Judges 4:23

Jdg 4:23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

Ver. 23. So God subdued on that day Jabin.] By the death of his general and destruction of his forces. See Jdg 4:16.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg_4:23

So God subdued on that day Jabin.

A great victory--but Gods

I. What he did: God subdued . . . Jabin the king.

1. This is the normal issue of Gods activity. For God to act is for Him to conquer. Where the victory tarries, it is only God waiting.

2. He subdued Jabin the king of Canaan. Who is able to stand against Him?

3. Every oppressor of Gods people becomes His foe. He who molests them virtually challenges God.

II. How he did it: So.

1. By inspiring Deborah with a holy courage.

2. By arrangement. The plan of salvation is only one grand instance of the Divine order,

III. When he did it: On that day. God never miscalculates. The Eternal is never late.

1. It was as soon as they wanted it.

2. It was when they were most ready to receive it.

IV. Where he did it: Before the children of Israel.

1. There are many things which God must do out of our sight.

2. There are instances when He works by signs which are visible--Red Sea; Carmel. This victory was not only decided, but manifest. (E. M. Mouchin.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(23) So God subdued.—The word used for God is here Elohim, while Jehovah occurs through the rest of the narrative. We are not yet in a position to formulate the law which regulates the interchange of these names. It need hardly be added that this attribution of the deliverance of Israel to God’s providence and aid does not necessarily involve the least approval of the false and cruel elements which stained the courage and faith of Jael. Though God overrules even criminal acts to the fulfilment of His own purposes, the crimes themselves meet with their own just condemnation and retribution. This may be seen decisively in the case of Jehu. His conduct, like that of Jael, was of a mixed character. He was an instrument in the hands of God to punish and overthrow the guilty house of Ahab, and in carrying out this Divine commission, he, too, showed dauntlessness and faith, yet his atrocious cruelty is justly condemned by the voice of the prophet (Hos_1:4), just as that of Baasha had been (1Ki_16:7), though he, too, was an instrument of Divine retribution. To explain this clause, and the triumphal cry of Deborah—“So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord”—as Bishop Wordsworth does, to mean that “the work of Jael is represented by the sacred writer as the work of God,” is to claim Divine sanction for a wish that wicked or hostile powers should always “so” perish by cruel and treacherous assassination. At the same time, Jael must not be classed with women actuated only by a demoniacal thirst for vengeance, like Criemhild, in the Niebelungen; or even with Aretophila, of Cyrene, whom Plutarch so emphatically praises (On the Virtues of Women, p. 19, quoted by Cassel); but rather with women like Judith in ancient, or Charlotte Corday in modern times, who regarded themselves as the champions of a great and good cause.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So God subdued on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the children, of Israel. Freed Israel from subjection to him and delivered him into the hands of the Israelites; for Josephus (o) says, that as Barak went towards Hazor, he met Jabin, and slew him; who perhaps having heard of the defeat of his army under Sisera, came forth with another against Israel, which being overcome by them, he was slain, and the city utterly destroyed, as the same writer says; but by what follows it seems rather that the total conquest of him was afterwards and gradually accomplished.

(o) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 5. sect. 4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Humbled Jabin, though he was not present in this battle. The Israelites followed up the victory, and presently brought their late oppressor to ruin, that all might confess, none could resist their power, when God was propitious to them; as, on the other hand, the most feeble state was able to reduce them to servitude, when they proved rebellious. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

"So God subdued at that time Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel; and the hand of the Israelites became heavier and heavier in its pressure upon him, until they had destroyed him." וקשׁה הלוך ... יד ותּלך, "the hand ... increased more and more, becoming heavy." הלך, used to denote the progress or continual increase of an affair, as in Gen 8:3, etc., is connected with the infinitive absolute, and with the participle of the action concerned. קשׁה is the feminine participle of קשׁה, like גּדל in Gen 26:13 (see Ges. 131, 3, Anm. 3). The overthrow of Jabin and his rule did not involve the extermination of the Canaanites generally.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

God defeated Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the people of Israel

God causing the Israelites to defeat Jabin and his army is spoken of as is God himself defeated Jabin as the people of Israel watched. (See: Metaphor)

The might

"The military power"

they destroyed him

Here "him" refers to Jabin who represents himself and his army. AT: "they destroyed Jabin and his army" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

God

king

Canaan

Israel

might

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.