Judges 5:26

5:26 Her left hand reached for the tent peg,

her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

She “hammered” Sisera,

she shattered his skull,

she smashed his head,

she drove the tent peg through his temple.

Judges 4:21-22

4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground while he was asleep from exhaustion, 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, and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead 10  with the tent peg in his temple.


tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.

tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.

tn Or “head.”

tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.

tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”

tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”

tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”

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.”

11 tn Heb “he went to her.”

12 tn Heb “fallen, dead.”