and chased the rest into the valley eastward until there were none remaining.

(9) And Joshua did to them as the Lord bade him; he hocked their horses and burnt their chariots with fire.

Joshua did as the Lord commanded and hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

(10) And Joshua at that time turned back and took Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor before was the head of all those kingdoms.

Having destroyed all the armies that had gathered against Israel, Joshua then went to Hazor and took the city and killed its king, for it was the royal city that had been the head of the northern regions that had come out against Israel.

(11) And they killed all the souls in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there were not any left to breathe, and he burnt Hazor with fire.

Joshua and the Israelite army killed all the people in Hazor leaving not one alive, and they burnt the city with fire.

(12) And all the cities of those kings and all the kings of them, Joshua took and struck them with the edge of the sword, he utterly destroyed them as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.

All those cities, Hazor, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, and all their kings, Joshua utterly destroyed and killed, as the Lord had commanded through Moses in Deuteronomy 7:2, "...you shall strike them and utterly destroy them," speaking of what they were to do with the inhabitants of the land when the Lord brought them into their promised land.

(13) But the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only which Joshua burned.

Although Joshua and the Israelite army had killed all the inhabitants and destroyed the cities of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, they did not burn them to the ground as they had done to Hazor.  Those cities still stood in their "strength," the original word being "tel" which meant literally "mound or heap."  Those cities probably stood on hills and were stronger because of their physical positions.  Joshua reserved them for use by the Israelites.

(14) And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a plunder to themselves, but every man they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, they left none to breathe.

The gold, silver, and any goods that survived destruction of the cities, along with the cattle, the Israelites took as their spoil, but they killed every one of the inhabitants of the cities.

(15) As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

As the Lord had commanded Moses regarding what the people were to do when they came into their promised land, Moses had in turn commanded his servant and successor Joshua, and Joshua did all that he had been commanded to do.

(16) So Joshua took all that land, the hills, all the south country, all the land of Goshen, the valley, the plain, the mountain of Israel, and its valley, (17) From Mount Halak that goes up to Seir, even to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon; and all their kings he took and struck them and killed them.

So Joshua had taken that whole land of Canaan including the hill country of Judea, all the south country, all the land of Goshen with its valley and plain, as described in Joshua 10:40-41, the mountain of Israel which may be Jerusalem, and its valley, from Mount Halak on the border of Edom in the south, to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon in the north.  He struck and killed all their kings.

(18) Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

Although the conquests of this chapter are lumped together and appear to have taken place in rapid order, it took five to seven years for Joshua to completely subdue the rest of the land of Canaan.

(19) There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle.

None of the cities of Canaan made peace with the Israelites except for the Gibeonites who had obtained peace, although through trickery.  The Israelites took all the other cities in battle.

(20) For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Lord Himself had hardened the hearts of all the Canaanite inhabitants against trying to make peace with the Israelites.  It had been His will to completely destroy them because of their abominable wickedness (Deuteronomy 9:4-5).  God's will was that the Israelites make no covenant with them or show them any mercy (Deuteronomy 7:2).  However, Israel had made a peace agreement with the Gibeonites, even though the Gibeonites had used trickery to get it.  The Lord did not want any other cities pulling similar stunts, so He hardened their hearts so that all would want to go against Israel in battle where the Lord would have Israel completely destroy them.

(21) And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.

Joshua and his army had destroyed all the cities, and they also at that time cut off the Anakims from the mountains.  The Anakims were a wild, barbarous, and gigantic people who inhabited the mountains in the country around Hebron, Debir, Anab, the hill country of Judah, and all the mountains of Israel.  Joshua had also destroyed the Anakims in the mountains and in the cities which they may have inhabited before, or perhaps had taken possession of after Joshua had destroyed those cities.

(22) None of the Anakims were left in the land of the children of Israel, only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

There were no Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel.  They were either destroyed or had fled to the southern coast of Canaan in what would become the land of the Philistines, in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

(23) So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

Thus Joshua had taken the land of Canaan as described in the past few chapters.  However, there were a few areas that were not yet subdued (Joshua 13:1-6).  Joshua had destroyed and driven out all the inhabitants of the land as had been declared by the Lord to Moses (Deuteronomy 7:2, 11:23).  It was the Lord who had given the land as an inheritance to Israel, but later Joshua would be instrumental in dividing it among the tribes.  I found this wonderfully detailed map of Joshua's conquest, as well as the sites of many historical events before and after the conquest at BibleAtlas.org:

The Joshua conquest could be seen as a symbol of the spiritual conquest that Christians must make.  When we put our faith in Jesus, He goes before us in spiritual battle and subdues all things to Himself, enemies from the outside and the strongholds of sin and lusts of the flesh from within us.  We then may rest from warring against those things when through His grace, we have conquered the flesh, the world, and the devil.  "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)