Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 4:11

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.

11. Now Heber the Kenite ] The verse explains, with a view to Jdg 4:17 ff., how the Kenites, who belonged properly to southern Palestine (see on Jdg 1:16), came to be in this region: the family of Heber had branched off (cf. Gen 10:5; Gen 10:32) from the main clan, and pitched their tents as far north as the Tree of Bezaanim (so read, as below), near Kedesh. The words even from the children of Hobab Moses are a gloss on from Kain, probably derived from Jdg 1:16 in its original form. It is impossible to reconcile the geographical data in the narrative as it stands. Heber’s encampment is here said to be near Kedesh, which must be Kedesh-naphtali, judging from Jdg 4:17 b, where Heber is brought into relation with Jabin king of Hazor. But Jdg 4:18 ff. require a position for the Kenite tents in quite a different quarter, near the battle-field by the Kishon, on the route of Sisera’s flight. Kedesh and Hazor are elements in the story of Jabin (see Jdg 4:6 n.); while Jael, and from her we can hardly separate Heber, belongs to the story of Sisera; yet in Jdg 4:17 b Heber is connected with Jabin. The difficulty may be relieved by supposing that the writer who combined the two stories, the writer responsible for making Sisera the general of Jabin’s army Jdg 4:7, has here confused Kedesh in Naphtali with another place of the same name, and thus brought Heber into connexion with Jabin, though originally they had nothing to do with each other. Two alternatives as to the position of another Kedesh may be considered. (1) In 1Ch 6:72 a Kedesh in Issachar is mentioned (but Jos 19:20; Jos 21:28 give Kishion), perhaps Tell Ab uds between Megiddo and Taanach; this would suit Jdg 4:11 ; Jdg 4:17 a, 18 ff. Near this must be placed the Tree of Bezaanim, doubtless a sacred tree, not necessarily an oak. The name occurs again in Jos 19:33 (see RVm.), but not in such a way as to determine its situation; it is mentioned as lying on the boundary of Naphtali, and this raises a difficulty it could not be described as ‘near Kedesh’ in Issachar (? Ab uds). (2) Bezaanim (so read for in Zaanannim), Jos 19:33 LXX. B, is identified by Conder ( Tent Work, p. 68 ff.), followed by G. A. Smith ( Hist. Geogr., p. 395f.), with Khirbet Bessm on the plateau W. of the lake of Tiberias; to the W. there lies a Kedesh, 12 m. from Tabor, on the lake; not far off is Dmiyeh, perhaps the Admi of Jos 19:33. We thus obtain the required conditions; but the identifications are very uncertain, and if we accept them we must give up the identification of Harosheth with rithyeh, which would then lie too far from the battle-field. There are difficulties in both explanations, fewest perhaps in (1).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Read, Heber the Kenitc had severed himself from the Kenites which were of the children of Hobab, etc., unto the oak (or terebinth tree) in Zaanaim (or Bitzaanaim, which Conder identifies with Bessum, twelve miles southeast of Tabor, and near Kedesh on the Sea of Galilee). This migration of Heber the Kenite, with a portion of his tribe, from the south of Judah to the north of Naphtali, perhaps caused by Philistine oppression, had clearly taken place recently. It is mentioned here to account for the subsequent narrative, but possibly also because the news of the great muster of the Israelites at Kedesh had been carried to Sisera by some of the tribe Jdg 4:12, whose tents we are here informed were in the immediate neighborhood of Kedesh.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. Hohab the father-in-law of Moses] For a circumstantial account of this person, and the meaning of the original word chothen, which is translated son-in-law in Ge 19:14, see the notes on Ex 2:15-16; Ex 2:18; Ex 3:1; Ex 4:20; Ex 4:24; Ex 18:5.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Heber; the husband of Jael, Jdg 4:17.

The Kenite; of whom see Num 24:21,22; Jdg 1:16. Hobab; called also Jethro. See Num 10:29. From the Kenites; from the rest of his brethren, who lived in the wilderness of Judah, Jdg 1:16; which removal is here mentioned, lest any should wonder to find the Kenites in this place.

His tent, i.e. his dwelling, which probably was in tents, as shepherds used.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

11. Now Heber the Kenite . . .pitched his tentIt is not uncommon, even in the present day,for pastoral tribes to feed their flocks on the extensive commonsthat lie in the heart of inhabited countries in the East (see on Jud1:16).

plain of ZaanaimThisis a mistranslation for “the oaks of the wanderers.” Thesite of the encampment was under a grove of oaks, or terebinths, inthe upland valley of Kedesh.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now Heber the Kenite,…. A descendant of Kain, a principal man among the Midianites; the Targum calls him the Salmaean:

