EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Judges 4:21
21But Heber's wife Jael got a tent peg and a hammer. Sisera was very tired and he was asleep. Jael used the hammer to hit the peg into the side of Sisera's head. The peg went through his head into the ground. Sisera died.
Judges 4:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
- New International Version (NIV)But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
Context of Judges 4:21
19Sisera said to her, ‘I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.’ She gave him some milk from a leather bottle. Then she covered him again with the cloth. 20Sisera said to her, ‘Stand at the door of your tent and watch. If someone comes to ask if anyone is here, say, “No.” ’ But Heber's wife Jael got a tent peg and a hammer. Sisera was very tired and he was asleep. Jael used the hammer to hit the peg into the side of Sisera's head. The peg went through his head into the ground. Sisera died. 22Barak had been chasing Sisera. Jael went out of her tent to say ‘hello’ to him. She said to Barak, ‘Come here! I will show you the man that you are looking for.’ Barak went with her into the tent. He saw Sisera there. He was lying on the ground and he was dead. Barak saw the peg that had gone through Sisera's head. 23On that day, God caused King Jabin of Canaan to be very ashamed because the Israelites had won against his army.
Read all of Judges 4Judges 4:21 word by word
וַתִּקַּ֣ח יָעֵ֣ל אֵֽשֶׁת־חֶ֠בֶר אֶת־יְתַ֨ד הָאֹ֜הֶל וַתָּ֧שֶׂם אֶת־הַמַּקֶּ֣בֶת בְּיָדָ֗הּ וַתָּב֤וֹא אֵלָיו֙ בַּלָּ֔אט וַתִּתְקַ֤ע אֶת־הַיָּתֵד֙ בְּרַקָּת֔וֹ וַתִּצְנַ֖ח בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְהֽוּא־נִרְדָּ֥ם וַיָּ֖עַף וַיָּמֹֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Then Jaelיָעֵלyâ‛êl · JaelH3278
- Heber’sחֶ֫בֶרcheber · HeberH2268
- wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- a nailיָתֵדyâthêd · pegH3489
- of the tentאֹ֫הֶל'ôhel · tentH168
- and tookשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: takeH7760
- an hammerמַקֶּ֫בֶתmaqqebeth · hammerH4718
- in her handיָדyâd · handH3027
- and wentבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- softlyלָאטlâ'ţ · secretH3814
- unto him, and smoteתָּקַעtâqa‛ · to blowH8628
- into his templesרַקָּהraqqâh · templeH7541
- and fastenedצָנַחtsânach · to descendH6795
- it into the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
- for he was fast asleepרָדַםrâdam · to sleepH7290
- and wearyעוּף‛ûph · to flyH5774
- So he diedמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
Cross-references for Judges 4:21
- Judges 3:21Then Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right leg. He pushed it deep into the king's stomach.
- Judges 5:26She took a tent peg in her left hand. She took a worker's hammer in her right hand. She hit the peg through Sisera's head. She broke his skull. She broke it completely. She knocked the sharp peg through his head.
- Judges 15:15He saw a bone from the skull of a donkey that had just died. He picked it up and he used it to kill 1,000 Philistine soldiers.
- 1 Samuel 17:43He said to David, ‘Do you think that I am just a dog? Can you knock me down with a little stick?’ Then he prayed to his gods that they would curse David.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19It says in the Bible: ‘I, God, will destroy all the clever thoughts of wise people. I will show that their clever ideas are useless.’
- Exodus 35:18pegs to fix the tent to the ground; pegs and ropes to hold the curtain around the yard;
- Psalms 3:7Lord, stand up! My God, save me from my enemies! Hit all my enemies in the face. Break the teeth of those bad people.
- Judges 5:27He fell to the floor at her feet. He lay there and he did not move. He died at the place where he fell. Jael had killed him!
Commentaries on Judges 4:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21A nail of the tent - One of the spikes by which they fasten to the ground the cords which are attached to the cloth or covering. He was fast asleep and weary - As he lay on one side, and was overwhelmed with sleep through the heat and fatigues of the day, the piercing of his temples must have in a moment put him past resistance.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21If we can overlook the treachery and violence which belonged to the morals of the age and country, and bear in mind Jael‘s ardent sympathies with the oppressed people of God, her faith in the right of Israel to possess the land in which they were now slaves, her zeal for the glory of Yahweh as against the gods of Canaan, and the heroic courage and firmness with which she executed her deadly purpose, we shall be ready to yield to her the praise which is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 Sisera's chariots had been his pride and his confidence. Thus are those disappointed who rest on the creature; like a broken reed, it not only breaks under them, but pierces them with many sorrows. The idol may quickly become a burden, Is 46:1; what we were sick for, God can make us sick of. It is probable that Jael really intended kindness to Sisera; but by a Divine impulse she was afterwards led to consider him as the determined enemy of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-22Jael achieved what she intended from the start. A more detailed description of the event is in Judges 5:26–27.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. Then Jael took a nail of the tent--most probably one of the pins with which the tent ropes are fastened to the ground. Escape was almost impossible for Sisera. But the taking of his life by the hand of Jael was murder. It was a direct violation of all the notions of honor and friendship that are usually held sacred among pastoral people, and for which it is impossible to conceive a woman in Jael's circumstances to have had any motive, except that of…Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 4:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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