Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 4:17
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.
17. Clause a taken with Jdg 4:22 implies that Sisera, as he fled from the battle, found a place of refuge close by; but according to clause b taken with Jdg 4:11 Jael’s tent was in the north, near Kedesh-naphtali, 40 or 50 miles from the Kishon valley. The inconsistencies of the narrative can only be explained by supposing that the two stories of Jabin and Sisera have been combined by a sentence designed to harmonize them, 17b. Jael certainly belongs to the story of Sisera; it has been suggested that Heber belongs to that of Jabin. But we cannot separate Jael from Heber; it would be irregular to name a prominent Bedouin woman, living in an encampment with her family, without mentioning her husband. Probably we must separate Heber from Jabin, and suppose that the connexion between them is merely editorial; see above on Jdg 4:11. The composite character of Jdg 4:17 is responsible for another difficulty. In Jdg 4:17 Sisera aims for Jael’s tent because of the friendly relations between Heber and Jabin; but in Jdg 4:18 he comes upon it while he is flying, and is persuaded by Jael to turn aside. By inserting after fled away on his feet a verb and came we gain some relief, but it is better to regard clause b as not belonging to the original form of the narrative. ‘ Jael’s tent’ is mentioned because as the wife of a Bedouin chief she would have a tent of her own.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Sisera went, not to Hebers tent, but to Joels, as more secure from pursuit. Women occupied a separate tent. Gen 18:6, Gen 18:10; Gen 24:67.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
To the tent of Jael; for women had their tents apart from their husbands, Gen 24:67; 31:33. And here he thought to lurk more securely than in her husbands tent.
There was peace; not a league or covenant of friendship, which they were forbidden to make with that cursed people, but only a cessation of hostilities, which he afforded them because they were a peaceable people, abhorring war, and wholly minding pasturage, and were not Israelites, with whom his principal quarrel was; and especially by Gods overruling disposal of his heart to favour them who were careful to keep themselves uncorrupted with Israels sins, and therefore are preserved from their plagues.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17, 18. Sisera fled . . . to thetent of JaelAccording to the usages of nomadic people, theduty of receiving the stranger in the sheik’s absence devolves on hiswife, and the moment the stranger is admitted into his tent, hisclaim to be defended or concealed from his pursuers is established.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Howbeit, Sisera fled away on his feet,…. Got off, and made his escape
to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; before spoken of, Jud 4:11; and he made to that, because he might think himself safer in a tent than in a town; and especially in the tent of a woman, where he might imagine no search would be made; for women of note, in those times, had separate tents, see Ge 24:67; and the rather he made his escape hither for a reason that follows:
for [there was] peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; which Jabin might the more readily come into, because these were not Israelites, nor did they make any claim to the country, and lived only in tents, and attended their flocks, and were a quiet people, and not at all disposed to war; and it might be so ordered by the providence of God, as a rebuke to the Israelites for their sins, when those who were only proselytes kept close to the worship of God, and so enjoyed liberty, peace, and prosperity.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sisera took refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, to escape the sword of the Israelites, as king Jabin lived at peace with the house of Heber, i.e., with this branch of the Kenites.
Jdg 4:18 Jael received the fugitive into her tent in the usual form of oriental hospitality ( , as in Gen 19:2-3, to turn aside from the road and approach a person), and covered him with a covering ( , . . , covering, or rug), that he might be able to sleep, as he was thoroughly exhausted with his flight.
Jdg 4:19 On his asking for water to drink, as he was thirsty ( , defective form for ), she handed him milk from her bottle, and covered him up again. She gave him milk instead of water, as Deborah emphatically mentions in her song in Jdg 5:25, no doubt merely for the purpose of giving to her guest a friendly and hospitable reception. When Josephus affirms, in his account of this event (Ant. v. 5, 4), that she gave him milk that was already spoiled ( ), i.e., had turned sour, and R. Tanchum supposes that such milk intoxicated the weary man, these are merely later decorations of the simple fact, that have no historical worth whatever.
Jdg 4:20-21 In order to be quite sure, Sisera entreated his hostess to stand before the door and turn any one away who might come to her to seek for one of the fugitives. is the imperative for rof , as the syntax proves that the word cannot be an infinitive. The anomaly apparent in the use of the gender may be accounted for on the ground that the masculine was the more general form, and might therefore be used for the more definite feminine. There are not sufficient grounds for altering it into , the inf. abs. Whether Jael complied with this wish is not stated; but in the place of anything further, the chief fact alone is given in Jdg 4:21, namely, that Jael took a tent-plug, and went with a hammer in her hand to Sisera, who had fallen through exhaustion into a deep sleep, and drove the plug into his temples, so that it penetrated into the earth, or the floor. The words are introduced as explanatory of the course of the events: “ but he was fallen into a deep sleep, and exhausted, ” i.e., had fallen fast asleep through exhaustion. “ And so he died.” is attached as a consequence to … , whereas belongs to the parenthetical clause . This is the explanation adopted by Rosenmller, and also in the remark of Kimchi: “the words indicate the reason why Sisera neither heard Jael approach him, nor was conscious of the blow inflicted upon him.” For the combination of with , “then he became exhausted and died,” which Stud. and Bertheau support, does not give any intelligible thought at all. A man who has a tent-peg driven with a hammer into his temples, so that the peg passes through his head into the ground, does not become exhausted before he dies, but dies instantaneously. And , from , equivalent to (Jer 4:31), or , and written with Patach in the last syllable, to distinguish it from , volare, has no other meaning than to be exhausted, in any of the passages in which it occurs (see 1Sa 14:28, 1Sa 14:31; 2Sa 21:15). The rendering adopted by the lxx, , cannot be grammatically sustained.
Jdg 4:22 When Barak, who was in pursuit of Sisera, arrived at Jael’s tent, she went to meet him, to show him the deed which he had performed. Thus was Deborah’s prediction to Barak (Jdg 4:9) fulfilled. The Lord had sold Sisera into the hand of a woman, and deprived Barak of the glory of the victory. Nevertheless the act itself was not morally justified, either by this prophetic announcement, or by the fact that it is commemorated in the song of Deborah in Jdg 5:24. Even though there can be no doubt that Jael acted under the influence of religious enthusiasm for the cause of Israel and its God, and that she was prompted by religious motives to regard the connection of her tribe with Israel, the people of the Lord, as higher and more sacred, not only than the bond of peace, in which her tribe was living with Jabin the Canaanitish king, but even than the duties of hospitality, which are so universally sacred to an oriental mind, her heroic deed cannot be acquitted of the sins of lying, treachery, and assassination, which were associated with it, by assuming as Calovius, Buddeus, and others have done, that when Jael invited Sisera into her tent, and promised him safety, and quenched this thirst with milk, she was acting with perfect sincerity, and without any thought of killing him, and that it was not till after he was fast asleep that she was instigated and impelled instinctu Dei arcano to perform the deed. For Jehovah, the God of Israel, not only abhors lying lips (Pro 12:22), but hates wickedness and deception of every kind. It is true, He punishes the ungodly at the hand of sinners; but the sinners whom He employs as the instruments of His penal justice in carrying out the plans of His kingdom, are not instigated to the performance of wicked deeds by an inward and secret impulse from Him. God had no doubt so ordered it, that Sisera should meet with his death in Jael’s tent, where he had taken refuge; but this divine purpose did not justify Jael in giving to the enemy of Israel a hospitable reception into her tent, making him feel secure both by word and deed, and then murdering him secretly while he was asleep. Such conduct as that was not the operation of the Spirit of God, but the fruit of a heroism inspired by flesh and blood; and even in Deborah’s song (Jdg 5:24.) it is not lauded as a divine act.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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 show 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.
