4:17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor 3 and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty. 4 4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, 5 my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera 6 stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him. 4:19 He said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, because I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again. 4:20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’” 4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. 7 She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground 8 while he was asleep from exhaustion, 9 and he died. 4:22 Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, 10 and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead 11 with the tent peg in his temple.
4:23 That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 4:24 Israel’s power continued to overwhelm 12 King Jabin of Canaan until they did away with 13 him. 14
1 tn Heb “fell.”
2 tn Heb “was left.”
3 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.
4 tn Heb “for there was peace between.”
5 tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”
8 tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”
9 tn Heb “and exhausted.” Another option is to understand this as a reference to the result of the fatal blow. In this case, the phrase could be translated, “and he breathed his last.”
10 tn Heb “he went to her.”
11 tn Heb “fallen, dead.”
12 tn Heb “The hand of the Israelites became more and more severe against.”
13 tn Heb “cut off.”
14 tn Heb “Jabin king of Canaan.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.