Sisera

Sisera was the commander of the Canaanite army who was defeated by the Israelites under the leadership of Deborah and Barak.

The name Sisera means “that sees a horse or a swallow”

MaleOld Testament3 books23 verses

Summary

A warrior living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Judges 4:2; only referred to as Sisera (סִיסְרָא).

Glossary entries

Sisera

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 6 verses that refer to Sisera without naming them, as “he”, “she”, or the subject of a verb.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.’”
  3. “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,
  4. When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,
  5. …he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.
  6. Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
  7. And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
  8. Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
  9. Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
  10. Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
  11. Judges 4:19Referred to, not named
    Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.
  12. Judges 4:20Referred to, not named
    “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”
  13. Judges 4:21Referred to, not named
    But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.
  14. When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple.
  15. From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera.
  16. Judges 5:22Referred to, not named
    Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions.
  17. Judges 5:25Referred to, not named
    He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
  18. She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.
  19. Judges 5:27Referred to, not named
    At her feet he collapsed, he fell, there he lay still; at her feet he collapsed, he fell; where he collapsed, there he fell dead.
  20. Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’
  21. ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
  22. 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.
  23. Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,