Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SISERA

(Heb. sîsĕrāʾ)

1. Commander of the Canaanite forces which Israel, led by Deborah and Barak, decisively defeated near Tanaak in the valley of Jezreel. Judg. 4:2 describes Sisera as the commander of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, while 5:19-20 simply presumes he is the leader of a coalition of Canaanite kings (cf. 1 Sam. 12:9; Ps. 83:9[MT 10]). In both chapters the defeat of the Canaanites is expressed most pointedly through the moment of Sisera’s death. The Canaanites, with their powerful horse-drawn chariots, had repeatedly defeated Israel in the plains areas of Palestine (cf. Judg. 1:19, 27-36), making the defeat of the coalition especially sweet to Israel. Since Sisera embodies in himself the hated Canaanite forces, his death provides Israel the moment of cathartic release.

In the prose account of Judg. 4 Sisera flees the battlefield in desperate need of sanctuary from his enemy. The Bedouin woman Jael provides this, speaking soothing words and seeming to provide him protection. However, when the exhausted warrior falls asleep on the ground, she drives a tent peg through his temple, staking him to the ground (Judg. 4:17-21). In Judg. 5 she again gains Sisera’s confidence by seeming to cater to his needs, but here bashes in his head while he is still standing, drinking the curds she has provided. The highly repetitive description of Jael’s killing of Sisera and his fall to the ground (Judg. 5:26-27) allows the Israelite audience to savor in detail not only the demise of Sisera, but also of the Canaanite forces he led. Sisera’s death at the hands of a woman adds to the joy of Israel’s victory, as does the fact that the chief force behind Israel’s gathering for battle, Deborah, is also a woman. Adding to Sisera’s humiliation is his thirst, the result of his panicked flight (Judg. 4:15, 17; cf. the irony of the torrent in 5:20-21).

Sisera’s final humiliation comes in Judg. 5:28-30. Sisera’s aristocratic mother and her ladies in waiting are troubled by his long delay in returning from battle, yet can bring themselves to consider no outcome other than victory. The utterance of this folly just after the gruesome picture of Sisera lying dead underscores the joy of Israel’s victory.

2. “Sons of Sisera,” listed among the temple servants who returned from exile (Ezra 2:53; Neh. 7:55; 1 Esdr. 5:32). Their precise status is unknown, but use of the name Sisera could imply that they were considered outsiders in Israel, perhaps even descendants of the defeated Canaanite leader.

Bibliography. N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh (Maryknoll, 1979); A. J. Hauser, “Judges 5: Parataxis in Hebrew Poetry,” JBL 99 (1980): 23-41.

Alan J. Hauser

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SISERA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)