Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
Blessed above women in the tent is Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for killing Sisera in her tent with a tent peg through his temples while he slept, after giving him milk and covering him, in the Song of Deborah and Barak celebrating Israel's deliverance. That deliverance broke twenty years of oppression under Jabin king of Canaan, subdued the Canaanites and gave the land forty years of peace when Barak and Deborah overcame Sisera and his iron chariots by faith. The honor went to a woman because Barak would not meet Sisera at Mount Tabor with ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon unless Deborah went with him, failing to trust God's word through her, so Deborah foretold that a woman would gain the honor that ought to have been his. By this God set women on an equality with the men of Israel, showing that He has used women in public service to His glory in all ages, so women may bear testimony for Christ and proclaim truth in public in womanly, Christian ways. Though tender-hearted and on friendly terms with Israel's enemy, Jael in crisis discerned the importance of the time, accepted God's message and defended His cause, bringing salvation to herself and the people, in contrast to those who could not discern God's providence and brought a curse upon themselves.
Historical Setting and Song
The blessing celebrates Israel's deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, in the destruction of Sisera and his forces which subdued the Canaanites and gave the land forty years of peace. The victory was gained under Deborah and Barak over the Canaanites, showing that Israel could overcome iron chariots when the people had faith. It stands as one of the great battles associated with Megiddo.
The verse belongs to the song of Deborah and Barak, a sublime and impassioned triumph poem celebrating the victory over Sisera's army and ascribing all the glory of deliverance to God. As the earliest poetry of Israel, risen among the Galilean hills after Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites, the song shows the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of Galilee. It portrays the displays of divine power and majesty at Sinai and sets before Israel their helpless and distressed condition under oppression with the history of their deliverance.
The blessing is upon Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite above women in the tent, an otherwise little-known person in the Kenite's tent among the hills of Naphtali counted among God's allies. She killed Sisera in her tent with a tent peg driven through his temples while he slept, after giving him milk and covering him with a mantle, then showing him dead to his pursuers.
The song bids the people praise God for His wonderful works and calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God wrought for Israel and take warning not to harm them. It shows that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols, though the prosperity that followed did not bring Israel nearer to God.
Divine Honor and Application
The honor of slaying Sisera fell to a woman because Barak would not undertake his heaven-sent mission to meet Sisera at Mount Tabor with ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulon unless Deborah went with him, and in that refusal he failed to trust God's word spoken through Deborah. Deborah therefore foretold that the honor that ought to have been his would be given to a woman, and after Jael destroyed Israel's enemy Barak was obliged to join Deborah in a song of praise blessing Jael above women in the tent. By this transfer of honor God established women on an equality with the men of Israel. The song of Deborah and Barak thus shows that God has used women in a public capacity in all ages to His glory.
Women may therefore bear testimony for Christ, help in His work, and proclaim truth in public in womanly, Christian ways, and the instruction for women to keep silent does not forbid those forms of service. Jael herself was tender-hearted, from a tender-hearted family, and on friendly terms with the enemy of Israel, yet in a crisis she discerned the importance of the time. She accepted the message God sent, justified God and defended His cause by killing the enemy of Israel, and brought salvation to herself and to the people, so God pronounced blessing upon her above women in the tent. This stands in contrast to those who could not discern the providence of God and did not believe His testimony and thereby brought a curse upon themselves.
The battle of Megiddo in the time of Deborah and Barak to which this blessing belongs serves as an object lesson connected with the sixth and seventh plagues. The pronouncement of blessing upon Jael after her bloody deed also stands among the hard places in the Bible. It is grouped with the imprecatory psalms and with events in the history of Elijah, raising questions about supposed inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and anachronisms and about divine and human utterances in the Bible and giving ground for attacks on the supernatural.
Blessed above women in the tent is Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for killing Sisera in her tent with a tent peg through his temples while he slept, after giving him milk and covering him, in the Song of Deborah and Barak celebrating Israel's deliverance. That deliverance broke twenty years of oppression under Jabin king of Canaan, subdued the Canaanites and gave the land forty years of peace when Barak and Deborah overcame Sisera and his iron chariots by faith. The honor went to a woman because Barak would not meet Sisera at Mount Tabor with ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon unless Deborah went with him, failing to trust God's word through her, so Deborah foretold that a woman would gain the honor that ought to have been his. By this God set women on an equality with the men of Israel, showing that He has used women in public service to His glory in all ages, so women may bear testimony for Christ and proclaim truth in public in womanly, Christian ways. Though tender-hearted and on friendly terms with Israel's enemy, Jael in crisis discerned the importance of the time, accepted God's message and defended His cause, bringing salvation to herself and the people, in contrast to those who could not discern God's providence and brought a curse upon themselves.
Historical Setting and Song
The blessing celebrates Israel's deliverance from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, in the destruction of Sisera and his forces which subdued the Canaanites and gave the land forty years of peace. The victory was gained under Deborah and Barak over the Canaanites, showing that Israel could overcome iron chariots when the people had faith. It stands as one of the great battles associated with Megiddo.
The verse belongs to the song of Deborah and Barak, a sublime and impassioned triumph poem celebrating the victory over Sisera's army and ascribing all the glory of deliverance to God. As the earliest poetry of Israel, risen among the Galilean hills after Barak of Naphtali triumphed over the Canaanites, the song shows the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of Galilee. It portrays the displays of divine power and majesty at Sinai and sets before Israel their helpless and distressed condition under oppression with the history of their deliverance.
The blessing is upon Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite above women in the tent, an otherwise little-known person in the Kenite's tent among the hills of Naphtali counted among God's allies. She killed Sisera in her tent with a tent peg driven through his temples while he slept, after giving him milk and covering him with a mantle, then showing him dead to his pursuers.
The song bids the people praise God for His wonderful works and calls upon the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God wrought for Israel and take warning not to harm them. It shows that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols, though the prosperity that followed did not bring Israel nearer to God.
Divine Honor and Application
The honor of slaying Sisera fell to a woman because Barak would not undertake his heaven-sent mission to meet Sisera at Mount Tabor with ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulon unless Deborah went with him, and in that refusal he failed to trust God's word spoken through Deborah. Deborah therefore foretold that the honor that ought to have been his would be given to a woman, and after Jael destroyed Israel's enemy Barak was obliged to join Deborah in a song of praise blessing Jael above women in the tent. By this transfer of honor God established women on an equality with the men of Israel. The song of Deborah and Barak thus shows that God has used women in a public capacity in all ages to His glory.
Women may therefore bear testimony for Christ, help in His work, and proclaim truth in public in womanly, Christian ways, and the instruction for women to keep silent does not forbid those forms of service. Jael herself was tender-hearted, from a tender-hearted family, and on friendly terms with the enemy of Israel, yet in a crisis she discerned the importance of the time. She accepted the message God sent, justified God and defended His cause by killing the enemy of Israel, and brought salvation to herself and to the people, so God pronounced blessing upon her above women in the tent. This stands in contrast to those who could not discern the providence of God and did not believe His testimony and thereby brought a curse upon themselves.
The battle of Megiddo in the time of Deborah and Barak to which this blessing belongs serves as an object lesson connected with the sixth and seventh plagues. The pronouncement of blessing upon Jael after her bloody deed also stands among the hard places in the Bible. It is grouped with the imprecatory psalms and with events in the history of Elijah, raising questions about supposed inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and anachronisms and about divine and human utterances in the Bible and giving ground for attacks on the supernatural.