Topical Encyclopedia
Sisera was a Canaanite military commander mentioned in the Book of Judges, chapters 4 and 5, during the period of the Judges in Israel's history. He served under King Jabin of Hazor and is most notably recognized for his role in the oppression of the Israelites and his subsequent defeat at the hands of the prophetess and judge, Deborah, and the military leader, Barak.
Historical ContextSisera's account unfolds during a time when the Israelites were repeatedly falling into cycles of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD, leading to their subjugation by Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, as the commander of Jabin's army, was instrumental in this oppression, wielding a formidable force that included 900 iron chariots, a significant military advantage at the time (
Judges 4:2-3).
The Battle Against IsraelThe narrative of Sisera's defeat is a testament to God's deliverance of His people through unexpected means. Deborah, a prophetess and judge, summoned Barak and instructed him to lead an army of 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun to Mount Tabor, promising that the LORD would deliver Sisera into their hands (
Judges 4:6-7). Barak agreed to go only if Deborah accompanied him, to which she consented, but prophesied that the honor of victory would not be his, as the LORD would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman (
Judges 4:8-9).
Defeat and DeathThe battle took place near the Kishon River. As Barak descended from Mount Tabor with his forces, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot (
Judges 4:15). He sought refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who offered him hospitality. Exhausted, Sisera fell asleep, and Jael seized the opportunity to kill him by driving a tent peg through his temple, thus fulfilling Deborah's prophecy (
Judges 4:21).
The Song of Deborah and BarakJudges chapter 5 records the Song of Deborah and Barak, a poetic retelling of the victory over Sisera. This song celebrates the LORD's intervention and the bravery of those who fought against the Canaanite oppression. It highlights the role of Jael, calling her "most blessed of women" for her decisive action against Sisera (
Judges 5:24).
LegacySisera's defeat marked a significant turning point for the Israelites, leading to forty years of peace (
Judges 5:31). His account serves as a powerful reminder of God's sovereignty and His ability to deliver His people through unexpected means and individuals. Sisera's downfall, orchestrated by divine intervention, underscores the theme of God's justice and the fulfillment of His promises to His people.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Siserathat sees a horse or a swallow
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Sisera(battle array).
- Captain of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. He himself resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles. The particulars of the rout of Megiddo and of Sisera's flight and death are drawn out under the heads ofBARAK,DEBORAH,JAEL,KISHON. (B.C. 1296.)
- After a long interval the name appears in the lists of Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:53;Nehemiah 7:55) It doubtless tells of Canaanite captives devoted to the lowest offices of the temple. (B.C. before 536.)
ATS Bible Dictionary
SiseraA general in the army of Jabin king of Hazor, sent by his master against Barak and Deborah, who occupied Mount Tabor with an army. Being defeated, he fled on foot, and was ingloriously slain by Jael, Jud 4:1-5:31. SeeJAEL.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Egypt. Ses-Ra, "servant of Ra").
(1.) The captain of Jabin's army (Judges 4:2), which was routed and destroyed by the army of Barak on the plain of Esdraelon. After all was lost he fled to the settlement of Heber the Kenite in the plain of Zaanaim. Jael, Heber's wife, received him into her tent with apparent hospitality, and "gave him butter" (i.e., lebben, or curdled milk) "in a lordly dish." Having drunk the refreshing beverage, he lay down, and soon sank into the sleep of the weary. While he lay asleep Jael crept stealthily up to him, and taking in her hand one of the tent pegs, with a mallet she drove it with such force through his temples that it entered into the ground where he lay, and "at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead." The part of Deborah's song (Judges 5:24-27) referring to the death of Sisera (which is a "mere patriotic outburst, " and "is no proof that purer eyes would have failed to see gross sin mingling with Jael's service to Israel") is thus rendered by Professor Roberts (Old Testament Revision):
"Extolled above women be Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite, Extolled above women in the tent. He asked for water, she gave him milk; She brought him cream in a lordly dish. She stretched forth her hand to the nail, Her right hand to the workman's hammer, And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head, She crashed through and transfixed his temples. At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he curled himself, he fell; And where he curled himself, there he fell dead."
(2.) The ancestor of some of the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:53;Nehemiah 7:55).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
SISERAsis'-er-a (cicera', of doubtful meaning; S(e)isara):
(1) Given in Judges 4 as the captain of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor. The accounts given of the battle of Sisera with Barak, as found in Judges 4 and 5, have important points of difference. The first is a prose, the second a poetic narrative. In the first only Naphtali and Zebulun are mentioned as being under the command of Barak; in the second 6 tribes are given as being under his command. In Judges 4 Sisera is known as the captain of Jabin's forces, while in Judges 5 he seems to have been an independent leader. There is also a difference as to the scene of the battle and as to the manner in which Sisera met his death at the hand of Jael. Because of these points of difference, added to the fact that this is the only account, in these early times, where a king did not lead his own forces, it is thought by many that there is here the combination of two traditions dealing with different and distinct events.
