And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man who you are looking for.” And he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.'

Barak, probably accompanied by some of his men, was on Sisera's track. He would not want him to escape. And Jael went out to meet him. She was presumably expecting pursuit.

“And said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man who you are looking for”.” Her quiet approach, with no sense of exhilaration, but rather with a sense of grim satisfaction, would seem to confirm that she had had a private reason for what she did. She was not celebrating Yahweh's victory but quietly enjoying her own revenge.

“And he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.” He found the man he was hunting down, lying in the tent with the tent-pin through his temples. She wanted it known what she had done. A woman's vengeance.

Note that the word ‘come' used by Jael is the same as the word ‘go' used by Deborah (Judges 4:6). Because of his unwillingness to act alone his victory was dependent on two women.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising