However Sisera, the Canaanite commander, fled east to save his skin. He sought refuge in the tent of "Ally" Heber. Little did he realize that even though Heber"s sentiments apparently favored the Canaanites, his wife Jael was a loyal worshipper of Yahweh. She was no compromiser, as her husband seems to have been. That Heber had established very friendly relations with the Canaanites seems clear since Sisera felt perfectly safe in Heber"s tent as he hid from the pursuing Israelites. [source][source][source]
It is interesting that Jael commanded the Canaanite commander to "Turn aside" ( Judges 4:18), as Deborah had commanded the Israelite commander to "March to Mt. Tabor" ( Judges 4:6). God was using two women to lead His people to victory on this occasion. [source][source][source]
One writer suggested the following translation of the last part of Judges 4:18 and Judges 4:19. Instead of "she covered him with a rug. He said to her ... then she covered him," she divided the Hebrew words differently. She came up with "she overwhelmed him with perfume. He grew faint and said to her ... then [1] closed it [2] again." [3] While this translation is provocative and possible, the problems with the traditional rendering are minimal and do not require this change. [source][source][source]
Sisera "had systematically violated every covenant of the code governing the actions of host and guest." [1] Sisera should have gone directly to Heber, the head of the household, not to his wife"s tent. This violation of hospitality customs would have alerted Jael that something was amiss. Furthermore Sisera should not have accepted Jael"s offer of hospitality, but when he did, this doubtless indicated to Jael again that his intentions were not right. Sisera proceeded to make two requests of his host. He requested something to drink and that Jael would stand guard at the door of the tent, evidently to lie about his presence, which would have endangered her safety. Good guests did not make requests of their hosts in that culture nor did they put them in danger. So Sisera was asking for trouble. [source][source][source]
"Sisera is a famous military commander ( Judges 4:2-3), and since conquering male heroes generally had their way with women (see Judges 5:30), and since Sisera had violated hospitality customs by entering Jael"s tent, Jael may very well have feared that she was going to be raped. Instead, in what some commentators describe as a reverse rape, it is Sisera who "gets nailed" by Jael-literally, by Jael"s use of the hammer and tent peg, and perhaps figuratively as well, a possibility captured by the sexual connotation of the contemporary idiom used above." [5][source]
Jael probably gave Sisera milk [6] instead of water ( Judges 4:19) because milk was a better drink and would have assured Sisera of Jael"s good will toward him. Furthermore she may have intended that it would induce sleep in him. Wine has the opposite effect, at least in moderation. [source][source][source]
"It was probably a kind of yogurt or curdled milk ( Judges 5:25)-a drink called leben, which is still commonly used by the Arabs." [7][source]
Jael"s name means "Mountain Goat." Interestingly she did two things we associate with mountain goats. She proved to be a tough creature, and she produced milk. [source][source][source]
Note the vulnerability and dependence of Sisera in Judges 4:19 and his blind self-confidence in Judges 4:20. He thought he was safe and in control, but he was in mortal danger, about to die, and he did not even suspect it. Such is often the case with people, especially the enemies of God"s people (cf. Proverbs 16:18). [source][source][source]
Even though Jael was God"s instrument of delivering Sisera into the Israelites" hands, some scholars have criticized her methods. [8] Compare Rahab"s lie and Ehud"s strategy. Oriental hospitality required Jael to protect her guest. Instead she treacherously assassinated him. Yet in the light of Sisera"s violation of hospitality customs it seems that Jael"s act was self-defense. Moreover, this was war, and holy war at that. What she did shows her commitment to do God"s will, namely, destroying the inhabitants of the land (cf. Deuteronomy 31:1-8; Deuteronomy 32; Joshua 1:1-9). [1] I believe that is the reason Deborah honored her in the poem that follows in chapter5. [source][source][source]
"Jael"s actions ... contain conscious misuse of this [10] ritual to lure Sisera to his death. However, Sisera is more culpable than Jael in his systematic violation of every step in the customary [10] ritual. He brought shame on himself and on the household of Heber by disregarding the proper roles of guest and host. It is the contention of this writer that a conscious effort has been made on the part of the writers/editors of this material to use the strictures of the hospitality code to further heighten the literary character of the story. Each violation provides further assurance to the audience that violence, when it comes, as it surely must, is justified." [12][source]
"Her dexterity with the tent peg (RSV) and hammer, or wooden mallet, is explained by the fact that the erection and taking down of tents was the work of a woman." [13][source]
To die by the hand of a woman was a disgrace in the ancient Near East (cf. Judges 9:54). Jael reminds me of a charmed snake. Sisera thought he had her under his control, but at the crucial moment she struck him fatally. He died of a splitting headache![source]Judges 4:22 is amusing. Somehow Barak had gotten on Sisera"s trail and finally found his way to Heber"s tent at the east end of the valley. As Deborah had commanded Barak to "Go" ( Judges 4:6), now Jael commanded him to "Come." They used the same Hebrew word in addressing him on both occasions. The man who should have taken the initiative in attacking Israel"s enemy years earlier now got another order from a woman. [source][source][source]