Sisera resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles, a place identified with el-Charithiyeh, on the right bank of the Kishon and commanding the way from the Central Plain to the sea. Taking the versions in the two chapters of Judges as being the account of a single campaign, we find Deborah urging Barak to combine the forces of Israel to wage war with Sisera as the representative of Jabin, the king of Hazor. The scene of the battle was on the plain at the foot of the slopes of Mt. Tabor (Judges 4:12-14), or at the foot of the Carmel heights (Judges 5:19). The attack of Barak and Deborah was so furious, animated as it was by the hatred of Sisera and the Canaanites, that the hosts of Sisera were put to rout, and Sisera, deserting his troops, fled on foot to the Northeast. He took refuge in the tent of Heber, near Kedesh, and here met death at the hands of Jael, the wife of Heber (see JAEL). Sisera's name had long produced fear in Israel because of his oppression of the people, his vast army and his 900 chariots of iron. His overthrow was the cause of much rejoicing and was celebrated by the song in which Deborah led the people.
SeeDEBORAH.
It is interesting to note that the great rabbi Aqiba, who fought so valiantly in the Jewish war for independence as standard bearer to Bar-cocheba, was descended from the ancient warlike Sisera of Harosheth.
(2) InEzra 2:53 andNehemiah 7:55 the name Sisera, after a long interval, reappears in a family of the Nethinim. There is no evidence that the latter Sisera is connected by family descent with the former.
C. E. Schenk
Strong's Hebrew
5516.Sisera -- a general of the king of Hazor, also the father of...... 5515, 5516.
Sisera. 5517 . a general of the king of Hazor, also the father
of some returning exiles. Transliteration:
Sisera Phonetic
...Library
Women who Saved a Nation
... THE OLD TESTAMENT WOMEN WHO SAVED A NATION. LaterSisera, who had nine hundred iron
chariots, cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years....
How the Canaanites Brought the Israelites under Slavery for Twenty...
... than three thousand chariots.Sisera was commander of all his army, and
was the principal person in the king's favor. He so sorely...
Deborah's Song
... Women. They fought from heaven, The stars in their courses fought againstSisera.
The river Kishon swept them away," That ancient river, the river Kishon!...
The Marvels of Holy Scripture, --Moral and Physical. --Jael's Deed...
... God promises deliverance: and Deborah is raised up to organize the resistance against
Jabin, "the captain of whose host wasSisera." Now, while Heber the...
Though Many Other Widows came Near to Judith in virtue...
... fought for her, who in a mystery revealed to us the rising of the Church from among
the Gentiles, for whom should be found a triumph overSisera, that is, over...
Salvation Published from the Mountains
... slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands (1 Samuel 18:6, 7) . Thus likewise,
Deborah, in her sublime song, represents the mother ofSisera (Judges 5:28...
Sin Slain
... Rev. CH SPURGEON,. At New Park Street, Southwark. "And, behold, as Barak pursued
Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him....
The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
... enemy.* They had for some time been under the Amorite yoke, and the sacred writings
represent them at this juncture as oppressed either bySisera of Harosheth...
Psalm LXXXIII.
... "Do thou to them," he saith, "as unto Madian andSisera, as unto Jabin at the brook
of Kishon" (ver.9). "They perished at Endor, they became as the dung of the...
A Nation's Struggle for a Home and Freedom.
... Prom heaven fought the stars, From their courses fought againstSisera, The river
Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon....
Thesaurus
Sisera (18 Occurrences)... at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead." The part
of Deborah's song (Judges 5:24-27) referring to the death of
Sisera (which is
...Sisera's (2 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version ConcordanceSisera's (2 Occurrences). Judges 4:16 But Barak went
after the war-carriages and the army as far as Harosheth...
Jael (6 Occurrences)
... When the Canaanites were defeated by Barak,Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army,
fled and sought refuge with the friendly tribe of Heber, beneath the oaks of...
Barak (14 Occurrences)
... Naphtali. He was summoned by the prophetess Deborah to lead his countrymen
to war against the Canaanites under the leadership ofSisera....
Jabin (8 Occurrences)
... 1-9). (2) "The king of Canaan, that reigned (or had reigned) in Hazor." It is not
clear whether he dwelt in Hazor or Harosheth, the home ofSisera, the captain...
Sis'era (19 Occurrences)
Sis'era.Sisera, Sis'era.Sisera's .... (See RSV). Ezra 2:53 the children of Barkos,
the children ofSisera, the children of Temah; (See RSV)....
Deborah (10 Occurrences)
... She gave the signal for attack, and the Hebrew host rushed down impetuously upon
the army of Jabin, which was commanded bySisera, and gained a great and...
Kishon (6 Occurrences)
... This was the scene of the defeat ofSisera (Judges 4:7, 13), and of the
destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 Kings 18:40)....
War-carriages (76 Occurrences)
... Judges 4:7 And I will makeSisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his war-carriages
and his forces, come against you at the river Kishon, where I will give...
Chariots (118 Occurrences)
... Judges 4:7 I will draw to you, to the river Kishon,Sisera, the captain of Jabin's
army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your...
Resources
Who was Sisera in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Jael in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Deborah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgBible Concordance •
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