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1–3. Yoke of the Canaanites. 5–10. Deborah and Barak as Israel's liberators. 11–16. Overthrow of the Canaanite yoke. 17–22. Death of Sisera by the hand of Jael. 23–24. Conclusion. Judges 4:1. When Ehud died, the children of Israel again began to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Judges 4:2. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; His general was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-goim. Judges 4:3. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he cruelly oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years. After the death of Ehud, the Israelites, for their evil deeds, were brought under the rule of the Canaanite king Jabin, who oppressed them for twenty years. The residence of Jabin was the city of Hazor, which lay in the northern part of Palestine, burned under Joshua (Joshua 11:11), but later restored by the Canaanites (cf. 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 15:29) and probably located on the site of modern Tell Hazur, in the middle between Bar-el-Hul (Lake Merom) and the Mediterranean Sea. Jabin had 900 chariots, which were in charge of his general Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Goim, on the site of which the village of Haris now lies (in northern Palestine, in Wadi El-Melik). This city formed a strong and militarily important base for Sisera: by occupying it, Sisera separated the Israeli tribes from each other and did not allow them to act unitedly and decisively against the Canaanites. From here, Canaanite warriors carried out devastating raids on Israeli cities and villages, using chariots. In general, the yoke of the Canaanites was difficult for the Israelites (cf. Judges 5:6–8). Judges 4:4. At that time Deborah the prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was a judge of Israel; Judges 4:5. she lived under the Palm of Devor, between Ramah and Bethel, on Mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came to her [there] for judgment. When the Israelites, repenting of their sins, turned to God with a prayer for mercy, then God chose as an instrument for their salvation the prophetess Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, who came from the tribe of Ephraim, to whom the people went to resolve their legal cases. Talmudic tradition ranks Deborah among the seven prophetesses of the Old Testament (Megillah, f. 14a). Blazh. Theodoret says that Deborah was gifted with the gift of prophecy to denounce the men of her time (εις ελεγχον των τοιε ανδρων). Judges 4:6. [Deborah] sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh of Naphtali, and said to him: The Lord God of Israel commands [thee]: Go, go up to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and the children of Zebulun; Judges 4:7. But I will bring Sisera, the captain of Jabin, and his chariots and his great army to thee, to the brook Kishon, and I will deliver him into thy hand. By the inspiration of God, Deborah chose Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of Naphtali (still now Kedesh, west of Lake Merom) as a leader to overthrow the Canaanite yoke. She conveyed to him God's command to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, as those who suffered the most from the yoke of the Canaanites, and gave advice to settle with this detachment on Mount Tabor (Jebel-et-Tur, on the border of the inheritances of Issachar and Zebulun, northeast of the Ezraelon Valley), while at the same time promising in the name of God that God would lead here to the stream Kishon (Nar-Mukatta), and will deliver Sisera, with his chariots and his army, into the hands of Barak. Judges 4:8. Barak said to her: If you will go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go; [for I do not know the day on which the Lord will send an angel with me]. Judges 4:9. She said to [him]: I will go with you; just [know that] it will not be you who will be the glory on this path that you are going on; but the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Judges 4:10. Barak called the Zebulunites and the Naphtaliites to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah went with him. Barak asked Deborah to go to war with him, to which she agreed, after a preliminary prediction about the outcome of the war. After that, Barak addressed an appeal to the inhabitants of the tribe of Zebulun and Naphtali, and Deborah addressed an appeal to the other tribes (Judges 5:14-15), and thus a detachment of Israelis numbering up to 10,000 people from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali gathered to Barak in Kedesh, with which he set out to Mount Tabor. Deborah was also in the camp with Barak. Judges 4:11. Heber the Kenite then separated from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, a relative of Moses, and pitched his tent near the oak grove in Zaannim, near Kedesh. It should be noted that near Kedesh, near the oak tree of Tsanannim (according to the Targum - in the plain of swamps), at that time lived Heber the Kenite (cf. Joshua 19:33), who moved here from the south of Palestine, who was in alliance with the Israelites. Judges 4:12. And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. Judges 4:13. Sisera called all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that he had, from Harosheth-goim to the brook Kishon. Judges 4:14. And Deborah said to Barak, Arise, for this is the day in which the Lord will deliver Sisera into your hands; The Lord himself will go before you. And Barak came down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men followed him. Judges 4:15. Then the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into confusion by the sword of Barak, and Sisera came down from [his] chariot and ran on foot. Judges 4:16. Barak pursued [his] chariots and army to Harosheth-goim, and all the army of Sisarino fell by the sword, and there was none left. When Sisera learned about the Israeli army gathered on Mount Tabor, he gathered all 900 chariots and troops (according to Josephus, 300,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 3,000 chariots. Ant V, 51) and settled in the Ezraelon valley, along the stream Kishon, where he could have the food and water necessary for his people and horses and at the same time where he could always threaten the Israelis in both the north and south. Sisera could hold on to this position for a long time, waiting until the supplies of Barak’s army were depleted and it would be forced to leave its position on Mount Tabor, after which, as it seemed to Sisera, it would not be difficult to defeat it. But the Israelites warned Sisera. As soon as he took his position, Deborah ordered Barak to make a swift attack on him. The army of Sisera, whose chariots could not operate properly due to the unevenness of the ground, became confused and fled. Josephus says that during the battle there was a strong storm with hail and rain, and the wind blew in the face of the Canaanites and in the rear of the Israelites, which greatly hampered the actions of the Canaanites (Ant. V, 5, 4). One part of Sisera's army headed north, trying to reach Harosheth Goim, but was killed by the pursuing Israelis; the other part headed south, across the stream Kishon, and was carried away by the Kishon, which was flooded at that time, probably from heavy rain (Judges 5:19, 21), so that Sisera’s army perished. Judges 4:17. Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Judges 4:18. And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him: Come, my lord, come to me, do not be afraid. He went into her tent, and she covered him with [her] carpet. Judges 4:19. [Sisera] said to her: Give me some water to drink, I’m thirsty. She untied the bottle of milk and gave him a drink and covered him again. Judges 4:20. [Sisera] said to her: Stand at the door of the tent, and if someone comes and asks you and says, “Is there anyone here?”, you say, “No.” Judges 4:21. Jael the wife of Heber took the stake from the tent, and took the hammer in her hand, and approached him quietly, and drove the stake into his church so that it pinned it to the ground; and he slept from fatigue - and died. Sisera himself, seeing the flight of his army, got off his chariot and ran from the battlefield, heading north. He safely reached the residence of Heber the Kenite, where he was met by Heber's wife Jael, who invited him into the tent, assuring him of safety. Sisera entered and, tired from the journey, asked for a drink. Jael gave him milk (probably sour milk, the like of which is still used among the Bedouins under the name leben), after which Sisera fell asleep. During his sleep, Jael killed him by piercing his church with a stake. Judges 4:22. And so Barak chases after Sisera. Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come in, I will show you the man you are looking for.” He went in to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, with a stake in his church. Meanwhile, Barak, chasing Sisera, approached the tent of Jael, who, seeing Barak, came out to meet him and reported the death of Sisera. Judges 4:23. And [the Lord] God humbled Jabin king of Canaan that day before the children of Israel. Judges 4:24. The hand of the children of Israel increased more and more against Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. The defeat of Sisera and his army led to the complete triumph of the Israelites over the Canaanites and Jabin, king of Hazor. After this defeat, the Canaanites are no longer mentioned among the oppressors of Israel. You might be interested in: