Judges 4:14-23

The Battle of the Kishon and the Death of Sisera. The Galilean highlanders rushed like a torrent down the slope of Mt. Tabor, and swept the enemy before them. When Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot (Judges 4:15), he made westward for Harosheth. The tent of Jael was pitched somewhere in the Great Plain, not (as Judges 4:11; Judges 4:17 would imply) away north in the neighbourhood of Kedesh or Hazor. The account of Sisera's death given in this chapter differs materially from the representation in the triumphal Ode. Jael covers him with a rug, or perhaps the word (which is found only here) means a tent curtain; she opens her milk-skin, and bids him drink; she apparently agrees to stand at the tent door and put his pursuers off the scent; and she waits till he has fallen into a deep sleep before she lifts her hammer and drives a tent-pin through his temples. Contrast with this the older account which is found in Judges 5:24. We cannot doubt for a moment which of these versions is to be accepted. Criticism has vindicated a woman's honour.