Judges 4:21 Meaning and Explanation
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →While Sisera sleeps from exhaustion, Jael drives a tent peg through his temple and kills him.
What Does Judges 4:21 Mean?
The prophecy is fulfilled in a single, startling act. As Sisera lies fast asleep and weary, Jael takes a tent peg and a hammer, moves quietly to him, and drives the peg through his temple into the ground. The dreaded commander, who escaped the battlefield, dies in the place where he sought refuge, at the hand of a woman, exactly as Deborah foretold.
The tools are those of a tent-dweller's daily life, a peg and a mallet, turned in a moment into the instruments of judgment. God brings down the oppressor not through the strength of armies but through the most ordinary means in the hands of the lowly. The deliverance of Israel is sealed here, and the word spoken in verse 9 is shown to be sure. What the Lord declares will surely come to pass, often by ways no one would have devised.
Judges 4:21 in the Original Language
yated (יָתֵד), 'nail' -- a tent peg, the simple wooden or metal stake used to fasten a tent to the ground.
Frequently Asked Questions About Judges 4:21
What does Judges 4:21 mean?
While Sisera sleeps from exhaustion, Jael drives a tent peg through his temple and kills him.