Judges 4

Chapter context

What is happening in Judges 4?

apostasydeliverancedisorderleadership

Judges 4 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as the incomplete conquest and theological prologue. Judges recounts the troubled era of charismatic deliverers, recurring apostasy, local rescues, and the national unraveling summed up by the line that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Read this chapter with the wider themes of apostasy, deliverance, and disorder in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. ² 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 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 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 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. ⁶ And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, 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 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 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 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. 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. ¹¹ 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 And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. ¹³ 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 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 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 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. ¹⁷ 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 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 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 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. ²¹ 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 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 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.

Study helps

Glossary

Ehud Tribe v. 1: Union. (1. ) A descendant of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 7:10 ), his great-grandson. (2. ) The son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin ( Judg. 3:15 ).
Canaan Place v. 2, 23-24: Biblical region. Modern identification: Canaan.
Harosheth-hagoyim Place v. 2, 13, 16: ( Judg. 4:2 ) or nations, a city near Hazor in Galilee of the Gentiles, or Upper Galilee, in the north of Palestine. Modern identification: Tel Regev.
Hazor Place v. 2, 17: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tel Hazor.
Jabin Person v. 2, 17, 23-24: Discerner; the wise. (1. ) A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into Canaan.
Sisera Person v. 2, 7, 9, 12-18, 22: (Egypt. Ses-Ra, “servant of Ra”). (1. ) The captain of Jabin’s army ( Judg. 4:2 ), which was routed and destroyed by the army of Barak on the plain of Esdraelon.
Deborah Person v. 4-5, 9-10, 14: A bee. (1. ) Rebekah’s nurse. She accompanied her mistress when she left her father’s house in Padan-aram to become the wife of Isaac ( Gen. 24:59 ).
Lapidoth Person v. 4: Torches. Deborah is called “the wife of Lapidoth” ( Judg. 4:4 ). Some have rendered the expression “a woman of a fiery spirit,” under the supposition that Lapidoth is not a proper name, a woman of a torch-like spirit.
Bethel Place v. 5: House of God. (1. ) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz ( Gen. 28:19 ). Modern identification: Beitin.
Ramah Place v. 5: ( Matt. 2:18 ), the Greek form of Ramah. (1. ) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25 , near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel ( 1 Kings 15:17-22 ; 2 Chr. 16:1-6 ). Modern identification: Al Ram.
Abinoam Person v. 6, 12: Father of kindness, the father of Barak ( Judg. 4:6 ; 5:1 ).
Barak Person v. 6, 8-10, 12, 14-16, 22: Lightning, the son of Abinoam ( Judg. 4:6 ). At the summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin.
Kedesh-naphtali Place v. 6: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Qedish.
Mount Tabor Place v. 6, 12, 14: Biblical mountain. Modern identification: Jebel et Tur.
Naphtali Person v. 6, 10: My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid ( Gen. 30:8 ). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons ( Gen. 46:24 ). Little is known of him as an individual.
Zebulun Person v. 6, 10: Dwelling, the sixth and youngest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 30:20 ). Little is known of his personal history. He had three sons (46:14).
Kishon Place v. 7, 13: Biblical river. Modern identification: Kishon River.
Kedesh Place v. 9-11: Sanctuary. (1. ) A place in the extreme south of Judah ( Josh. 15:23 ). Probably the same as Kadesh-barnea (q. v. ). (2. ) A city of Issachar ( 1 Chr. 6:72 ). Possibly Tell Abu Kadeis, near Lejjun. Modern identification: Khirbet Qedish.
Heber Person v. 11, 17: Passing over. (1. ) Son of Beriah and grandson of Asher ( Gen. 46:17 ; 1 Chr. 7:31 , 32). (2. ) The Kenite ( Judg. 4:11 , 17; 5:24), a descendant of Hobab. His wife Jael received Sisera.
Zaanannim Place v. 11: Wanderings; the unloading of tents, so called probably from the fact of nomads in tents encamping amid the cities and villages of that region. Modern identification: Hanot Taggarim.
Jael Person v. 17-18, 21-22: Mountain-goat, the wife of Heber the Kenite ( Judg. 4:17-22 ).