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The Defeat of Sisera
v. 10. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, as Deborah had suggested; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet, on foot, infantry only, for they had neither chariots nor cavalry; and Deborah went up with him. With their number constantly growing, as new bands from the hills join them, they reach the designated place.
v. 11. Now Heber, the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, or brother-in-law, for the Hebrew word means simply a male relative by marriage, had severed himself from the Kenites, who had settled in the extreme southern part of Canaan, Jdg_1:16, and pitched his tent, taken up a homestead, unto the Plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh, in the territory of Naphtali.
v. 12. And they showed Sisera, some one brought him the tidings, that Barak, the son of Abinoam, was gone up to Mount Tabor, that the Israelites were preparing to throw off the yoke of Jabin.
v. 13. And Sisera gathered together, assembled by sending out criers, all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon, for the Plain of Esdraelon, or Jezreel, at the headwaters of the Kishon was a ground on which his army could properly deploy.
v. 14. And Deborah said unto Barak, Up! For this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. Is not the Lord gone out before thee? This was a prophetic and most vivid assurance of victory. So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him, apparently in a sudden attack, before the terrible chariot-force had well arranged itself.
v. 15. And the Lord discomfited Sisera, terrified him, threw him into confusion, and all his chariots and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak, for nothing could withstand the charge of the army of Israel, fired as it was with divine enthusiasm by Deborah, so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, in a panic of terror, and fled away on his feet, seeking only to save his life in the general destruction.
v. 16. But Barak pursued after the chariots, as their drivers turned in headlong flight, and after the host, the infantry of the enemy's army, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the very gates of their stronghold; and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword, in the terrible conflict in which the sword mowed them down on every hand; and there was not a man left.
v. 17. Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, the Kenite, seeking refuge at the first place that seemed to promise him security; for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Razor, and the house of Heber, the Kenite. Thus the mighty enemies were overthrown by the power of the Lord, for it is a small matter for Him to deliver His people with a handful of men from the hands of the mightiest tyrant.