In brief
Sisera is the commander of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned at Hazor in the days of the judges. With nine hundred iron chariots, Jabin oppresses Israel for twenty years. The prophetess Deborah announces that the Lord will deliver Sisera, and Barak routs his army. Sisera flees on foot and takes refuge in the tent of Jael, who kills him while he sleeps. The song of Deborah celebrates this deliverance.
What does the name Sisera mean?
Sisera does not seem to be a Hebrew name; its origin is uncertain and the Bible does not explain it. Some see a name from a foreign people settled in Canaan, but nothing allows us to say so. He lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, a name that evokes the nations (Judges 4:2).
The story of Sisera
The commander of Jabin’s army
Judges 4:1-3After the death of Ehud, Israel again does what is evil in the Lord’s sight, and he sells them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. The commander of his army is Sisera, who lives in Harosheth Haggoyim. Jabin has nine hundred iron chariots and oppresses Israel harshly for twenty years. The children of Israel then cry out to the Lord.
A victory announced
Judges 4:4-10Deborah, prophetess and judge, gives Barak God’s command: gather ten thousand men at Mount Tabor. The Lord promises to draw out Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, to the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops and to give him into Barak’s hand. Barak hesitates, and Deborah announces that Sisera will be delivered into the hand of a woman.
The rout
Judges 4:12-16Sisera gathers his nine hundred chariots toward the river Kishon. Deborah tells Barak to get up, for this is the day the Lord has given Sisera into his hand. The Lord routs Sisera, all his chariots and all his army. Sisera gets down from his chariot and flees on foot; his whole army falls by the sword, and not a man is left.
In Jael’s tent
Judges 4:17-22Sisera flees to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, because there is peace between Jabin and that family. Jael invites him in, covers him and gives him milk to drink. He asks her to say that no one is there. While he sleeps, exhausted, she drives a tent peg through his temple. Barak finds him dead.
The song of Deborah
Judges 5:20-31Deborah and Barak sing of the victory: the stars fought from heaven, from their courses, against Sisera. The song describes his fall at Jael’s feet, then his mother waiting at the window and imagining the plunder. It ends with a prayer that all the Lord’s enemies perish in this way. The land then has rest for forty years.
A name that stayed in Israel’s memory
1 Samuel 12:9Generations later, Samuel reminds the people that when they forgot the Lord, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor. Psalm 83 also asks God to deal with Israel’s enemies as he did with Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon. Sisera becomes the symbol of the enemy whom God brings low.
Test your knowledge
What Sisera teaches us
- Military power does not protect against God: nine hundred iron chariots could not stand on the day the Lord had set.
- God keeps his word down to the details: Sisera was delivered into the hands of a woman, as Deborah had announced.
- Oppression ends when the people cry out to God: after twenty years, the Lord raised up deliverance.
- Those who oppose God eventually fall, but those who love him are like the sun when it rises in its strength.
Key verses
Deborah encourages Barak: the day has come, and the Lord goes out before him. Victory over Sisera comes from God before it comes from Israel’s army.
Barak refuses to go without Deborah. She agrees, but announces that the glory will not be his, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman. The prophecy is fulfilled through Jael.
The song of Deborah ends with a prayer: may the Lord’s enemies perish in this way, and may those who love him be like the sun rising in its strength.
Sermons about Sisera
- Deborah: When a Woman Rises Up to Set Israel RightJM Botteron points out that Deborah gives Barak the whole plan of God, down to the place where the Lord will draw out Sisera. He also stresses Jael’s radical decision against the enemy of God’s people.
- The Mantle of Deborah: Rising into Divine AuthorityThe sermon describes Israel oppressed for twenty years under the hand of Jabin and his commander Sisera, with his iron chariots, before Deborah mobilizes Barak to fight his army.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Sisera in the Bible?
Sisera was the commander of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan at Hazor, who oppressed Israel for twenty years with nine hundred iron chariots (Judges 4:2-3). Defeated by Barak according to Deborah’s word, Sisera fled on foot and was killed by Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, in her tent.
Why did Sisera die at the hand of a woman?
Deborah had announced it to Barak, who refused to go into battle without her: the glory would not be his, for the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman (Judges 4:9). The prophecy was fulfilled when Jael killed Sisera as he sheltered in her tent. The song of Deborah proclaims her blessed above women who dwell in tents (Judges 5:24).
Where can I find the story of Sisera in the Bible?
The account is in Judges 4, and Judges 5 retells it as a song sung by Deborah and Barak. Sisera is mentioned again in 1 Samuel 12:9, when Samuel recalls the history of Israel, and in Psalm 83, which asks God to treat his enemies as he did Sisera and Jabin.