Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 4:23
So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
Jdg 4:23
So God subdued on that day Jabin.
A great victory–but Gods
I. What he did: God subdued . . . Jabin the king.
1. This is the normal issue of Gods activity. For God to act is for Him to conquer. Where the victory tarries, it is only God waiting.
2. He subdued Jabin the king of Canaan. Who is able to stand against Him?
3. Every oppressor of Gods people becomes His foe. He who molests them virtually challenges God.
II. How he did it: So.
1. By inspiring Deborah with a holy courage.
2. By arrangement. The plan of salvation is only one grand instance of the Divine order,
III. When he did it: On that day. God never miscalculates. The Eternal is never late.
1. It was as soon as they wanted it.
2. It was when they were most ready to receive it.
IV. Where he did it: Before the children of Israel.
1. There are many things which God must do out of our sight.
2. There are instances when He works by signs which are visible–Red Sea; Carmel. This victory was not only decided, but manifest. (E. M. Mouchin.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
So God subdued on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the children, of Israel. Freed Israel from subjection to him and delivered him into the hands of the Israelites; for Josephus o says, that as Barak went towards Hazor, he met Jabin, and slew him; who perhaps having heard of the defeat of his army under Sisera, came forth with another against Israel, which being overcome by them, he was slain, and the city utterly destroyed, as the same writer says; but by what follows it seems rather that the total conquest of him was afterwards and gradually accomplished.
o Antiqu. l. 5. c. 5. sect. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ So God subdued at that time Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel; and the hand of the Israelites became heavier and heavier in its pressure upon him, until they had destroyed him. ” … , “the hand … increased more and more, becoming heavy.” , used to denote the progress or continual increase of an affair, as in Gen 8:3, etc., is connected with the infinitive absolute, and with the participle of the action concerned. is the feminine participle of , like in Gen 26:13 (see Ges. 131, 3, Anm. 3). The overthrow of Jabin and his rule did not involve the extermination of the Canaanites generally.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(23) So God subdued.The word used for God is here Elohim, while Jehovah occurs through the rest of the narrative. We are not yet in a position to formulate the law which regulates the interchange of these names. It need hardly be added that this attribution of the deliverance of Israel to Gods providence and aid does not necessarily involve the least approval of the false and cruel elements which stained the courage and faith of Jael. Though God overrules even criminal acts to the fulfilment of His own purposes, the crimes themselves meet with their own just condemnation and retribution. This may be seen decisively in the case of Jehu. His conduct, like that of Jael, was of a mixed character. He was an instrument in the hands of God to punish and overthrow the guilty house of Ahab, and in carrying out this Divine commission, he, too, showed dauntlessness and faith, yet his atrocious cruelty is justly condemned by the voice of the prophet (Hos. 1:4), just as that of Baasha had been (1Ki. 16:7), though he, too, was an instrument of Divine retribution. To explain this clause, and the triumphal cry of DeborahSo let all thine enemies perish, O Lordas Bishop Wordsworth does, to mean that the work of Jael is represented by the sacred writer as the work of God, is to claim Divine sanction for a wish that wicked or hostile powers should always so perish by cruel and treacherous assassination. At the same time, Jael must not be classed with women actuated only by a demoniacal thirst for vengeance, like Criemhild, in the Niebelungen; or even with Aretophila, of Cyrene, whom Plutarch so emphatically praises (On the Virtues of Women, p. 19, quoted by Cassel); but rather with women like Judith in ancient, or Charlotte Corday in modern times, who regarded themselves as the champions of a great and good cause.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ So God subdued on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children, of Israel.’