[which was] of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses; who came along with the children of Israel through the wilderness into the land of Canaan, and first settled about Jericho, and then removed into the wilderness of Judah, Jud 1:16;

had severed himself from the Kenites; which dwelt in the said wilderness; to whom he belonged when this separation was made, and on what account is not certain. Abarbinel thinks that it was done now, and with a design to help Israel, that hearing Barak was gone up to Mount Tabor, and seeing Sisera prepared to fight with him, he made as if he was disgusted with his own people, and separated from them, that Jabin, with whom he was at peace, might the more confide in him; when it was out of love to Israel, and with a view to assist them, as occasion should offer, that he removed; but this is not very likely, as these Kenites were a people that kept themselves from meddling with military affairs as much as possible:

and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which [is] by Kedesh: for these people dwelt in tents as the Midianites did, from whence they sprung, and as the Scenite Arabs; and yet near to cities, as here, and in places fit for the pasturage of their cattle, in which they were chiefly employed, and here pitched upon a plain where were fields and meadows: the Targum calls it a plain of pools, where were pools of water for the watering of their flocks; or rather it might be rendered the oak or grove of oaks of Zaanaim, the same with Alonzaanannim,

[See comments on Jos 19:33]. This place lay between Harosheth of the Gentiles, from whence Sisera came, and Mount Tabor, where Barak was. This little piece of history is inserted here, partly to account for it that there should be any Kenites here, when we are told before they settled in the wilderness of Judah, and partly on account of the following narrative of Sisera being slain by this man’s wife.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(11) Heber the Kenite.See Jdg. 1:16; Jdg. 3:31; Num. 10:29.

Which was of the children of Hobab.Rather, had separated himself from Kain,from the children of Hobab. Nomadic settlements are constantly liable to send off these separate colonies. The life and movements of the Kenites resembled those of gipsies, except that they had flocks and herds. To this day a small Bedouin settlement presents very nearly the same aspect as a gipsy camp.

The father in law of Moses.Rather, the brother-in-law. The names for these relationships are closely allied. (See Note on Jdg. 1:16.)

Pitched his tent.(Gen. 12:8, &c.) The tents of the Bedouin are not the bell-shaped tents with which we are familiar, but coverings of black goats hair, sometimes supported on as many as nine poles. The Arab word for tent is beit, house.

Unto the plain of Zaanaim.Rather, unto the terebinth in Zaanaim. (See Jos. 19:33.) Great trees are often alluded to in Scripture. (Allon-Bachuth, Gen. 35:8, the oak of Tabor; 1Sa. 10:3, the oak of the house of grace; 1Ki. 4:9, the enchanters oak; Jdg. 9:37; Jos. 24:26, &c.) This terebinth is again alluded to in Jos. 19:33; and the size and beauty of the terebinths on the hills of Naphtali, to which we find allusion in the blessing of Jacob, probably led to its adoption as the symbol of the tribe. Naphtali is a branching terebinth (Gen. 49:21). The word elon () is constantly rendered plain by our translators (Jdg. 9:6-37; Gen. 12:6; Gen. 13:18; 1Sa. 10:3, &c), because they were misled by the Targums and the Vulgate, which render it sometimes by vallis and convallis. They always render the cognate word allon by oak, and, in the looseness of common nomenclature, the oak and the terebinth were not always carefully distinguished. There is a large terebinth, called Sigar em-Messiah, six miles north-west of Kedes. The word Zaanaim (also written Zaannanim) means wanderings, or unlading of tents, with possible reference to this nomad settlement. The LXX. render it the oak of the covetous, because they follow another reading. In contrast with these wandering tents of the Bedouin, Jerusalem is called in Isa. 33:20 a tent that wanders not.

Ewald, following the Targum, makes it mean the plain of the swamp, and this is also found in the Talmud, which seems to indicate this place by Aquizah hak-Kedesh (swamp of the holy place).

Which is by Kedesh.Oaks and terebinths are still found abundantly in this neighbourhood; and such a green plain studded with trees would be a natural camping-ground for the Kenites.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

11. The Kenite On the Kenites, see note at chap. Jdg 1:16. The Hebrew reads, And Heber the Kenite had separated himself from Kain, of the sons of Hobab. Heber’s emigration from the wilderness south of Arad, and his settlement here near Kedesh, is introduced at this point to prepare the reader for what follows in Jdg 4:17-22.

Hobab See at Num 10:29.

Father-in-law of Moses In Numbers he is called the son of Raguel, (Raguel or Reuel is the same person as Jethro; compare Exo 2:18, with Jdg 3:1,) and that is probably the more accurate statement. In this merely casual reference the writer does not pause for exact and detailed statements. According to Cassel “ means to contract affinity by marriage; and just as in German schwaker (father-in-law) and schwager (brother-in-law) are at bottom one, so the Hebrew may stand for both father in law and brother in law.”

The plain of Zaanaim Rather, the oak in Zaanaim. The Zaanannim of Jos 19:33, was probably the same place. “The oak was probably some noted tree, perhaps a patriarch in a sacred grove, beneath or around which the nomad shepherds of those days were accustomed to pitch their tents, as Abraham pitched his by the oak of Mamre. The green pastures which abound around the ruins of Kedesh are studded to this day with large oak trees; and the writer has seen, at more than one place, the black tents of the nomad Turkman pitched beneath them. The name Zaanaim, which appears to signify removings, (as if a camping ground,) has passed away; at least no trace of it has bees discovered.” Porter.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments