Judges 4 · Verse 20

Judges 4:20

Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.

Judges 4:20, King James Version

Judges 4:20 in other translations

BSB	“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
WEB	He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’”
ASV	And he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
YLT	And he saith unto her, ‘Stand at the opening of the tent, and it hath been, if any doth come in, and hath asked thee, and said, Is there a man here? that thou hast said, There is not.'
DARBY	And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be if any one come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
BBE	And he said to her, Take your place at the door of the tent, and if anyone comes and says to you, Is there any man here, say, No.
Webster	Again he said to her, stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.

What does Judges 4:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

20. he said unto her, ... when any man doth come and enquire of thee and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No--The privacy of the harem, even in a tent, cannot be intruded on without express permission.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20 Stand in the door of the tent - As no man would intrude into the women's apartment without permission, her simply saying, there is no man in my tent, would preclude all search.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Judges 4:17-24

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…

Read the full comment on Judges 4:17-24 →

Judges 4:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559

אֵלֶ֔יהָ'e.Lei.hato herH413

עֲמֹ֖ד'a.ModstandH5975

פֶּ֣תַחPe.tach[the] opening ofH6607

הָאֹ֑הֶלha.'O.helthe tentH168

וְהָיָה֩ve.ha.Yahand it will beH1961

אִם\־'im-ifH518

אִ֨ישׁ'ishanyoneH376

יָב֜וֹאya.Vo'he will comeH935

וּשְׁאֵלֵ֗ךְu.she.'e.Lekhand he will ask youH7592

וְאָמַ֛רve.'a.Marand he will sayH559

הֲיֵֽשׁ\־ha.yesh-¿ [is] thereH3426

פֹּ֥הpohhereH6311

אִ֖ישׁ'ishanyoneH376

וְאָמַ֥רְתְּve.'a.Martand you will sayH559

אָֽיִן\׃'A.yinnoH369

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Judges 4:20

Joshua 2:3-5
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
2 Samuel 17:20
And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Is there.
Jos 2:3-5; 2Sa 17:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Judges 4:19
And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
Judges 4:20
Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
Judges 4:21
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.

Read all of Judges 4

Judges 4:20 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y él le dijo: Estáte á la puerta de la tienda, y si alguien viniere, y te preguntare, diciendo: ¿Hay aquí alguno? tú responderás que no.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et il lui dit: Tiens-toi à l’entrée de la tente, et s’il arrive qu’on vienne et qu’on t’interroge et dise: Y a-t-il quelqu’un ici? tu diras: Non.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und er sprach zu ihr: Stelle dich an den Eingang des Zeltes; und es geschehe, wenn jemand kommt und dich fragt und spricht: Ist jemand hier? So sage: Niemand.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Dixitque Sisara ad eam: Sta ante ostium tabernaculi: et cum venerit aliquis interrogans te, et dicens: Numquid hic est aliquis? respondebis: Nullus est.