Judges 4:10-17

4:10 Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; ¹  Deborah went up with him as well. 4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away ²  from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived ³  near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

4:12 When Sisera heard ⁴  that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 4:13 he ⁵  ordered ⁶  all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon. 4:14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action, ⁷  for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! ⁸  Has the Lord not taken the lead?” ⁹  Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 4:15 The Lord routed ¹⁰  Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. ¹¹  Sisera jumped out of ¹²  his chariot and ran away on foot. 4:16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died ¹³  by the edge of the sword; not even one survived! ¹⁴ 

4:17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor ¹⁵  and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn Heb “went up at his feet.”

² tn Or “separated.”

³ tn Heb “pitched his tent.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they told Sisera.”

⁵ tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Or “summoned.”

⁷ tn Heb “Arise!”

⁸ tn The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

⁹ tn Heb “Has the Lord not gone out before you?”

¹⁰ tn Or “caused to panic.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Heb “got down from.”

¹³ tn Heb “fell.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “was left.”

¹⁵ map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.

¹⁶ tn Heb “for there was peace between.”