Judges 4
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The pages containing theBook of Judges inLeningrad Codex (1008 CE).
Book	Book of Judges
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	2
Category	Former Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament (Heptateuch)
Order in the Christian part	7

Judges 4 is the fourthchapter of theBook of Judges in theOld Testament or theHebrew Bible.^[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophetSamuel,^[2][3] but modern scholars view it as part of theDeuteronomistic History, which spans the books ofDeuteronomy to2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedlyYahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean kingJosiah in 7th century BCE.^[3][4] This chapter records the activities ofjudgeDeborah,^[5] belonging to a section comprisingJudges 3:1 to5:31.^[6]

This chapter was originally written in theHebrew language.It is divided into 24 verses.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter inHebrew are of theMasoretic Text tradition, which includes theCodex Cairensis (895),Aleppo Codex (10th century), andCodex Leningradensis (1008).^[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among theDead Sea Scrolls including XJudges (XJudg, X6; 50 BCE) with extant verses 5–8.^[8][9][10]

Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) includeCodex Vaticanus (B;${\displaystyle \mathfrak{G}}$^B; 4th century) andCodex Alexandrinus (A;${\displaystyle \mathfrak{G}}$^A; 5th century).^[11][a]

A linguistic study by Chisholm reveals that the central part in the Book of Judges (Judges 3:7–16:31) can be divided into two panels based on the six refrains that state that the Israelites did evil in Yahweh's eyes:^[13]

Panel One

A 3:7ויעשו בני ישראל את הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD (KJV)^[14]

B 3:12ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evilagain in the sight of the LORD

B 4:1ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evilagain in the sight of the LORD

Panel Two

A 6:1ויעשו בני ישראל הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD

B 10:6ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evilagain in the sight of the LORD

B 13:1ויספו בני ישראל לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה

And the children of Israel did evilagain in the sight of the LORD

Furthermore from the linguistic evidence, the verbs used to describe the Lord's response to Israel's sin havechiastic patterns and can be grouped to fit the division above:^[15]

Panel One

3:8וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the rootמָכַר,makar

3:12ויחזק, "and he strengthened," from the rootחָזַק,khazaq

4:2וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the rootמָכַר,makar

Panel Two

6:1ויתנם, "and he gave them," from the rootנָתַן,nathan

10:7וימכרם, "and he sold them," from the rootמָכַר,makar

13:1ויתנם, "and he gave them," from the rootנָתַן,nathan

This chapter opens with the conventional narrative pattern of the book, connecting withEhud without reference toShamgar (who is later mentioned inJudges 5), to introduceDeborah the prophet as the savior (verse 4), after Israel's formulaic cry to God for relief from oppression.^[16]

Deborah delivered military instructions received directly from God toBarak, the apparent leader of the Israelites, to confront the army ofJabin, led bySisera (his general), and thereby showing that YHWH is the ultimate military commander in the holy wars fought by his people.^[16]

The structure of the section from verses 6–16 is as follows:^[17]

A The command of Deborah and the response of Barak (4:6–9)

a. Deborah commands Barak to gather an army and assures him of victory (4:6–7)

b. Barak requires Deborah's presence (4:8)

c. Barak wins his request but loses glory (4:9)

B Barak deploys the troops (4:10)

a. Barak calls (z'q) the troops toKedesh [he] (4:10a¹)

b. Barak goes up (ʼlh) with the troops (4:10a²–b)

B' Sisera deploys the troops (4:12–13)

a. Sisera hears that Barak has gone up (ʼlh) (4:12)

b. Sisera calls (z'q) the troops toWadi-Kishon (4:13)

A' The command of Deborah and the response of Barak (4:14–16)

a. Deborah commands Barak to go into battle and assures him of victory (4:14a)

b. Barak goes down to fight (4:14b)

c. Barak wins the battle but loses Sisera (4:15–16)

In verses 12-16, the pattern of Israel's redemption is completed with the underdogs' victory as prophesied by the prophetess.^[16]

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.^[18]

