Judges 4:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.

NIV: Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.

NASB: Sisera summoned all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.

CSB: Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon.

NLT: he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

Sisera has been informed that Barak has amassed troops and gathered for battle at Mount Tabor. In response, the commander of Canaan's army has called out his own troops, along with his 900 iron chariots. These are the same chariots that gave Canaan the tactical advantage when Canaan defeated and enslaved Israel twenty years earlier (Judges 4:1–3). At that time, though, the Lord allowed Israel to be defeated. Now, God will give Israel the victory over these same chariots.

Sisera sends his army, and the chariots, east through the Jezreel Valley toward the Kishon River, near Mount Tabor and the waiting Israelites. The exact location of this battle turns out to be key to Israel's victory. Later explanations imply an unexpected flood in this area. This would not only have drowned some of the Canaanites, but it would have turned the terrain into muck, and mobile iron chariots into immobile death traps (Judges 5:21).

Judges 4:11–16 tells how Israel's army, led by the prophetess Deborah and the judge Barak, defeat the Canaanite army of King Jabin. The following chapter implies that an unexpected flood may have disabled the enemy's iron chariots (Judges 5:21–22). The Canaanite commander, Sisera, flees on foot. He alone escapes, as the rest of his men are wiped out.

In response to their sin, God allows Israel to fall into oppression under Jabin, king of the Canaanites. Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, cruelly abuses the Israelites for twenty years. Through His prophetess Deborah, the Lord raises up Barak to lead a massive Israeli army. This force wipes out Canaan's army. Sisera flees on foot and hides in the tent of Heber's wife Jael. Once he is asleep, she kills him and then shows Barak the body. The Israelites soon destroy King Jabin and are freed from Canaanite oppression.

Judges 4 begins with the death of Ehud, the assassin-leader of chapter 3 who freed Israel from the Moabites. After the Israelite people return to wickedness, God submits them to Jabin and the Canaanites. After twenty years, the Lord raises up a deliverer called Barak through His prophetess Deborah. Israel obliterates the enemy army, and the general is slaughtered in his sleep by a woman. Jabin and the Canaanites are defeated. The next chapter poetically retells these events, followed by the introduction of an especially famous judge in chapter 6: Gideon.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 5/8/2024 5:31:20 PM