We have seen the army of the Canaanites totally routed. It is said (Psa 83:9; Psa 83:10, where the defeat of this army is pleaded as a precedent for God’s doing the like in after times) that they became as dung for the earth. Now here we have,
I. The fall of their general, Sisera, captain of the host, in whom, it is likely, Jabin their king put an entire confidence, and therefore was not himself present in the action. Let us trace the steps of this mighty man’s fall.
1. He quitted his chariot, and took to his feet, Jdg 4:15; Jdg 4:17. His chariots had been his pride and his confidence; and we may suppose he had therefore despised and defied the armies of the living God, because they were all on foot, and had neither chariot nor horse, as he had. Justly therefore is he thus made ashamed of his confidence, and forced to quit it, and thinks himself then most safe and easy when he has got clear of his chariot, though we may well suppose it the best made, and best drawn, of any of them. Thus are those disappointed who rest on the creature; like a broken reed, it not only breaks under them, but runs into their hand, and pierceth them with many sorrows. The idol may quickly become a burden (Isa. xlvi. 1), and what we were sick for God can make us sick of. How miserable doth Sisera look now he is dismounted! It is hard to say whether he blusheth or trembleth more. Put not your trust in princes, if they may so soon be brought to this, if he who but lately trusted to his arms with so much assurance must now trust to his heels only with so little.
2. He fled for shelter to the tents of the Kenites, having no strong-hold, nor any place of is own in reach to retire to. The mean and solitary way of the Kenites’ living, perhaps, he had formerly despised and ridiculed, and the more because religion was kept up among them; yet now he is glad to put himself under the protection of one of these tents: and he chooses the wife’s tent or apartment, either because less suspected, or because it happened to be next to him, and the first he came to, v. 17. And that which encouraged him to go thither was that at this time there was peace between his master and the house of Heber: not that there was any league offensive and defensive between them, only at present there were no indications of hostility. Jabin did them no harm, did not oppress them as he did the Israelites, their plain, quiet, harmless way of living making them not suspected nor feared, and perhaps God so ordering it as a recompence for their constant adherence to the true religion. Sisera thought he might therefore be safe among them; not considering that, though they themselves suffered not by Jabin’s power, they heartily sympathized with the Israel of God that did.
3. Jael invited him in, and bade him very welcome. Probably she stood at the tent door, to enquire what news from the army, and what the success of the battle which was fought not far off. (1.) She invited him in. Perhaps she stood waiting for an opportunity to show kindness to any distressed Israelite, if there should be occasion for it; but seeing Sisera come in great haste, panting and out of breath, she invited him to come and repose himself in her tent, in which, while she seemed to design the relieving of his fatigue, perhaps she really intended the retarding of his flight, that he might fall into the hands of Barak, who was not in a hot chase after him (v. 18), and it may well questioned whether she had at first any thought of taking away his life, but rather God afterwards put it into her heart. (2.) She made very much of him, and seemed mighty careful to have him easy, as her invited guest. Was he weary? she finds him a very convenient place to repose himself in, and recruit his strength. Was he thirsty? well he might. Did he want a little water to cool his tongue? the best liquor her tent afforded was at his service, and that was milk (v. 19), which, we may suppose, he drank heartily of, and, being refreshed with it, was the better disposed to sleep. Was he cold, or afraid of catching cold? or did he desire to be hid from the pursuers, if they should search that tent? she covered him with a mantle, v. 18. All expressions of care for his safety. Only when he desired her to tell a lie for him, and to say he was not there, she declined making any such promise, v. 20. We must not sin against God, no, not to oblige those we would show ourselves most observant of. Lastly, We must suppose she kept her tent as quiet as she could, and free from noise, that he might sleep the sooner and the faster. And now was Sisera least safe when he was most secure. How uncertain and precarious is human life! and what assurance can we have of it, when it may so easily be betrayed by those with whom it is trusted, and those may prove its destroyers who we hoped would be its protectors! It is best making God our friend, for he will not deceive us.
