Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 4:22
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.
22. And, behold, as Barak pursued ] hardly does justice to the original, ‘lo Barak, in pursuit of Sisera’; a remarkable coincidence! cf. Jdg 11:34, Gen 29:6. According to Jdg 4:16 Barak with his tribesmen pursued the Canaanites to Harosheth; Sisera’s hiding-place must have lain more or less on the route. On the difficulties of the narrative as it stands see above Jdg 4:17 n.
23, 24 give Rd’s conclusion of the story; Jdg 5:31 b is the finishing touch.
God subdued ] Instead of God (Elohim) the narrative uses regularly the Lord (Jehovah). For subdued see on Jdg 3:30. It is generally supposed that the stories of the Judges were closed with a brief notice of the subjugation of the oppressors, before the Dtc. redactor expanded these conclusions in his own manner; perhaps the words Elohim subdued formed part of this pre-Deuteronomic editorial work.
Jabin the king of Canaan ] See on Jdg 4:2.
prevailed more and more against ] bore harder and harder upon, cf. Jdg 3:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 22. Behold, Sisera lay dead] What impression this made on the victorious Barak is not said: it could not give him much pleasure, especially when he learned the circumstances of his death.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera,…. Knowing the way he took, at least as he supposed:
Jael came out to meet him; as she did Sisera, but with greater pleasure:
and said unto him, come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest; for she full well knew whom he was in pursuit of:
and when he came into her [tent]; at her invitation:
behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail [was] in his temples: which she did not attempt to draw out, but left it there, that it might be seen in what way she had dispatched him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(22) Behold, Sisera lay dead.Thus the glory, such as it was, of having slain the general of the enemy passed to a woman (Jdg. 4:9). The scene which thus describes the undaunted murderess standing in the tent between the dead and the living chieftainsand glorying in the decision which had led her to fling to the winds every rule of Eastern morality and decorumis a very striking one.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Behold, Sisera lay dead As Barak gazed on the bloody sight, and saw that Sisera had perished by a woman’s hand, he realized the fulfilment of Deborah’s words, (Jdg 4:9,) “The journey shall not be for thine honour, for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man who you are looking for.” And he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.’
Barak, probably accompanied by some of his men, was on Sisera’s track. He would not want him to escape. And Jael went out to meet him. She was presumably expecting pursuit.
“And said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man who you are looking for”.” Her quiet approach, with no sense of exhilaration, but rather with a sense of grim satisfaction, would seem to confirm that she had had a private reason for what she did. She was not celebrating Yahweh’s victory but quietly enjoying her own revenge.
“And he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.” He found the man he was hunting down, lying in the tent with the tent-pin through his temples. She wanted it known what she had done. A woman’s vengeance.
Note that the word ‘come’ used by Jael is the same as the word ‘go’ used by Deborah (Jdg 4:6). Because of his unwillingness to act alone his victory was dependent on two women.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
I leave the Reader to his own reflection, to consider what must have been the thoughts of Barak, concerning divine mercies, when he beheld Sisera dead before him, and was enabled to trace the Lord’s hand in the whole battle. And I would equally leave the Reader to his own reflections, if he will make a comparative view of this subject, with the circumstances of his own life, if so be the Lord hath brought him acquainted with the spiritual conflicts in the life of grace, and hath at any time found such a glorious and unexpected deliverance as this from them. Oh! how sweet, how very sweet is it, to the true soldier of Jesus’s little army, when he speaks of his grace as sufficient for him, and when the Lord’s strength is literally made perfect in human weakness. 2Co 13:9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 4:22 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.
Ver. 22. Sisera lay dead. ] By the hand of woman, which those warriors take for no small disgrace. Jdg 9:54 Heber was perhaps in the army of the Israelites. We read of a brave Hungarian woman whose courage far exceeded the weakness of her sex: for at the siege of Buda, she thrusting in amongst the soldiers upon the top of the fort, with a great scythe in her hand, at one blow struck off two of the Turks’ heads, as they were climbing up the rampart. a
a Turk. Hist., 741.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and I will: 2Sa 17:3, 2Sa 17:10-15
Reciprocal: Gen 37:15 – What 2Sa 10:18 – Shobach
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:22 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 {l} dead, and the nail [was] in his temples.
(l) So he saw that a woman had the honour, as Deborah prophesied.