Judges 4:7

_AND I WILL DRAW UNTO THEE TO THE RIVER KISHON SISERA, THE CAPTAIN OF JABIN'S ARMY, WITH HIS CHARIOTS AND HIS MULTITUDE; AND I WILL DELIVER HIM INTO THINE HAND._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

4-9 Deborah was a prophetess; one instructed in Divine knowledge by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. She judged Israel as God's mouth to them; correcting abuses, and redressing grievances. By God's direction, she ordered Barak to raise an army, and engage Jabin's forces. Barak insisted much upon her presence. Deborah promised to go with him. She would not send him where she would not go herself. Those who in God's name call others to their duty, should be ready to assist them in it. Barak values the satisfaction of his mind, and the good success of his enterprise, more than mere honour....

The brook or stream Kishon (Nahr Mukutta), so called from its winding course, caused by the dead level of the plain of Esdraelon through which it flows, rises, in respect to one of its sources or feeders, in Mount Tabor, and flows nearly due west through the plain, under Mount Carmel, and into the Bay of Acre. In the early or eastern part of its course, before it is recruited by the springs on Carmel, it is nothing but a torrent, often dry, but liable to swell very suddenly and dangerously, and to overflow its banks in early spring, after rain or the melting of snow. The ground on the banks of the Kishon near Megiddo (Mujedd’a, see Joshua 12:21 note) becomes an impassable morass under the same circumstances, and would be particularly dangerous to a large number of chariots....

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 I WILL DRAW UNTO THEE,.... Which are the words of the Lord by Deborah, as are the preceding, signifying, that by the secret and powerful influence of his providence he would so order things, and the circumstances of them; and so powerfully operate on the mind and heart of the Canaanitish general as to engage him to come TO THE RIVER KISHON, SISERA THE CAPTAIN OF JABIN'S ARMY, WITH HIS CHARIOTS, AND HIS MULTITUDE; called the ancient river, the river Kishon, Judges 5:21. According to Mr. Maundrell c, the fountain of it was near the valley, at the bottom of Mount Tabor, where Barak was to have his army in readiness to attack Sisera; and which river, according to the same traveller d cuts his way down the middle of the plain of and then continuing his course close by the side of Mount Carmel, falls into the sea at a place called with which agrees the account of Mr. Sandys e,

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

The overthrow of the enemy is predicted with prophetic authority; cf. Exodus 14:4. _the river Kishon_ Judges 4:13; Judges 5:21, now called Nahr el-Muḳaṭṭa-, rises from the hills near Jenin (En-gannim), and flows "in a muddy trench, unseen five yards away" (G. A. Smith, _Hist. Geogr._, p. 382), parallel to the Carmel range, draining the Great Plain, and empties itself into the sea near Ḥaifa. A northern branch rises to the W. of Tabor. _the captain of Jabin's army_ See on Judges 4:1....

AND SHE SENT AND CALLED BARAK, &C.— In virtue of her supreme authority, which was uncontested by the whole nation, she sent for Barak; concerning whom we know no more than that he was born or dwelt in the city of _Kedesh,_ in the tribe of _Naphtali. Tabor,_ towards which Barak was ordered to draw his forces, was a famous mountain not far from Kedesh, in the tribe of Zebulun, and upon the confines of Issachar and Manasseh; which had a large plain at the top of it, where an army might be drawn up and exercised commodiously. Modern travellers confirm this. "Mount Tabor," says Maundrell, "stands by itself, about two or three furlongs within the plain of Esdraelon: after a very laborious ascent, which took up near an hour, we reached the highest part of the mountain: it has a plain area at the top, most fertile and delicious, of an oval figure, extending about one furlong in breadth, and two...

Deborah and Barak Delivered Israel Judges 4:1 to Judges 5:31 _The Rise of Deborah Judges 4:1-9_ And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time, 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her