Jabin’s efforts through his standing army had been thwarted, and instead it was he who had been subdued. His general was dead, his army decimated. It was something from which he would never recover. Note the use of ‘God’ instead of Yahweh. What had happened in Jael’s tent was not seen as a direct act of Yahweh. She had been inspired by other motives.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
How beautifully the subject ends as it begun. It was not Deborah, nor Barak, nor the ten thousands of Zebulun and Naphthali, which got themselves the victory; but God himself which subdued their enemies, and brought down the king of Canaan under them. Sweetly doth the Holy Ghost teach Israel to sing upon another occasion, which corresponds to this: Psa 44:1-4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 4:23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
Ver. 23. So God subdued on that day Jabin. ] By the death of his general and destruction of his forces. See Jdg 4:16 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ch 22:18, Neh 9:24, Psa 18:39, Psa 18:47, Psa 47:3, Psa 81:14, 1Co 15:28, Heb 11:33
Reciprocal: Jdg 3:3 – Canaanites Psa 74:12 – working
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
This victory broke the back of Canaanite domination at this period in Israel’s history. The Israelites continued to put pressure on the Canaanites until they finally destroyed Jabin and his kingdom. This may have taken several years. [Note: For a very helpful exposition of this chapter with emphasis on its chiastic literary structure, see John H. Stek, "The Bee and the Mountain Goat: A Literary Reading of Judges 4," in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, pp. 53-86.] The Canaanites never oppressed Israel again militarily, as far as Scripture records, but their religion continued to ensnare God’s people (cf. the Moabites’ and Midianites’ two strategies in Numbers).
"If up to now the author of the book of Judges tended to tell of saviors that were raised up, from this war on it is clear that the human heroes are only a background for highlighting the divine salvation." [Note: Yairah Amit, "Judges 4 : Its Contents and Form," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 39 (October 1987):99.]
This is certainly the most important lesson this chapter teaches. However, this story also warns us about putting conditions on our obedience to God. If we do this, God may use someone else, and we will not achieve all we could for His glory. God honored Barak, but he has forever remained in Deborah’s shadow. He defeated the Canaanites, but he failed to defeat their leader.
God uses women in key roles in His work. There are at least 22 individuals or groups of women in Judges , , 10 of these have speaking parts. They are Achsah (Jdg 1:11-15); Deborah (chs. 4-5); Jael (Jdg 4:17-23; Jdg 5:4-27); the mother of Sisera (Jdg 5:28); her "wisest princesses" (Jdg 5:29-30); Gideon’s concubine, the mother of Abimelech (Jdg 8:31; Jdg 9:1-3); "a certain woman" (Jdg 9:53) who kills Abimelech; Jephthah’s mother (Jdg 11:1); Gilead’s wife (Jdg 11:2-3); Jephthah’s daughter (Jdg 11:34-40); the companions of Jephthah’s daughter (Jdg 11:37-38); "the daughters of Israel" (Jdg 11:40); Samson’s mother, the wife of Manoah (Jdg 13:2-25); Samson’s "wife" from Timnah (Jdg 14:1 to Jdg 15:8); the prostitute whom Samson visited in Gaza (Jdg 16:1-3); Delilah (Jdg 16:4-22); the women of the Philistines (Jdg 16:27); Micah’s mother (Jdg 17:1-6); the Levite’s concubine (Jdg 19:1-30); the virgin daughter of the Levite’s host at Gibeah (Jdg 19:24); the 400 young virgins of Jabesh-gilead (Jdg 21:12); and the young women of Shiloh (Jdg 21:21). Remember also the women who ministered to Jesus, Priscilla, Phoebe, and Dorcas, as well as others.
Women could prophesy in the meetings of the early church (1Co 11:5). Just because He has excluded women from the authoritative leadership of churches as elders (1Ti 2:12) does not mean they can do nothing. This limitation has led some to conclude that there are more divine restrictions on the ministry of women in the New Testament than there were in the Old. However the opposite is true. Women could not be priests under the Mosaic Covenant, but they are priests under the New Covenant (1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6). God has excluded men from some ministries too, such as being mothers. This is one of the greatest and most influential ministries any human being can have. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." [Note: William Ross Wallace, John o’ London’s Treasure Trove. Cited in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, p. 557.] Normally God chose to use men as prophets both in Old Testament times and in the early church. However in both periods He occasionally selected women for this ministry. If it were not for the ministry of women, God’s work throughout history would have suffered greatly. Think of Amy Carmichael, Fanny Crosby, Wetherill Johnson, Elisabeth Elliot, Isobel Kuhn, and countless others, who have advanced and blessed the church.
This chapter also teaches us that God will use unusual people with unusual equipment if they desire to do His will (cf. Ehud and Shamgar). Jael used what she had at hand to serve Him. Through a "Bee" and a "Mountain Goat," two women of faith and courage, God restored peace to the land of milk and honey. [Note: Stek, pp. 75, 78.]