056. XXXVI. The Great Victory Over The Canaanites
§ XXXVI. THE GREAT VICTORY OVER THE CANAANITES
1. Deborah’s message to Barak. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kadesh Naphtali, and said to him, Doth not Jehovah, the God of Israel, command, ‘Go and proceed to Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the Naphtalites and of the Zebulunites? And I will entice out to thee at the river Kishon, Sisera, with his chariots and his troops, and will deliver him into thy hand’. And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will certainly go with you; only you will not have the glory in this enterprise on which you are embarking; for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the power of a woman. So Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kadesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together at Kadesh; and ten thousand men followed after him.
2. Heber the Kenite. Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak of Bezaananaim, which is by Kadesh.
3. The battle and de feat of the Canaanites. And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. Then Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people he had from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon. Thereupon Deborah said to Barak, Arise! for this is the day in which Jehovah hath delivered Sisera into your hand. Hath not Jehovah gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. Then Jehovah threw Sisera and all his chariots, and all his host into confusion at the onslaught of Barak’s swordsmen, and Sisera dismounted from his chariot, and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and the host to Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the host of Sisera was put to the sword; not a single man was left.
4. Death of Sisera at the hands of Jael. But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between him and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; do not be afraid. So he turned aside to her and went into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, Give me, I pray, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. So, opening the milk-skin, she gave him a drink, and covered him. Then he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and if any one comes and inquires of you, ‘Is there any one here?’ say, ‘No.’ But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tentpin and took a hammer in her hand, and went stealthily to him and drove the pin into his temples, so that it went through into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary; so he died. And just then Barak appeared in pursuit of Sisera. And Jael went out to meet him and said to him, Come, I will show you the man whom you are seeking. And he went in with her; and there Sisera lay dead, with the tent-pin in his temples.
5. Introduction to the triumphal ode. Then they sang this song on that day: That the leaders took the lead in Israel, That the people volunteered readily,
Bless Jehovah!
Hear, O kings, Give ear, O rulers.
I myself, yea, I will sing to Jehovah, I will sing praise to Jehovah the God of Israel.
6. Jehovah’s advent. Jehovah, when thou wentest forth from Seir, When thou marchedst from the land of Edom, The earth trembled violently; The heavens also dripped, Yea, the clouds dropped water; The mountains quaked before Jehovah, Yon Sinai, before Jehovah the God of Israel.
7. Conditions before the war. In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unused, And travellers walked by round-about paths. The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until thou, Deborah, didst arise, Until thou didst arise a mother in Israel. A shield was not seen in five cities, Nor a spear among forty thousand.
8. Present causes for thanks giving. My heart is with the commanders of Israel, Who volunteered readily among the people;
Bless Jehovah!
You who ride on tawny asses, Who sit on rich saddle-cloths, And you who walk by the way, proclaim it.
Far from the sound of the division of spoil, In the places where water is drawn, There let them rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.
9. The rally about Deborah and Barak. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates [crying], ‘Arise, arise, Deborah, Arise, arise, strike up the song!
Arise, Barak, be strong, Take thy captives, son of Abinoam!’ So a remnant went down against the powerful, The people of Jehovah against the mighty: From Ephraim they rushed into the valley, Thy brother Benjamin among thy peoples; From Machir went down commanders, And from Zebulun those who carry the marshal’s staff. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; And Naphtali was even so with Barak, Into the valley they rushed forth at his back.
10. The cowards who remained at home. By the brooks of Reuben great were the resolves!
Why didst thou sit amongst the sheepfolds, Listening to the pipings of the flocks? By the brooks of Reuben there were great questionings!
Gilead remained beyond Jordan; And Dan, why does he stay by the ships as an alien?
Asher sits still by the shore of the sea, And remains by its landing places.
11. The battle by the Kishon. Zebulun was a people who exposed themselves to deady peril, And Naphtali on the heights of the open field.
Kings came, they fought;
They fought, the kings of Canaan, At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;
They took no booty of silver. From heaven fought the stars, From their courses fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away, The ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength!
Then did the horse-hoofs resound With the galloping, galloping of their steeds.
12. The cowardly people of Meroz. Curse Meroz, said the Messenger of Jehovah, Curse bitterly its inhabitants; For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.
13. Jael’s brave act. Blessed above women shall Jael be, That wife of Heber the Kenite, Blessed above all nomad women!
Water he asked, milk she gave;
Curdled milk she brought him in a bowl fit for lords.
She put her hand to the tent-pin, Even her right hand to the workman’s hammer; And she struck Sisera, she crushed his head, She shattered, she pierced his temple. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay still, At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell a victim slain.
14. The anxiety in Sisera’s palace. Through the window peered and loudly cried The mother of Sisera, through the lattice;
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoof-beats of his chariotry?’ The wisest of her ladies answered her, Yea, she herself answered her question, ‘Are they not indeed finding, dividing the spoil? A woman or two for each of the warriors; For Sisera a spoil of dyed stuffs, A spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, A piece or two of embroidery for his neck?
15. Eologu. So shall all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah; But they who love him shall be as the sun, rising in its invincible splendor.
I. The Prose and Poetic Versions of the Story. The importance of the event has led the early compiler of Judges to preserve not only the prose account but also the ancient poem which commemorates the great victory over the Canaanites. Instead of blending the two accounts he has introduced them, the one after the other. The prose version evidently comes from the Northern Israelite history. With this version has been combined another tradition of a great victory over the Canaanites led by Jabin, king of Hazor (cf. for a fuller version Joshua 11:1-15). In certain details, the two accounts of the victory over Sisera differ, as for example, concerning the tribes from which Deborah and Barak came; but in general the prose story and the poem are in close agreement, and supplement each other at many points. The poetic version is one of the oldest and noblest examples of early Hebrew poetry. In vigor and vividness it is unsurpassed. Some of its language is archaic, and the poem has suffered greatly in transmission; but with the aid of later texts it can for the most part be restored. In a series of vivid pictures it presents the different scenes in the great conflict. The reader is made at once an interested spectator of the succeeding events. He feels the importance of the great crisis; he sees the clans rally about the tribal chieftains; he hears the shock of battle and the pounding of the hoofs of the Canaanite chariot horses; with exultation he follows the flight of the terror-stricken Canaanites. He burns with indignation at the cowardice of the people of Meroz, and exults over the bloody deed of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. With mingled pity and thanksgiving, he listens to the pathetic questions of Sisera’s mother, as she waits for the return of the Canaanite leader. The later tradition embodied in the superscription attributed the poem to Deborah and Barak. The way in which they are addressed in the poem and the prominence given to their achievements imply that it was composed not by Deborah and Barak themselves but by some gifted contemporary. The emphasis given to the achievements of Deborah and Jael, and the interest in the feelings of the mother of Sisera, as she sits surrounded by her maidens, strongly suggest the feminine point of view. It is exceedingly probable that a song like this was sung by the women of Israel, as they went out to greet the conquering heroes. It is similar in general theme, spirit and setting to the song which the women of Israel sang at a later time, when Saul and David returned from a memorable victory over the Philistines (cf. § XLIII).
II. The Historical Situation. The song gives a glimpse of conditions in Canaan before the battle. In point of numbers and material strength the Canaanites surpassed the Hebrews. They were also in possession of the strategic points. The broad zone of Canaanite cities, which began with Bethshean on the east, and extended across the plain of Esdraelon to Megiddo and Dor on the west, completely separated the Hebrews of central Canaan from those in the north. All the important cities in the north still remained in the hands of the Canaanites. Only the intervening territory was held by the Israelites, who probably still followed their flocks and lived in tents or rude huts. Each family or clan lived apart by itself, meeting single-handed its peculiar dangers and problems. A few tribal sheiks, like Gideon, doubtless enjoyed a reputation which extended beyond the limits of their tribe. The He brews were weak, not so much because they were lacking in courage or skill in warfare, but because there was no strong leader or bond to unite them. In the presence of a coalition of Canaanite cities, which had apparently been formed by Sisera because of the fear inspired by the rapidly increasing numbers and strength of the Hebrews, the latter seemed helpless. This was another of those great crises which characterize Israel’s history. If these scattered Hebrew tribes had been subdued and assimilated by the Canaanites, the work of Moses would have been in vain. Even when the Hebrews conquered the Canaanites, they were able to resist only in part the seductive influences of the Canaanite civilization and religion. As serfs of the Canaanites, without unity or leadership, it is difficult to conceive how they could have maintained their loyalty to Jehovah.
III. Deborah, the Prophetess. The situation called for a leader with prophetic insight to rally the Hebrews and inspire them to united action. That leader the Hebrews found in Deborah, who is rightly called, in the later tradition, a prophetess. This tradition suggests that she already enjoyed a wide reputation. Like Samuel, the seer of Ramah, she appears to have been often consulted, as Jehovah’s representative, on questions of personal and private import. Her title, prophetess, rests, however, on higher grounds. Like the prophets of earlier and later times, she appreciated the significance of the great crisis and saw clearly what the needs of the situation required. More than that, she knew how to act. Like Samuel at a later time, she did not herself take the sword, but found a man who already enjoyed the confidence of his people, and was fitted to lead them to victory. Together Barak, the northern chieftain, and Deborah, the prophetess, rallied the tribes of central Israel.
