Judges 4:9

Jdg 4:9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Ver. 9. Shall not be for thine honour.] Because a weak woman shall share with thee therein. Although in some women, such as were Deborah, Jael, Artemisia, Zenobia, Blandina, Queen Elizabeth, besides their sex there was nothing womanlike, or weak.

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 4:9. The journey thou takest — Hebrew, the way thou takest, which may mean the course he had resolved upon, not to go without her. Shall not be for thine honour — Though his faith was accepted, yet the weakness of it somewhat eclipsed his glory. The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman — It is greatly to the honour of a conqueror to take the general of the enemy’s army, or to kill him with his own hand; which, she tells him, should be denied him, as a small punishment for his diffidence and reluctance to comply with her directions; and as he would not go without a woman, so a woman should take away his honour from him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman--This was a prediction which Barak could not understand at the time; but the strain of it conveyed a rebuke of his unmanly fears.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.] Does not this mean, If I go with thee, the conquest shall be attributed to me, and thou wilt have no honour? Or, is it a prediction of the exploit of Jael? In both these senses the words have been understood. It seems, however, more likely that Jael is intended.

The Septuagint made a remarkable addition to the speech of Barak: "If thou wilt go with me I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go; Ὁτι ουκ οιδα την ἡμεραν εν ῃ ευοδοι Κυριος τον αγγελον μετ' εμου, because I know not the day in which the Lord will send his angel to give me success." By which he appears to mean, that although he was certain of a Divine call to this work, yet, as he knew not the time in which it would be proper for him to make the attack, he wishes that Deborah, on whom the Divine Spirit constantly rested, would accompany him to let him know when to strike that blow, which he knew would be decisive. This was quite natural, and quite reasonable, and is no impeachment whatever of Barak's faith. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine have the same reading; but it is found in no MS. nor in any other of the versions. See Jdg 4:14.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) I will surely go with thee.—Literally-Going, I will go.

Shall not be for thine honour.—Literally, thy pre-eminence (LXX. “proterçma”; Luther, “der Preis “) shall not be on the path which thou enterest.

Of a woman.—To enter into the force of this we must remember the humble and almost down-trodden position of women in the East, so that it could hardly fail to be a humiliation to a great warrior to be told that the chief glory would fall to a woman. He may have supposed that the woman was Deborah herself; but the woman was not the great prophetess, but Jael, the wife of the nomad chief (R. Tanchum, and Jos., Antt. v. 5, § 4). Compare the feeling implied in Jdg_9:24.

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

9. notwithstanding] Lest Barak’s hopes should soar too high, the prophetess foretells that the crowning glory shall not be his but Jael’s. It is doubtful whether any blame of Barak is implied: the words mean simply ‘thou wilt not gain the honours of the expedition.’

And Deborah arose … to Kedesh] From the neighbourhood of Beth-el the journey would take four or five days. But we have seen reason to doubt the existence of Deborah’s home in the S.; these words are perhaps a harmonizing addition; see notes on 5 and 6a.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she said, I will surely go with thee, She made no hesitation about it, but agreed at once to go with him for his encouragement; perceiving some degree of weakness in him, and yet an hearty and sincere inclination to engage in the work proposed, and that this might be no hinderance, she readily assents to it: adding:

notwithstanding the journey thou takest; the way or course he steered, the methods he took in insisting on it that she should go with him:

shall not be for thine honour; as a general of an army, who is commonly solicitous to have the whole glory of an action:

for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman; meaning either herself, for she being judge of Israel, and going along with him, would have the glory of the victory ascribed to her, as usually is to the principal person in the army; and so it would be said in future time, that the Lord delivered Sisera and his army, not into the hand of Barak, but into the hand of Deborah, whereby he would not have all the honour which otherwise he would have, if she went not with him; or else Jael, Heber's wife, is meant, into whose hands Sisera did fall, and by whom he was slain; but this seems to have no connection with Deborah's going or not going with him, it did not depend upon that one way or another; unless it can be thought that thus it was ordered in Providence as a rebuke of his diffidence and weakness, that because he would not go without a woman, Sisera should fall not into his hands, but into the hands of a woman; and if so, this is a clear instance of Deborah's having a spirit of prophecy, and of a prediction of a future contingent event:

and Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh; that is, they went together from the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, to Kedesh in Mount Naphtali, in order to raise the ten thousand men that were to fight with Sisera.

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

Mark the unhesitating faith and courage of Deborah, and the rebuke to Barak’s timidity, “the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Jael, Jdg 4:22). For a similar use of a weak instrument, that the excellency of the power might be of God, compare the history of Gideon and his 300, David and his sling, Shamgar and his ox-goad, Samson and the jawbone of the ass. (See 1Co 1:26, 1Co 1:31.) Barak would probably think the woman must be Deborah. The prophecy was only explained by its fulfillment. Her presence as a prophetess would give a divine sanction to Barak’s attempt to raise the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. To Barak himself it would be a pledge of her truth and sincerity. She probably commissioned some chief to raise the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh (Jdg 5:14, compare Psa 80:2), while she went with Barak and mustered Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thee. Protestants, "the journey that thou takest, shall not be for thine honour, for the Lord shall sell Sisara," &c. It is certain, however, that Barac acquired great commendations on this occasion: but if he had not been accompanied by Debbora, he would not have shared the glory of the victory with her and another woman. (Haydock) --- Some suppose that Debbora speaks of herself; others explain her words of Jahel. They may both be right. (Menochius) --- Cedes. Here the Israelites took the generous resolution to throw off the yoke, and marched to seize the fort of Thabor. This motion gave the alarm to Jabin, who sent his general to besiege them, and to occupy the passages of the Cison, chap. v. 18.

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).

Notwithstanding the journey, Heb. the way, i.e. the course or practice, as the way is taken, Num 22:32.

A woman; either,

1. Jael; or rather,

2. Deborah, who being, as it were, the judge and chief commandress of the army, the honour of the victory would be ascribed to her. But for Jael, her fact would have been the same, though Barak had gone into the field without Deborah.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Not be for thine honour — The honour would go to Jehovah as the author, and to a woman as the instrument. No one, indeed, could say, “No thanks to Barak,” for he bravely led the hosts to battle; but how immensely greater his honour had he gone without the prophetess, trusting solely in the word and power of his God!

Sell Sisera into the hand of a woman — The victory will be ascribed to Deborah rather than to Barak, and Sisera will fall by a woman’s hand, even by the hand of Jael, the wife of Heber. Jdg_4:21. Thus Barak suffered loss of honour in that Deborah, in a general sense, and Jael more particularly, robbed him of this crown. This prophecy, that Sisera was to fall by a woman’s hand, was probably noised abroad, and reached the ears of Heber’s wife.

Went with Barak — “For the sake of the great national cause she leaves her peaceful palm, and by her readiness to share in every danger evidences the truth of her announcements.” — Cassel.

To Kedesh — The house of Barak, and the rendezvous of the northern tribes. Jdg_4:6.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Into the hands of a woman: Some explain it as Yael, since Sisera was delivered into her hands; and that Devorah said this prophetically. But it is not correct with relation to the verse, when it stated, "However, there will be no glory for you." Rather its explanation is like this: If I go, there will be no glory for you, but rather the glory will be for me, since the salvation will be through me and they will say that the Lord delivered Sisera into the hands of Devorah. So this salvation will not be called by your name.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.