1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud was dead. 2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan that reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host [was] Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, [saying] , Go, and draw towards mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw to thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand. 8 And Barak said to her, if thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, [then] I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 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, [who was] of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim, which [is] by Kedesh. 12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera collected all his chariots, [even] nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that [were] with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, Arise, for this [is] the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thy hand: hath 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 alighted from [his] chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots, and the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; [and] there was not a man left. 17 Howbeit, Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said to her, stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep, and weary. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to 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. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
Judges · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Judges 4 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abinoam
Named as the father of Barak of Kedesh in Naphtali.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:6; Judges 4:12; Judges 5:1
Barak
Son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali whom Deborah summoned to lead ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun against Sisera, and who sang Deborah's song with her.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:6; Judges 4:14; Judges 5:1
Deborah
Prophetess and wife of Lappidoth who judged Israel from under the Palm of Deborah in the hill country of Ephraim, summoned Barak to fight Sisera, and sang the victory song with…
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:4; Judges 4:9; Judges 5:1
Heber
Kenite who had separated from the descendants of Hobab, pitched his tent near Kedesh, and was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor, and whose wife Jael killed Sisera.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:11; Judges 4:17; Judges 5:24
Hobab
The son of Moses' father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, whom Moses urged to guide Israel through the wilderness and who answered that he would return to his own land and people.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 10:29–30; Judges 4:11
Jabin
King of Canaan who reigned in Hazor and oppressed Israel twenty years with nine hundred iron chariots until God subdued him after Barak's victory; Scripture does not say whether…
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:2; Judges 4:17; Judges 4:23–24
Jael
Wife of Heber the Kenite who gave the fleeing Sisera shelter and killed him with a tent peg, and whom Deborah's song calls most blessed among tent-dwelling women.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:17; Judges 4:21; Judges 5:6
Lappidoth
Named only as the husband of the prophetess and judge Deborah.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:4
Sisera
Commander of Jabin's forces, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim, was routed by Barak at the Kishon, and was killed by Jael with a tent peg.
Cited in the guide: Judges 4:2; Judges 4:15; Judges 4:21
Cross references (24)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 5:3; Leviticus 26:23–25; Judges 3:12; Judges 10:6; Psalm 106:43–45
- 2 Judges 4:13; Joshua 11:1; Judges 4:16; Psalm 83:9; 1 Samuel 12:9
- 3 Judges 1:19; Psalm 106:42; Judges 3:9; Judges 5:8; Judges 10:16
- 4 Exodus 15:20; 2 Kings 22:14; Galatians 3:28; Luke 2:36; Joel 2:28–29
- 5 Exodus 18:19; 1 Samuel 1:1; Joshua 18:25; Deuteronomy 17:8–12; Joshua 16:2
- 6 Acts 13:47; Judges 8:18; Hebrews 11:32; Joshua 19:32; Joshua 19:37
- 7 Psalm 83:9–10; Ezekiel 38:10–16; 1 Kings 18:40; Judges 5:21; Joel 3:11–14
- 8 Exodus 4:10–14; Matthew 14:30–31
- 9 1 Samuel 2:30; Judges 5:24–27; Judges 9:54; Judges 2:14; 2 Samuel 20:21–22
- 10 Judges 5:18; Judges 5:15; 1 Samuel 25:27; Exodus 11:8; Judges 4:14
- 11 Numbers 10:29; Joshua 19:33; Judges 1:16; Joshua 19:37; Exodus 3:1
- 12 Psalm 89:12; Joshua 19:34; Joshua 19:12; Jeremiah 46:18; Judges 4:6
- 13 Judges 4:2–3; Judges 4:7
- 14 2 Samuel 5:24; Deuteronomy 9:3; Isaiah 52:12; Psalm 68:7–8; Micah 2:13
- 15 Joshua 10:10; Psalm 83:9–10; 2 Chronicles 13:15–17; Hebrews 11:32; Judges 5:20–21
- 16 Romans 2:12; James 2:13; Leviticus 26:7–8; Isaiah 43:17; Joshua 10:19–20
- 17 Isaiah 57:21; Psalm 37:35–36; Psalm 69:22; Job 12:19–21; Job 18:7–12
- 18 2 Kings 6:19
- 19 Judges 5:25–26; John 4:7; Genesis 24:43; 1 Kings 17:10; Isaiah 41:17
- 20 Joshua 2:3–5; 2 Samuel 17:20
- 21 Psalm 3:7; Judges 5:26–27; 1 Corinthians 1:27; Judges 3:21; 1 Corinthians 1:19
- 22 2 Samuel 17:3; 2 Samuel 17:10–15
- 23 Psalm 18:47; Nehemiah 9:24; Psalm 18:39; 1 Chronicles 22:18; 1 Corinthians 15:28
- 24 1 Samuel 3:12
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences