Judges 4:10-16

Barak's Aid to Deborah Judges 4:10-16

10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet and Deborah went up with him.
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.
12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor.
13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.

10.

From where had Heber come? Judges 4:11

Heber was, one of the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses-' father-in-law. They had come to Canaan with Israel and settled first in Judah, whence some evidently migrated to the north. Heber had left the main body of his people and had traveled quite a distance to take up his residence at Zaanaim, a town near Kadesh. Kadesh was a city of refuge, but there is no indication that Heber had fled for refuge to this point. His home was near the home of Barak, and he was sympathetic with the cause of the Israelites as they fought against Jabin.

11.

Why flee on foot? Judges 4:15

The chariots were hampered. In the battle the chariots may have bogged down in the marshy land which surrounded the river, making them ineffective. Furthermore, as the battle was going against the Canaanites, Sisera probably felt he should escape alone and hide among the hills which were on all sides of the valley. He, thus, made his way out of the area and came to the home of Heber. Naturally, a man in a chariot would be much more conspicuous than an individual walking alone through the fields and forests of the countryside.