IV. The Rally of the Tribes. In certain ways the conditions that confronted Deborah were similar to those which the earlier prophet, Moses, found in the land of Egypt. The danger of being reduced to serfdom and the common need of deliverance were powerful bonds with which to bind the Hebrews together. Deborah, however, like Moses, appealed to a higher motive. The war cry which she sent forth by messengers throughout the land of Canaan, appears to have been, “Come up to the help of Jehovah against the mighty.” This appeal suggested the great need. At the same time it appealed to the courage and warlike spirit of the bravest in Israel. It recalled the achievements of the past. Above all, it challenged them to prove by deed their loyalty to the God of their race. Before Canaan could become Jehovah’s land, it must be conquered by his chosen people. Thus they were called to fight, not merely for their freedom and their homes, but for the glory of their God. With this challenge came the assurance that Jehovah would not fail them in this great crisis in their history, for the voice that called them was the voice of his prophetess, Deborah. In response to this call, all the important tribes of central Canaan rallied about their tribal leaders. From the north came Barak, followed by the clansmen of Naphtali and Zebulun. With Deborah came the chieftains of Issachar. From the south came the tribesmen of Ephraim and Benjamin, and from across the Jordan, warriors from the powerful clan of Machir. Certain outlying tribes, like those of Reuben and Gilead, felt the call of duty, but preferred to remain beside their flocks. In the northwest the tribes of Dan and Asher, closely affiliated with their Phoenician neighbors, were intent only on their own selfish interests. It is also significant that the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Levi are not even mentioned. Apparently they were so far separated from the tribes of the north by the wall of Canaanite cities and by diversity of interests that they were not reckoned as a part of Israel.
V. The Battle. The Hebrews appear to have rallied near Mount Tabor. Thence they marched southward along the broad valley which leads to the plain of Esdraelon. The Canaanites evidently chose this wide, level plain as the battle-field, for there their chariots could readily manœuvre. Although they had all the advantages of superior military equipment and resources, they lacked what the Hebrews alone possessed: courage, faith and religious enthusiasm. The description at the beginning of the poem of Jehovah’s advent, riding on the storm clouds and heralded by the reverberating thunder, and the statement that the stars fought from heaven against Sisera indicate that, while the battle was in progress, a heavy storm swept across the plain. Ordinarily the Kishon is an insignificant, slow-flowing creek, but as the poem distinctly states, it suddenly became a raging torrent. A heavy fall of rain would quickly transform the alluvial soil of the plain into a muddy marsh making the manoeuvres of the chariot practically impossible. With marvellous skill, the poet has brought out in the Hebrew the sound of the plunging of the horses’ hoofs in the miry soil. To the minds of the Hebrews such a storm was clearest evidence that Jehovah was present and fighting for his people. In the hearts of the cowardly Canaanices it evidently struck dismay and terror. In mad flight they rushed into the muddy Kishon and were swept down toward the sea. The few who did escape would have been cut off, had the inhabitants of the Meroz been responsive to their opportunity and “come up to the help of Jehovah against the mighty.”
VI. The Fate of Sisera. Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, fled northward alone, and finally sought rood and refuge in the tent of a certain Heber. This Heber belonged to a clan of the wandering Kenites from whence came Moses’ wife. These Kenite clans frequently figured in the history of the Hebrews during the wilderness and settlement periods. They appear to have moved northward with the Israelites, and were evidently in sympathy with them. With a courage which is rare, even among women brought up amidst the hardships of nomadic life, Jael, the wife of Heber, actively espoused the cause of the Hebrews. According to the ancient poem she brought, in response to Sisera’s re quest for water, a bowl of curdled milk, and apparently when he was about to drink, she dealt him a fatal blow with the hammer which she held in her right hand. Thus was visited upon Sisera the most ignominious fate known to the ancient East—death at the hand of a woman. The magnitude of the disaster is brought out in bold relief by the monologue on the lips of Sisera’s mother. Instead of the victor laden with spoils, there came to her in time the knowledge of the overwhelming defeat that had overtaken her son, and the shame and ignominy of the conquered.
VII. The Significance of the Victory. Evidently the victory on the plain of Esdraelon gave to the Hebrews for the first time undisputed possession of central Canaan. It was the great decisive battle of Hebrew history. Henceforth the Canaanites ceased to be a barrier to the growth of the Hebrew nation. From this time on in the north the process of assimilating the older Canaanite population went on rapidly. From the Canaanites the Hebrews learned the arts of agriculture and civilization, and soon left far behind the rude habits of the wilderness. They also adopted the Canaanite sanctuaries and many of the rites and religious institutions which had grown up about these sacred places. The victory over the Canaanites also demonstrated to the Hebrews the necessity and advantages of united action. In a later period of adversity they could not fail to recall that, when they had laid aside their tribal jealousies and fought shoulder to shoulder, they had proved invincible. The experience, therefore, pointed clearly to that united Hebrew kingdom, which later rose out of the midst of cruel foreign oppression. Above all, the Hebrews learned again the great lesson that in the time of their supreme need the God, who had led them forth from the land of Egypt, was still present to deliver. Thus it was that in the school of actual experience Israel’s faith was developed.