Judges 5:26

5:26 Her left ¹  hand reached for the tent peg,

her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

She “hammered” ²  Sisera,

she shattered his skull, ³ 

she smashed his head, ⁴ 

she drove the tent peg through his temple. ⁵ 

Judges 4:21-22

4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. ⁶  She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground ⁷  while he was asleep from exhaustion, ⁸  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, ⁹  and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead ¹⁰  with the tent peg in his temple.

[5:26]  ¹ tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.

[5:26]  ² tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.

[5:26]  ³ tn Or “head.”

[5:26]  ⁴ tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”

[4:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”

[4:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”

[4:21]  ⁸ 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.”

[4:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he went to her.”

[4:22]  ¹² tn Heb “fallen, dead.”