4. When he lay fast asleep she drove a long nail through his temples, so fastened his head to the ground, and killed him, v. 21. And, though this was enough to do the business, yet, to make sure work (if we translate it rightly, ch. v. 26), she cut off his head, and left it nailed there. Whether she designed this or no when she invited him into her tent does not appear; probably the thought was darted into her mind when she saw him lie so conveniently to receive such a fatal blow; and, doubtless, the thought brought with it evidence sufficient that it came not from Satan as a murderer and destroyer, but from God as a righteous judge and avenger, so much of brightness and heavenly light did she perceive in the inducements to it that offered themselves, the honour of God and the deliverance of Israel, and nothing of the blackness of malice, hatred, or personal revenge. (1.) It was a divine power that enabled her to do it, and inspired her with a more than manly courage. What if her hand should shake, and she should miss her blow? What if he should awake when she was attempting it? Or suppose some of his own attendants should follow him, and surprise her in the face, how dearly would she and all hers be made to pay for it? Yet, obtaining help of God, she did it effectually. (2.) It was a divine warrant that justified her in the doing of it; and therefore, since no such extraordinary commissions can now be pretended, it ought not in any case to be imitated. The laws of friendship and hospitality must be religiously observed, and we must abhor the thought of betraying any whom we have invited and encouraged to put a confidence in us. And, as to this act of Jael (like that of Ehud in the chapter before), we have reason to think she was conscious of such a divine impulse upon her spirit to do it as did abundantly satisfy herself (and it ought therefore to satisfy us) that it was well done. God’s judgments are a great deep. The instrument of this execution was a nail of the tent, that is, one of the great pins with which the tent, or the stakes of it, were fastened. They often removing their tents, she had been used to drive these nails, and therefore knew how to do it the more dexterously on this great occasion. he that thought to destroy Israel with his many iron chariots is himself destroyed with one iron nail. Thus do the weak things of the world confound the mighty. See here Jael’s glory and Sisera’s shame. The great commander dies, [1.] In his sleep, fast asleep, and weary. It comes in as a reason why he stirred not, to make resistance. So fettered was he in the chains of sleep that he could not find his hands. Thus the stout-hearted are spoiled at thy rebuke, O God of Jacob! they are cast into a dead sleep, and so are made to sleep their last, Psa 76:5; Psa 76:6. Let not the strong man then glory in his strength; for when he sleeps where is it? It is weak, and he can do nothing; a child may insult him then, and steal his life from him; and yet if he sleep not he is soon spent and weary, and can do nothing either. Those words which we here put in a parenthesis (for he was weary) all the ancient versions read otherwise: he struggled (or started, as we say) and died, so the Syriac and Arabic, Exagitans sese mortuus est. He fainted and died, so the LXX. Consocians morte soporem, so the vulgar Latin, joining sleep and death together, seeing they are so near akin. He fainted and died. He dies, [2.] With his head nailed to the ground, an emblem of his earthly-mindedness. O curve in terram anim! His ear (says bishop Hall) was fastened close to the earth, as if his body had been listening what had become of his soul. He dies, [3.] By the hand of a woman. This added to the shame of his death before men; and had he but known it, as Abimelech (ch. ix. 54), we may well imagine how much it would have added to the vexation of his own heart.
