Judges 4:22

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Barak	בָרָק֮ va.Rak	H1301	Barak · proper noun, a man's name
pursued	רֹדֵ֣ף ro.Def	H7291	to run after (usually with hostile intent · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Sisera	סִֽיסְרָא֒ si.se.Ra'	H5516	Sisera · proper noun, a man's name
Jael	יָעֵל֙ ya.'El	H3278	Jael · proper noun, a woman's name
out	וַתֵּצֵ֤א va.te.Tze'	H3318	to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
meet	קִרְאָה qirʼâh	H7125	an encountering
said	וַתֹּ֣אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Come	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
shew	וְאַרְאֶ֔ךָּ ve.'ar.'E.ka	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
man	הָאִ֖ישׁ ha.'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
seekest	מְבַקֵּ֑שׁ me.va.Kesh	H1245	to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
came	וַיָּבֹ֣א vai.ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Sisera	סִֽיסְרָא֙ si.se.Ra'	H5516	Sisera · proper noun, a man's name
lay	נֹפֵ֣ל no.Fel	H5307	to fall · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
dead	מֵ֔ת Met	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
nail	וְהַיָּתֵ֖ד ve.hai.ya.Ted	H3489	a peg · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
temples	בְּרַקָּתֽוֹ be.ra.ka.To	H7541	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Samuel 17:3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
2 Samuel 17:10-15 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty m…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:17–end

We have seen the army of the Canaanites totally routed. It is said (Psa 83:9, Psa 83:10, where the defeat of this army is pleaded as a precedent for God's doing the like in after times) that they became as dung for the earth. Now here we have, I. The fall of their general, Sisera, captain of the host, in whom, it is likely, Jabin their king put an entire confidence, and therefore was not himself present in the action. Let us trace the steps of this mighty man's fall. 1. He quitted his chariot, and took to his feet, Jdg 4:15, Jdg 4:17. His chariots had been his pride and his confidence; and we may suppose he had therefore despised and defied the armies of the living God, because they were all…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:21

Then Jael took a nail of the tent--most probably one of the pins with which the tent ropes are fastened to the ground. Escape was almost impossible for Sisera. But the taking of his life by the hand of Jael was murder. It was a direct violation of all the notions of honor and friendship that are usually held sacred among pastoral people, and for which it is impossible to conceive a woman in Jael's circumstances to have had any motive, except that of gaining favor with the victors. Though predicted by Deborah [Jdg 4:9], it was the result of divine foreknowledge only--not the divine appointment or sanction; and though it is praised in the song [Jdg 5:24-27], the eulogy must be considered as pr…

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John Gill on Judges 4:22

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera,.... Knowing the way he took, at least as he supposed: Jael came out to meet him; as she did Sisera, but with greater pleasure: and said unto him, come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest; for she full well knew whom he was in pursuit of: and when he came into her tent; at her invitation: behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples: which she did not attempt to draw out, but left it there, that it might be seen in what way she had dispatched him.

The Church Fathers

Speaking of Jael, the woman who killed Sisera, and when it is said that she spoke with Baraq, who sought her, the Scripture says of Baraq that he entered into it. It should be noted that when the Scripture says of a man who entered a woman, it does not follow that one must necessarily think that he slept with her. The Scripture, in fact, says many times: he entered it, so that he does not want to understand anything else but joined it. But here the expression is used: he entered it, in the proper sense, that is, he entered his house. And with these words does not mean that he slept with her.
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 28 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Barak — Lightning, the son of Abinoam (Judg. 4:6). At the summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin. She accompanied him into the battle, and gave the signal for the little army to make the attack; in…
Harosheth of the Gentiles — (Judg. 4:2) or nations, a city near Hazor in Galilee of the Gentiles, or Upper Galilee, in the north of Palestine. It was here that Jabin’s great army was marshalled before it went forth into the…
Heber — Passing over. (1.) Son of Beriah and grandson of Asher (Gen. 46:17; 1 Chr. 7:31, 32). (2.) The Kenite (Judg. 4:11, 17; 5:24), a descendant of Hobab. His wife Jael received Sisera (q.v.) into her tent…
Jael — Mountain-goat, the wife of Heber the Kenite (Judg. 4:17-22). When the Canaanites were defeated by Barak, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, fled and sought refuge with the friendly tribe of Heber,…
Kishon — Winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into the…
Nail — For fastening. (1.) Hebrew yathed, “piercing,” a peg or nail of any material (Ezek. 15:3), more especially a tent-peg (Ex. 27:19; 35:18; 38:20), with one of which Jael (q.v.) pierced the temples of…
Canaanites · General references — General references
Head · Parts of mentioned: The temples — Parts of mentioned: The temples
Jael · Wife of Heber, and the one who killed Sisera — Wife of Heber, and the one who killed Sisera
Kenites, The · Sisera slain by Jael one of — Sisera slain by Jael one of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 4:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:21

John Gill on Judges 4:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Judges 4:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:21

John Gill on Judges 4:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 4:17-22

Rashi on Judges 4:22