Judges 4:21 - Printer Friendly

What does Judges 4:21 mean?

ESV: But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

NIV: But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

NASB: But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.

CSB: While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber's wife, Jael, took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.

NLT: But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died.

KJV: Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

NKJV: Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Verse Commentary:

Within the flow of this story, this verse is sudden and shocking. We simply do not see it coming. Ehud's assassination of Eglon (Judges 3:21–22) was gory and brutal, but clearly foreshadowed by mentions of Ehud's hidden weapon (Judges 3:16). This violence comes out of nowhere; Jael instantly pivots from gracious hostess to brutal killer.

The unexpected executioner asked Sisera, the fleeing commander of Jabin's Canaanite army (Judges 4:15–17), to come into a tent to hide from the pursuing Israelites. Her husband Heber (Judges 4:11) had a peace agreement with Jabin (Judges 4:18–19). Sisera had multiple reasons to assume he would be safe from harm with Jael standing guard.

Jael's family group is nomadic, and women were responsible for setting up and taking down tents. She would have been very comfortable with handling a hammer and spikes. Tents were a combination of coverings and posts, anchored to the ground using "pegs." In this context, a tent peg was a sharp wooden spike about 12 inches, or 30 centimeters, in length and about 1 inch, or 25 millimeters, in diameter.

As soon as the general has fallen asleep, Jael sneaks up to him with a tent peg and a mallet—probably a wooden hammer. She selects the soft spot on the side of the skull, in the area between the eye, ear, and forehead. She then hammers the spike through the general's skull and into the ground below. It's not likely she delivered a single impact: the spike is driven entirely through Sisera's head and into the dirt. Brutal as it sounds, Sisera's death was probably quick; it's possible he never knew what happened.

The verse ends with a phrase so obvious that it's likely included only for the sake of poetry and irony: "so he died."

Jael's motives are never clearly stated. Whether her husband was friendly to men like Sisera or not, clearly Jael shared the views of the Kenite people, who at that time were no friend of the Canaanites. Sisera's reputation for treatment of women was poor (Judges 5:30). Perhaps she favored the Israelites for some reason? Some scholars suggest Jael worried that her helping Sisera might put the household in danger when the Israelites found him. She may have simply been protecting herself and her people. As is the case with many such events, the Bible does not indicate that God inspired Jael's actions. Nor does it indicate that what she did was, necessarily, a moral choice. It simply notes "what" she did, without much commentary on why or whether it was really the best course of action.

Whatever her reasons, Jael will not attempt to hide Sisera's corpse from Barak or the Israelites. Scripture doesn't indicate how long it took Barak to come by after annihilating the Canaanite army (Judges 4:22), but it likely was no more than several hours. When his forces near, Jael will immediately make her actions known.

Judges 4:17–24 reveals the fulfillment of Deborah's prophecy. As Israel routs and destroys an army, the enemy commander flees on foot. Sisera runs to the home of a man allied with his king, Jabin. Heber's wife, Jael, reassures Sisera and hides him under a rug inside a tent. However, when Sisera falls asleep, she kills him by driving a tent peg through his skull and into the ground. She then tells Barak, the Israeli judge in pursuit of Sisera, what has happened. The people of Israel follow through on this victory until Jabin is also defeated.

Chapter Summary:

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.

Chapter Context:

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 5/7/2024 8:30:29 PM