II. The glory and joy of Israel hereupon. 1. Barak their leader finds his enemy dead, (v. 22), and no doubt, he was very well pleased to find his work done so well to his hand, and so much to the glory of God and the confusion of his enemies. had he stood too nicely upon a point of honour, he would have resented it as an affront to have the general slain by any hand but his; but now he remembered that this diminution of his honour he was sentenced to undergo, for insisting upon Deborah’s going with him (the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman), though then it was little thought that the prediction would be fulfilled in such a way as this. 2. Israel is completely delivered out of the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, Jdg 4:23; Jdg 4:24. They not only shook off his yoke by this day’s victory, but they afterwards prosecuted the war against him, till they had destroyed him, he and his nation being by the divine appointment devoted to ruin and not to be spared. The Israelites, having soundly smarted for their foolish pity in not doing it before, resolved now it is in their power to indulge them no longer, but to make a thorough riddance of them, as a people to whom to show mercy was as contrary to their own interest as it was to God’s command; and probably it is with an eye to the sentence they were under that this enemy is named three times here in these Jdg 4:23; Jdg 4:24, and called king of Canaan; for as such he was to be destroyed; and so thoroughly was he destroyed that I do not remember to read of the kings of Canaan any more after this. The children of Israel would have prevented a great deal of mischief if they had sooner destroyed these Canaanites, as God had both commanded and enabled them; but better be wise late, and buy wisdom by experience, than never wise.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Jael’s Deed, vs. 17-24
When Sisera forsook his chariot he did not flee toward Harosheth as the army did, but headed for the camp of Heber to hide out there. This was probably a ruse to throw the Israelites off his track. It appeared that he had made a wise move, for Jael, Heber’s wife, hurried out to meet him and invited him to turn in to her tent and hide.
Sisera fully trusted Jael When he asked her for a drink of water she gave him miLu Sisera was exhausted and needed the nourishment the milk provided. She gave him a place in the tent and concealed him under a mantle. Before he fell into a sleep of exhaustion Sisera cautioned Jael to stand in her tent door- and when any man came to inquire to say there was no man there.
We do not know why Heber collaborated with Sisera against Israel. It may have been that he feared him. If he was friendly with Sisera the feeling must not have extended to Jael, for she used the opportunity which was presented her to kill the captain of the Canaanite host. As soon as he was soundly sleeping Jael took a tent nail and a hammer, approached the sleeper stealthily, and drove the spike through his temples. Jael was a daring woman, for she did not cease her blows until she had driven the spike completely through Sisera’s head and fastened him to the ground.
How can such a murderous act be excused? Again it was the judgment of God on the enemy of His people, and Jael was blessed for her deed. It rid that land of one who opposed himself to God and the ways of God. When Barak finally found Sisera’s trail and followed it to Jael’s tent Jael invited him in to gaze upon the dead body of his enemy. No doubt, Barak understood then what Deborah meant when she said the Lord would sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.
Once again the Canaanites were totally subdued and their power eradicated. We do not again read of their rising to cause trouble to Israel.
From Judges, chapter 4, let us learn that 1) the Lord chastises His people every time they turn away from Him; 2) the faith of one strong Christian can bolster the faith of a weaker one; 3) physical might cannot prevail against the Lord; 4) those who defy God will utterly perish.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Death of Sisera Jdg. 4:17-24
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 inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No,
21 Then Jael Hebers wife took a nail of the tent, and took a 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 show 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.
12.
What was Jaels motive? Jdg. 4:17
Jael wanted to aid Israels cause. Jael was not proposing any lewd act on the part of Sisera. When she invited him into her tent, she was not trying to propose any indecent act on her part, She did have in mind evidently that she would be able to bring about the capture of the enemy captain. Such courageous feats are accomplished often by women who are aroused over injustice and oppression brought on their communities by harsh rulers. Jael has won a place in the hearts of righteous people through the centuries as they have read of her being moved to slay the enemy captain.
13.
What kind of a bottle contained the milk? Jdg. 4:19
This very interesting incidental reference to the way in which milk was kept is unique in the Scripture. The bottle was undoubtedly either some kind of a jug made of clay, or a pouch made from the skin of an animal. This was a very gracious act of hospitality. Sisera had asked only for a little water to drink. He was thirsty as he had fled from the battle, and Jael had given him more than he had asked. She offered him milk which would give him strength as well as slake his thirst.
14.
What kind of a nail was used? Jdg. 4:21
Since the Canaanites were in possession of chariots of iron, Jael would undoubtedly have had possession of a nail of iron. Some feel that a wooden tent peg was used. In any case, it was of large size because she was able to drive it not only through Siseras head but into the ground beneath his head. Such pegs were necessary to support the tents pitched by nomadic people. Fierce winds would flatten their places of abode if the cords were not held taut by pegs or nails driven firmly into the earth.
15.
In what way was Jabin subdued? Jdg. 4:23
The Scripture says that God subdued Jabin that day. God fought for Israel as has been said in many passages of Scripture. At the same time, it is recorded that the hand of the children of Israel was hard against Jabin. They pursued him until they had utterly destroyed him. His chariots of iron were not enough to bring him victory as he fought against the Lords people. The smashing blow dealt him in this battle broke the hard hand of oppression in which he had held Israel.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) Fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael.In a different direction from that taken by his army, which fled towards Harosheth (Kimchi). The expression is probably used by anticipation. He could hardly have meant to fly to Jael rather than to Heber, until Jael came to meet him, unless there are circumstances unknown to us. Women had separate tents (Gen. 18:6), and these were regarded as inviolably secure. He thought that there he would lie unsuspected till the pursuers passed (comp. Gen. 24:67). The name Jael means gazelle (like Tabitha, Dorcas), a fit name for a Bedouins wifeespecially for one whose family had come from the rocks of Engedi, the spring of the wild goat or chamois (Stanley).
For there was peace.This enabled Sisera boldly to appeal to these nomads for dakheelthe sacred duty of protection. A poor strolling Bedouin tribe might well be left by Jabin to its natural independence; tribute can only be secured from Fellahni.e., from settled tribes. Three days must have elapsed since the battle before it would be possible for Sisera to fly on foot from the Kishon to the nomads terebinth. It may well be conceived that the unfortunate general arrived there in miserable plighta starving and ruined fugitive.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Tent of Jael According to Dr. Thomson, Heber had removed for the time from his home near Kedesh, and pitched his tent for winter quarters at the border of the Plain of Esdraelon. Hence the tent of Jael was not so far from the battle field as Kedesh, which was nearly two days’ journey distant. “I once,” says Thomson, “crossed the lower part of Esdraelon in the winter. It was then full of Arab tents, and at first I felt a little nervous; but my guide assured me there was no danger, for he was well acquainted with these Arabs. Their home was in the mountains north of Nazareth, and they only came down here to pass the cold months of winter. This was the very thing that Heber did, and who knows but these Arabs are lineal descendants of that heroic Jaal.”
Peace between Jabin and Heber This shows why Sisera so readily entered Jael’s tent, and seemed to have such confidence in her. He was probably acquainted with Jael, and knew of Heber’s alliance with Jabin, and fled to her tent with the purpose and expectation of being sheltered there.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ 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.’
Before going into detail the writer summarised what was to happen, and humiliates Sisera. ‘He fled away on his feet’. That mighty charioteer of Canaan, running for his life, his chariot deserted. ‘To the tent of Jael.’ The very thought would startle the listener. They would freeze at the thought. That was unforgivable. His ally’s wife’s tent, a place he should never ever have considered entering, even in his last extremity. And yet it offered safety, for no one would imagine him entering such a place.
