Judges Chapter 4 verse 23 Holy Bible

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) So God subdued.--The word used for God is here Elohim, while Jehovah occurs through the rest of the narrative. We are not yet in a position to formulate the law which regulates the interchange of these names. It need hardly be added that this attribution of the deliverance of Israel to God's providence and aid does not necessarily involve the least approval of the false and cruel elements which stained the courage and faith of Jael. Though God overrules even criminal acts to the fulfilment of His own purposes, the crimes themselves meet with their own just condemnation and retribution. This may be seen decisively in the case of Jehu. His conduct, like that of Jael, was of a mixed character. He was an instrument in the hands of God to punish and overthrow the guilty house of Ahab, and in carrying out this Divine commission, he, too, showed dauntlessness and faith, yet his atrocious cruelty is justly condemned by the voice of the prophet (Hosea 1:4), just as that of Baasha had been (1Kings 16:7), though he, too, was an instrument of Divine retribution. To explain this clause, and the triumphal cry of Deborah--"So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord"--as Bishop Wordsworth does, to mean that "the work of Jael is represented by the sacred writer as the work of God," is to claim Divine sanction for a wish that wicked or hostile powers should always "so" perish by cruel and treacherous assassination. At the same time, Jael must not be classed with women actuated only by a demoniacal thirst for vengeance, like Criemhild, in the Niebelungen; or even with Aretophila, of Cyrene, whom Plutarch so emphatically praises (On the Virtues of Women, p. 19, quoted by Cassel); but rather with women like Judith in ancient, or Charlotte Corday in modern times, who regarded themselves as the champions of a great and good cause.Parallel Commentaries ...HebrewOn thatהַה֔וּא (ha·hū)Article | Pronoun - third person masculine singularStrong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, aredayבַּיּ֣וֹם (bay·yō·wm)Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singularStrong's 3117: A dayGodאֱלֹהִים֙ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlativesubduedוַיַּכְנַ֤ע (way·yaḵ·na‘)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singularStrong's 3665: To bend the knee, to humiliate, vanquishJabinיָבִ֣ין (yā·ḇîn)Noun - proper - masculine singularStrong's 2985: Jabin -- 'one who is intelligent', two Canaanite kingskingמֶֽלֶךְ־ (me·leḵ-)Noun - masculine singular constructStrong's 4428: A kingof Canaanכְּנָ֑עַן (kə·nā·‘an)Noun - proper - masculine singularStrong's 3667: Canaan -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their land West of the Jordanbeforeלִפְנֵ֖י (lip̄·nê)Preposition-l | Noun - common plural constructStrong's 6440: The facethe Israelites.בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)Noun - masculine plural constructStrong's 1121: A sonJump to PreviousCanaan Canaanite Children Humbleth Israel Israelites Jabin Overcame Subdued