Encyclopedia entry
Sisera
Disambiguation
The source enumerates 2 distinct subjects under Sisera. Jump to one below, or read in order.
(Egypt. Ses-Ra, “servant of Ra”).
Sisera (1)
#The captain of Jabin’s army (Judg. 4:2), which was routed and destroyed by the army of Barak on the plain of Esdraelon. After all was lost he fled to the settlement of Heber the Kenite in the plain of Zaanaim. Jael, Heber’s wife, received him into her tent with apparent hospitality, and “gave him butter” (i.e., lebben, or curdled milk) “in a lordly dish.” Having drunk the refreshing beverage, he lay down, and soon sank into the sleep of the weary. While he lay asleep Jael crept stealthily up to him, and taking in her hand one of the tent pegs, with a mallet she drove it with such force through his temples that it entered into the ground where he lay, and “at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead.” The part of Deborah’s song (Judg. 5:24-27) referring to the death of Sisera (which is a “mere patriotic outburst,” and “is no proof that purer eyes would have failed to see gross sin mingling with Jael’s service to Israel”) is thus rendered by Professor Roberts (Old Testament Revision):
“Extolled above women be Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite, Extolled above women in the tent. He asked for water, she gave him milk; She brought him cream in a lordly dish. She stretched forth her hand to the nail, Her right hand to the workman’s hammer, And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head, She crashed through and transfixed his temples. At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he curled himself, he fell; And where he curled himself, there he fell dead.”
Sisera (2)
#The ancestor of some of the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:53; Neh. 7:55).
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(battle array).
Captain of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. He himself resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles. The particulars of the rout of Megiddo and of Sisera’s flight and death are drawn out under the heads of Barak, Deborah, Jael, Kishon. (B.C. 1296.) After a long interval the name appears in the lists of Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:53; Nehemiah 7:55) It doubtless tells of Canaanite captives devoted to the lowest offices of the temple. (B.C. before 536.)
In the Bible
21
Verses where Sisera is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Samuel 12:9
But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
- Ezra 2:53
the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,
- Judges 4:2
So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
- Judges 4:7
And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
- Judges 4:9
“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,
- Judges 4:12
When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,
+15 more verses naming Sisera.
Entries that reference Sisera
19
Sisera references
21
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.