“For there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.” Not a peace between equals but a peace because Heber and his encampment were useful as metalworkers. They had received permission from Jabin to camp there because their activities were useful, and they presented no threat. But under such a treaty Sisera should have been concerned to protect his ally’s wife.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 4:17-20. Sisera fledto the tent of Jael The common Arabs so far observe the modes of the east, as to have a separate apartment in their tents for their wives, made by letting down a curtain, or a carpet, upon occasion, from one of their pillars; though they are not so rigid as some of the eastern people in these matters. Dr. Pococke tells us, that his conductor, who was an Arab, led him two or three miles to his tent, where there was an encampment of Arabs; and that there he sat down with his conductor’s wife and others round the fire.”The Arabs,” says he, “are not so scrupulous as the Turks about their women; and though they have their harem, or woman’s part of the tent, yet such as they are acquainted with come into them. I was kept in the harem for greater security, the wife being always with me; no stranger ever daring to come into the woman’s apartment, unless introduced.” According to the custom of the present Arabs, therefore, it was not absurd in Sisera to hope that he might be received into Jael’s tent, the harem of Heber. It appears too, that her tent was a much safer place than any other in that encampment, wherein to secrete himself, as it would have been a much greater insult to this Kenite Emir, for any Israelite to have attempted to search for him there, than in any other of his tents. Observations, p. 79.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The peace here spoken of only implies that Jabin did not tyrannize over Heber’s house, as over Israel’s. The relationship on account of Moses, between Heber and Israel, could not have made Jabin ‘ s cruelties to Israel very pleasing.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 4:17 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.
Ver. 17. For there was peace, ] i.e., Non erant simultates aut bella inter illos, a there was no open hostility: or if there were a league, the Emperor of the world, saith Ferus, had now disannulled it, as having proscribed Sisera, and declared that he should be destroyed, and that by a woman.
a Jun.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the tent of Jael. Note, not of Heber: the woman’s tent, which itself brought Sisera under the death penalty. But there is nothing to apologize for here. The Author and Giver of life came on Jael as on Ehud, and enabled her to save the daughters of Israel from a fate worse than death. Compare Jdg 5:7, Jdg 5:11, Jdg 5:24, Jdg 5:30.
Kenite. Compare Jdg 4:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
fled: Job 12:19-21, Job 18:7-12, Job 40:11, Job 40:12, Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36, Psa 107:40, Pro 29:23, Amo 5:19, Amo 5:20
Jael: Jdg 5:6, Jdg 5:24
peace: Psa 69:22, Isa 57:21
Reciprocal: Jos 11:1 – Jabin Jdg 1:16 – the Kenite Jdg 4:9 – into 1Sa 7:14 – peace Job 27:22 – he would fain flee Amo 2:16 – flee
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of {h} Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
(h) Whose ancestors were strangers, but worshipped the true God, and therefore were joined with Israel.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
However Sisera, the Canaanite commander, fled east to save his skin. He sought refuge in the tent of "Ally" Heber. Little did he realize that even though Heber’s sentiments apparently favored the Canaanites, his wife Jael was a loyal worshipper of Yahweh. She was no compromiser, as her husband seems to have been. That Heber had established very friendly relations with the Canaanites seems clear since Sisera felt perfectly safe in Heber’s tent as he hid from the pursuing Israelites.
It is interesting that Jael commanded the Canaanite commander to "Turn aside" (Jdg 4:18), as Deborah had commanded the Israelite commander to "March to Mt. Tabor" (Jdg 4:6). God was using two women to lead His people to victory on this occasion.
One writer suggested the following translation of the last part of Jdg 4:18 and Jdg 4:19. Instead of "she covered him with a rug. He said to her . . . then she covered him," she divided the Hebrew words differently. She came up with "she overwhelmed him with perfume. He grew faint and said to her . . . then [she] closed it [the container of milk] again." [Note: Elizabeth Wilkinson, "The Hapax Legomenon of Judges IV 18," Vetus Testamentum 33:4 (October 1983):512-13.] While this translation is provocative and possible, the problems with the traditional rendering are minimal and do not require this change.
Sisera "had systematically violated every covenant of the code governing the actions of host and guest." [Note: Victor H. Matthews, "Hospitality and Hostility in Judges 4," Biblical Theology Bulletin 21 (Spring 1992):18.] Sisera should have gone directly to Heber, the head of the household, not to his wife’s tent. This violation of hospitality customs would have alerted Jael that something was amiss. Furthermore Sisera should not have accepted Jael’s offer of hospitality, but when he did, this doubtless indicated to Jael again that his intentions were not right. Sisera proceeded to make two requests of his host. He requested something to drink and that Jael would stand guard at the door of the tent, evidently to lie about his presence, which would have endangered her safety. Good guests did not make requests of their hosts in that culture nor did they put them in danger. So Sisera was asking for trouble.