• "Prophetess": or "female prophet", like "Huldah" who relayed an important oracle about the need for reform in the time of kingJosiah (2 Kings 22:14–20); "Noadiah" mentioned inNehemiah 6:14; and the wife of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3).^[16]
• "Wife ofLapidoth" in Hebrew can also be translated as 'woman of fire', or 'woman of torches/lightning flashes', in a parallel to "Barak" whose name means 'lightning'.^[16]

The structure of this section is:^[19]

Sisera came toJael's tent (4:17)

A Jael entreats Sisera to come into her tent (4:18a)

B Sisera enters asking for aid (4:18b–20)

C Jael kills Sisera (4:21)

Barak came to Jael's tent (4:22a¹)

A' Jael entreats Barak to come into her tent (4:22a²)

B' Barak responds by entering (4:22b¹)

C' Jael presents the slain Sisera to Barak (4:22b²)

In this section,Sisera was looking for a place to hide from Israelite pursuers and by chance came toJael's tent. Jael intentionally went out to meet Sisera and tricked him into thinking that she could provide service (cf.Ehud to Eglon inJudges 3).^[19][20] Sisear asked for water, but Jael demonstrated ancient Near Eastern hospitality by instead giving him milk ("Jael" (Hebrew:יָעֵלYāʿēl) means "mountain goat" ("ibex"); perhaps she gave Sisear goat's milk^[19]) and covering him up to sleep, whereupon Jael struck him dead with a tent-peg and hammer.^[21] The action was sung with some detail and nuance in the ancient poem ofJudges 5 verse 22, as the fulfilment of Deborah's prediction (4:9).^[21]

The last two verses (23–24) contain a reminder that YHWH controls the battle and gives relief from Israel's oppressors.^[21]

And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.' "^[22]

The last words of Sisera to Jael (before Sisera was killed by Jael) contain an irony, with the play of the word "any man" (Hebrewʼiš): the first use refers to the one coming to the tent, which wasBarak, whereas the second use refers to the one in the tent, which wasSisera, and the answer should be "No", because Sisera would no longer be alive by the time Barak came.^[23][19]

• Adam Zertal has suggested thatHarosheth Haggoyim, the fortress or cavalry base ofSisera, commander of the army of KingJabin, may beEl-Ahwat, betweenKatzir-Harish andNahal Iron, on the basis of the finding of a fancychariot linchpin by archaeologist Oren Cohen.^[24][25] The excavation of the site from 1993-2000 by teams from theUniversity of Haifa and theUniversity of Cagliari inSardinia revealed a fortified place dating to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (13th-12th centuries BCE) with a unique style of fortifications, walls, passageways in the walls and rounded huts pointing to the occupation by theShardana, one of theSea Peoples who invaded the Levant in the Late Bronze Age.^[25][26]

• Chisholm, Robert B. Jr. (2009)."The Chronology of the Book of Judges: A Linguistic Clue to Solving a Pesky Problem"(PDF).Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.52 (2):247–55. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2022-11-08. Retrieved2022-03-09.
• Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.).The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-528881-0.
• Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008).A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.ISBN 978-0-8028-6241-9.
• Halley, Henry H. (1965).Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary (24th (revised) ed.). Zondervan Publishing House.ISBN 0-310-25720-4.
• Hayes, Christine (2015).Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press.ISBN 978-0-300-18827-1.
• Niditch, Susan (2007). "10. Judges". InBarton, John;Muddiman, John (eds.).The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 176–191.ISBN 978-0-19-927718-6. RetrievedFebruary 6, 2019.
• Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010).The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill.
• Webb, Barry G. (2012).The Book of Judges.New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans Publishing Company.ISBN 978-0-8028-2628-2.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995).The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans.ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2019.
• Younger, K. Lawson (2002).Judges and Ruth. The NIV Application Commentary. Zondervan.ISBN 978-0-310-20636-1.

• Jewish translations:
  • Shoftim - Judges - Chapter 4 (Judaica Press). Hebrew text and English translation [withRashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
• Christian translations:
  • Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
  • Judges chapter 4. Bible Gateway

• Book of Judges chapters

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• Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference
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