Judg 4:6-24 | TNotes | STEP | 4:6 Though Barak appears in a list of Israelite heroes (Heb 11:32 ), Judges never gives him more than an equal place with Deborah. • Mount Tabor was in the territory of Issachar, just north of the Jezreel Valley.

4:6 ^a Though Barak appears in a list of Israelite heroes (Heb 11:32 ^b), Judges never gives him more than an equal place with Deborah.

• Mount Tabor was in the territory of Issachar, just north of the Jezreel Valley.
4:7 ^c The Kishon River, which runs northwest into the Mediterranean just north of Mount Carmel, formed the Jezreel Valley.
4:8 ^d The theme of the reluctant rescuer surfaces again with Gideon (6:15 ^e; cp. Exod 3:11 ^f).
4:9 ^g Honor for the victory would go to a woman, which meant a loss of face for Barak.

• This Kedesh appears to have been near Mount Tabor (cp. 4:6 ^h, 12 ⁱ), a different location than the Kedesh in Naphtali (4:6 ^j), which would have been too far north for the action described.
4:10 ^k The warriors came from Barak’s tribe of Naphtali and its southern neighbor, Zebulun.
4:11 ^l Kenites related to Moses’ father-in-law had settled in Judah (1:16 ^m), in the southern desert (Exod 2:16-22 ⁿ) near the Amalekites in the mountainous country near Moab (Num 24:21-22 ^o). Part of the tribe had apparently migrated north and settled near the Sea of Galilee.
Summary for Judg 4:12-13: 4:12-13 ^p Upon hearing of Barak’s muster of troops, Sisera fell into the trap set by the Lord. He headed for the Jezreel Valley with his chariots, marching along the Kishon River where wheeled vehicles could operate freely.
Summary for Judg 4:14-16: 4:14-16 ^q Mount Tabor, with its forest cover, was a strategic location, and the rush down the hill must have surprised the unsuspecting Canaanites. The battle was won, however, because it was the Lord’s war, not because of human strategy and tactics.

• Nothing is said here about why the chariots were so ineffective; this awaits the poetic version of the account (5:21 ^r).
Summary for Judg 4:17-20: 4:17-20 ^s Sisera felt that he was back in friendly circles (cp. 4:11 ^t). A woman whose husband was absent would normally invite a man into her tent only for sex, but Sisera would have interpreted this invitation as an opportunity for safe haven. Jael did nothing to shake his confidence as she concealed and refreshed him.
4:19 ^u The milk was probably the curds so favored by the Arabs (cp. “yogurt,” 5:25 ^v); many believe that it is soporific.
Summary for Judg 4:21-22: 4:21-22 ^w Jael completed what seems to have been her intention all along. There is a more graphic description of the event in 5:26-27 ^x.
4:23 ^y God defeated Jabin by orchestrating people and events.
4:24 ^z Sisera’s army was gone, but Jabin and his kingdom were subdued more gradually.