Judges 4 · Verse 21

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.
Judges 4:21, King James Version

Judges 4:21 in other translations

BSBBut as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
WEBThen Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground, for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and died.
ASVThen Jael Heber’s wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.
YLTAnd Jael wife of Heber taketh the pin of the tent, and taketh the hammer in her hand, and goeth unto him gently, and striketh the pin into his temples, and it fasteneth in the earth--and he hath been fast asleep, and is weary--and he dieth.
DARBYAnd Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took the hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it penetrated into the ground; for he had fallen into a deep sleep and was faint; and he died.
BBEThen Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent-pin and a hammer and went up to him quietly, driving the pin into his head, and it went through his head into the earth, for he was in a deep sleep from weariness; and so he came to his end.
WebsterThen Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep, and weary. So he died.

What does Judges 4:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. 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 gaining favor with the victors. Though predicted by Deborah [Jud 4:9], it was the result of divine foreknowledge only--not the divine appointment or sanction; and though it is praised in the song [Jud 5:24-27], the eulogy must be considered as pronounced not on the moral character of the woman and her deed, but on the public benefits which, in the overruling providence of God, would flow from it.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 A 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.

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 4:21 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.

וַתִּקַּ֣חva.ti.Kachand she tookH3947
יָעֵ֣לya.'ElJaelH3278
אֵֽשֶׁת\־'e.shet-[the] wife ofH802
חֶ֠בֶרChe.verHeberH2268
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְתַ֨דye.Tad[the] peg ofH3489
הָאֹ֜הֶלha.'O.helthe tentH168
וַתָּ֧שֶׂםva.Ta.semand she putH7760
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַמַּקֶּ֣בֶתha.ma.Ke.vetthe hammerH4718
בְּיָדָ֗הּbe.ya.Dahin hand herH3027
וַתָּב֤וֹאva.ta.Vo'and she wentH935
אֵלָיו֙'e.Lavto himH413
בַּלָּ֔אטba.Latin <the> secrecyH3814
וַתִּתְקַ֤עva.tit.Ka'and she droveH8628
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַיָּתֵד֙hai.ya.Tedthe pegH3489
בְּרַקָּת֔וֹbe.ra.ka.Toin temple hisH7541
וַתִּצְנַ֖חva.titz.Nachand it went downH6795
בָּאָ֑רֶץba.'A.retzin the groundH776
וְהֽוּא\־ve.hu'-and heH1931
נִרְדָּ֥םnir.Dam[was] sleepingH7290
וַיָּ֖עַףvai.Ya.'afand he was wearyH5888
וַיָּמֹֽת\׃vai.ya.Motand he diedH4191

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

Cross references for Judges 4:21

  • Psalms 3:7

    Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

  • Judges 5:26-27

    She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

  • 1 Corinthians 1:27

    But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

  • Judges 3:21

    And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:

  • 1 Corinthians 1:19

    For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

  • Judges 3:31

    And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.

  • Judges 15:15

    And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

  • 1 Samuel 17:49-50

    And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

  • 1 Samuel 17:43

    And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
took.
3:21,31; 5:26; 15:15; 1Sa 17:43,49,50; 1Co 1:19,27
a nail.One of the spikes of the tent. See Note on Ex 35:18.
and took. Heb. and put. smote.
Ps 3:7
he died.
5:27

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

Context

  • 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.

  • Judges 4:22

    And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

Read all of Judges 4

Judges 4:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y Jael, mujer de Heber, tomó una estaca de la tienda, y poniendo un mazo en su mano, vino á él calladamente, y metióle la estaca por las sienes, y enclavólo en la tierra, pues él estaba cargado de sueño y cansado; y así murió.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Jaël, femme de Héber, prit un pieu de la tente, et saisit le marteau dans sa main, et elle vint vers lui doucement, et lui enfonça le pieu dans la tempe, de sorte qu’il pénétra dans la terre; or il dormait profondément et était fatigué; et il mourut.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Jael, das Weib Hebers, nahm einen Zeltpflock und faßte den Hammer in ihre Hand, und sie kam leise zu ihm und schlug den Pflock durch seine Schläfe, daß er in die Erde drang. Er war nämlich in einen tiefen Schlaf gefallen und war ermattet, und er starb.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Tulit itaque Jahel uxor Haber clavum tabernaculi, assumens pariter et malleum: et ingressa abscondite et cum silentio, posuit supra tempus capitis ejus clavum, percussumque malleo defixit in cerebrum usque ad terram: qui soporem morti consocians defecit, et mortuus est.