"Sisera is a famous military commander (Jdg 4:2-3), and since conquering male heroes generally had their way with women (see Jdg 5:30), and since Sisera had violated hospitality customs by entering Jael’s tent, Jael may very well have feared that she was going to be raped. Instead, in what some commentators describe as a reverse rape, it is Sisera who ’gets nailed’ by Jael-literally, by Jael’s use of the hammer and tent peg, and perhaps figuratively as well, a possibility captured by the sexual connotation of the contemporary idiom used above." [Note: McCann, pp. 54-55.]
Jael probably gave Sisera milk [buttermilk? Heb. hem’ah] instead of water (Jdg 4:19) because milk was a better drink and would have assured Sisera of Jael’s good will toward him. Furthermore she may have intended that it would induce sleep in him. Wine has the opposite effect, at least in moderation.
"It was probably a kind of yogurt or curdled milk (Jdg 5:25)-a drink called leben, which is still commonly used by the Arabs." [Note: Wolf, p. 407.]
Jael’s name means "Mountain Goat." Interestingly she did two things we associate with mountain goats. She proved to be a tough creature, and she produced milk.
Note the vulnerability and dependence of Sisera in Jdg 4:19 and his blind self-confidence in Jdg 4:20. He thought he was safe and in control, but he was in mortal danger, about to die, and he did not even suspect it. Such is often the case with people, especially the enemies of God’s people (cf. Pro 16:18).
Even though Jael was God’s instrument of delivering Sisera into the Israelites’ hands, some scholars have criticized her methods. [Note: E.g., Keil and Delitzsch, p. 306. ] Compare Rahab’s lie and Ehud’s strategy. Oriental hospitality required Jael to protect her guest. Instead she treacherously assassinated him. Yet in the light of Sisera’s violation of hospitality customs it seems that Jael’s act was self-defense. Moreover, this was war, and holy war at that. What she did shows her commitment to do God’s will, namely, destroying the inhabitants of the land (cf. Deu 31:1-8; Deuteronomy 32; Jos 1:1-9). [Note: Wood, Distressing Days . . ., pp. 198-99.] I believe that is the reason Deborah honored her in the poem that follows in chapter 5.
"Jael’s actions . . . contain conscious misuse of this [hospitality] ritual to lure Sisera to his death. However, Sisera is more culpable than Jael in his systematic violation of every step in the customary [hospitality] ritual. He brought shame on himself and on the household of Heber by disregarding the proper roles of guest and host. It is the contention of this writer that a conscious effort has been made on the part of the writers/editors of this material to use the strictures of the hospitality code to further heighten the literary character of the story. Each violation provides further assurance to the audience that violence, when it comes, as it surely must, is justified." [Note: Matthews, p. 20. This article provides much help in understanding the hospitality customs of the ancient Near East, some of which continue to the present day.]
"Her dexterity with the tent peg (RSV) and hammer, or wooden mallet, is explained by the fact that the erection and taking down of tents was the work of a woman." [Note: Cundall and Morris, p. 89.]
To die by the hand of a woman was a disgrace in the ancient Near East (cf. Jdg 9:54). Jael reminds me of a charmed snake. Sisera thought he had her under his control, but at the crucial moment she struck him fatally. He died of a splitting headache!
Jdg 4:22 is amusing. Somehow Barak had gotten on Sisera’s trail and finally found his way to Heber’s tent at the east end of the valley. As Deborah had commanded Barak to "Go" (Jdg 4:6), now Jael commanded him to "Come." They used the same Hebrew word in addressing him on both occasions. The man who should have taken the initiative in attacking Israel’s enemy years earlier now got another order from a woman.