Deborah the Judge and Prophetess
Study note
After Ehud died, Israel again did evil and God handed them over to Jabin, king of Canaan, whose military commander Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots. Deborah was a remarkable woman who served as both a prophetess and judge. She held court under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel. She summoned Barak and told him God commanded him to take ten thousand men to Mount Tabor to fight Sisera. Barak refused to go unless Deborah went with him, so she agreed but warned him that the honor of the victory would go to a woman, not to him.
1 After Ehud died, the Israelites went back to doing evil things in the Lord's sight. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
2 So the Lord allowed Jabin, a Canaanite king who ruled from Hazor, to conquer them. Jabin's army was led by a commander named Sisera, who was based in Harosheth of the Nations. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
3 Sisera had nine hundred iron chariots, and for twenty years he brutally oppressed the Israelites. Finally, they begged the Lord to help them. And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.
4 At that time, Israel's judge was a woman named Deborah. She was a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth. And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
5 She held court under a palm tree known as the Palm of Deborah, located between Ramah and Bethel in Ephraim's hill country. The Israelites would come to her there to settle their disagreements. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6 Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam in Kedesh in Naphtali. She told him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, gives you this order: 'Gather ten thousand fighting men from Naphtali and Zebulun. Lead them to Mount Tabor.'" And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
7 "The Lord says, 'I will lure Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to the Kishon River with all his chariots and soldiers. And I will hand him over to you there.'" And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.
8 Barak told her, "I will only go if you come with me. If you refuse to come along, I am not going." And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
9 Deborah replied, "I will definitely go with you. But so you know, you will not get the glory for this victory. The Lord is going to let a woman defeat Sisera." Then Deborah traveled with Barak to Kedesh. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
The Battle Against Sisera
Study note
Barak gathered ten thousand men from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali at Kedesh. When Sisera heard about this, he assembled all his chariots and soldiers at the Kishon River. Deborah gave Barak the signal to attack, declaring that the Lord had gone ahead of him. The Lord threw Sisera's army into confusion. Ancient sources suggest a sudden rainstorm flooded the Kishon valley, making the iron chariots useless in the mud. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
10 At Kedesh, Barak called together the warriors of Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men rallied behind him, and Deborah marched alongside him. 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.
11 Now there was a man named Heber the Kenite who had moved away from the rest of his clan, the descendants of Moses' father-in-law Hobab. Heber had pitched his tent by the large oak tree at Zaanannim, near Kedesh. Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
12 When Sisera got word that Barak son of Abinoam had taken his army up to Mount Tabor, And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 he assembled all nine hundred of his iron chariots and every one of his soldiers. They marched from Harosheth of the Nations to the Kishon River. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 Deborah told Barak, "Get moving! Today is the day the Lord will hand Sisera over to you. The Lord himself has already gone out ahead of you!" So Barak charged down Mount Tabor with his ten thousand warriors right behind him. And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 The Lord threw Sisera's entire army into total chaos in front of Barak and his forces. Sisera himself jumped down from his chariot and ran away on foot. 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.
16 Barak chased the chariots and the rest of the army all the way back to Harosheth of the Nations. Every soldier in Sisera's army was killed. Not one survived. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
Jael Kills Sisera
Study note
Sisera fled to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was a peace agreement between Jabin and the Kenites. Jael invited Sisera in, gave him milk, and covered him with a blanket. When he fell asleep from exhaustion, she took a tent peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple, killing him. Women in nomadic cultures were skilled at setting up tents, so Jael would have been very practiced with a hammer and tent pegs. When Barak arrived looking for Sisera, Jael showed him the dead general.
17 Sisera, meanwhile, had run on foot to the tent belonging to Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. There was a friendly alliance between King Jabin of Hazor and Heber's family. Howbeit 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.
18 Jael stepped outside to greet Sisera. "Come in, my lord," she said. "Come right in. There is nothing to worry about." So he ducked inside her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
19 "I am so thirsty," Sisera told her. "Could I please have some water?" Instead of water, she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up again. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Sisera instructed her, "Stand by the tent entrance. If anyone comes looking and asks whether a man is hiding here, tell them no." Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
21 But while Sisera slept deeply from exhaustion, Jael quietly picked up a tent peg and a hammer. She crept over to him and hammered the peg straight through his skull and into the ground. He died instantly. Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
22 Then, Barak came running by in pursuit of Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, "Come inside, and I will show you the man you are searching for." Barak followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying dead with the tent peg through his head. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
23 That day, God gave the Israelites victory over Jabin, the Canaanite king. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
24 From that point on, the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against King Jabin. In the end, they completely destroyed him. 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.