Judges 4:12

_AND THEY SHEWED SISERA THAT BARAK THE SON OF ABINOAM WAS GONE UP TO MOUNT TABOR._ They showed Sisera - namely, the Kenites; because it seems that they were the parties who communicated intelligence of the formidable insurrection of the Israelite tribes, as well as of the actual muster of the rebel forces under Barak at Tabor....

10-16. Siser's confidence was chiefly in his chariots. But if we have ground to hope that God goes before us, we may go on with courage and cheerfulness. Be not dismayed at the difficulties thou meetest with in resisting Satan, in serving God, or suffering for him; for is not the Lord gone before thee? Follow him then fully. Barak went down, though upon the plain the iron chariots would have advantage against him: he quitted the mountain in dependence on the Divine power; for in the Lord alone is the salvation of his people, Jeremiah 3:23. He was not deceived in his confidence. When God goes before us in our spiritual conflicts, we must bestir ourselves; and when, by his grace, he gives us some success against the enemies of our souls, we must improve it by watchfulness and resolution....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 4:2 SOLD THEM. See Judges 2:14, note. JABIN KING OF HAZOR. The exact site of _Hazor_ has not been identified with certainty, but it is conjectured by Robinson, with great probability, to have stood on the Tell now called _Khuraibeh_, overlooking the waters of Merom (now called Lake Huleh), where are remains of a sepulchre, Cyclopean walls, and other buildings. In Joshua 11:1 we read of the total destruction by fire of Hazor, and of the slaughter of Jabin, the king thereof, with all the inhabitants of the city, and of the slaughter of all the confederate kings, and the capture of their cities; Hazor, however, "the head of all those k

AND THEY SHOWED SISERA,.... Either some of the Canaanites that dwelt near Tabor, or some spies that Sisera had out; though some think the Kenites told him, who were at peace with Jabin, Judges 4:17; yet whether out of good will or ill will cannot be said: however, so it was ordered by the providence of God, that by some means or another Sisera should be informed THAT BARAK THE SON OF ABINOAM WAS GONE UP TO MOUNT TABOR; and no doubt at the same time he was told the number of men that went with him; from whence he might well conclude, that such a warlike man, with such a force collected together, and having posted himself in an high and strong mountain, must have some design to cause a revolt of Israel from Jabin his prince....

3. THIRD DECLENSION: UNDER JABIN, DEBORAH, AND BARAK CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Sold into the hand of Jabin (Judges 4:1)_ 2. The cry of the children of Israel (Judges 4:3) 3. Deborah and Barak (Judges 4:4) 4. The conflict and Jael's deed (Judges 4:12) Ehud the mighty instrument of Jehovah had died, and again the children of Israel lapsed into evil. Then the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, King of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor. His captain was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. A powerful oppressor he was, for this King had nine hundred chariots of iron and oppressed Israel twenty years. About one hundr

THE PREPARATION FOR WAR. D's framework is found in Judges 4:1 and Judges 4:23 f. Judges 4-5. Deborah and Barak Deliver Israel. The record of this deliverance appears first in a prose and then in a poetical form, of which the latter is the older, written without doubt under the inspiration of the actual events. There are some striking differences between the two versions. In the prose narrative the oppressor of Israel is Jabin, king of Hazor, whose captain is Sisera; Deborah's home is in Mount Ephraim; only the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali fight the tyrant; and Jael murders Sisera when he lies asleep in her tent. In the triumphal Ode there is no Jabin; Sisera is at the head of the kings of Canaan, himself the greatest king of all; Deborah appears to belong to the tribe of Issachar; all the tribes aroun

_Barak's Aid to Deborah Judges 4:10-16_ 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, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. 12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 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. 14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is 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 S

DEBORAH AND BARAK This deliverance is described a second time in the early poem in Judges 5 (see on Judges 5:1). No other narrative describes more clearly the religious gathering of the clans, and the prowess of the hardy mountaineers when united. The plain of Esdraelon (see Intro. § 5) is one of the famous battle-fields of history. It drives like a wedge from the coast within 10m. of the Jordan; but it is dominated by hills on all sides, and is almost closed by them at its western end. In Judges 5 all the tribes are mentioned either as uniting or refusing to appear, save Judah and Simeon. Subsequently we hear no more of such united efforts. 1-3. Oppression by Jabin....

LIFE WITHOUT LAW JUDGES _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 4 V1 After Ehud’s death, the *Israelites again did not obey God. V2 The *Lord allowed Jabin to *conquer them. Jabin was the king of Hazor in *Canaan. Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-Haggoyim, led the king’s army. V3 He had 900 iron *chariots. And he made life very hard for the *Israelites for 20 years. Then they cried to the *Lord for help. These stories are about the northern *tribes. The people in *Canaan may have attacked 6 northern *tribes. The enemy is Jabin the king of Hazor. He does not do anything in the story, but he is still important. Jabin may be the name of a royal rank rather than a personal name. In Joshua 11, we read that people had destroyed H

THEY SHEWED SISERA. — The previous verse has been introduced by way of anticipation, that the reader — who has last heard of the Kenites in the south of Judah (Judges 1:16) — may not be surprised at Judges 4:17 to find them in Naphtali. It is not, therefore, necessary to suppose that the “they” means the Kenites. It may be an impersonal expression (as it is rendered in the LXX. and Vulg. “it was told”)....