James Nisbet Commentary - Judges 5:24 - 5:24

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James Nisbet Commentary - Judges 5:24 - 5:24


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

THE BLESSING ON JAEL

‘Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.’

Jdg_5:24

The main interest of this narrative lies with a woman. Deborah is one of the most striking figures in Jewish history. She was the leader and guide of her countrymen in the effort which restored to them peace and freedom, civil and religious. She was the judge who awarded praise or blame to those who had been false or true to the cause of God and of Israel. At the close of her song she utters an emphatic and extraordinary blessing on Jael.

I. Jael’s action on the one hand, and Deborah’s inspired judgment on the other, raise questions to which no reflecting mind can be insensible.—(1) We cannot get over the difficulty by saying that Deborah’s utterance about Jael is not inspired; that it is only a page of dark human passion occurring in a generally inspired poem. If Deborah’s blessing of Jael is uninspired, it is hard to claim inspiration reasonably for any part of her song; and if Deborah’s song is not inspired, it is difficult to say what other portions of the Book of Judges are. (2) In weighing Deborah’s language, we have to consider, first of all, that Sisera’s life was, in Deborah’s judgment, rightly forfeited. She speaks of him as the Lord’s enemy. And what Deborah knew about him, Jael knew also. Neither of them had any doubt that his life was justly forfeited. The question could only arise as to Jael’s method of taking it. (3) Let us notice that Deborah’s language about Jael is relative language. It is relative to the conduct of other persons than Jael, and it is relative to Jael’s own circumstances as a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel. Jael was blessed among ‘women in the tent,’ women, that is, who lead such a life as that of the wandering Arabs beyond the confines of Israel. Deborah contrasts the poor heathen woman of the desert with the recreant sailors of Asher and Dan, and the herdsmen of Reuben, and the townsmen of Meroz. She projects Jael’s fervid loyalty into luminous prominence, where it stands out in telling rebuke to the indifference of those who had far greater advantages.

II. Notice three points in conclusion.—(1) The equitableness of Deborah’s judgment of Jael. (2) Note that this history would be sorely misapplied, if we were to gather from it that a good motive justifies any action that is known to be bad. Jael is only eulogised because she lived in an age and circumstances which exonerated what was imperfect or wrong in her act. (3) Note the presence of unsuspected imperfections in all human endeavour, even when God graciously accepts it.

—
Canon Liddon.

Illustrations

(1) ‘There is no need to extenuate Jael’s deed. It was the product of a barbarous time, whose spirit is wholly foreign to the Christian spirit. But even in that rude age, Jael’s deed must have brought upon her the reprobation of her people. For the one sin, which is above all sins, in the eye of the children of the desert, is a breach of the laws of hospitality. Once a man has “eaten salt” in an Arab tent, his life is safe. (Compare Saladin’s remark in The Talisman: “Had he murdered my father, and afterwards partaken of my food and my bowl, not a hair of his head could have been injured by me.”)’

(2) ‘Jael appears friendly to Sisera, she is in reality loyal to Israel, and because Sisera is Israel’s enemy, he is her enemy as well. She being a woman, could not, of course, meet him in open fighting, but when he is fast asleep she kills him; and when Barak comes along on the trail of Sisera, Jael calls him in and shows him the body. Although one can hardly understand how a woman could nerve herself to such a deed, her loyalty to God’s people, and the fulfilment of Deborah’s prophecy that Sisera should be slain by a woman, must not be overlooked.’