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so that Sisera lighted down off <i>his</i> chariot, and fled away on his feet.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/4.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/judges/4.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/judges/4.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/4.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/judges/4.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/judges/4.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/4.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/judges/4.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/judges/4.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/judges/4.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/judges/4.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/judges/4.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/judges/4.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/judges/4.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/judges/4.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/judges/5-23.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/judges/4.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/judges/4.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/judges/4.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/judges/4.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/judges/4.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/judges/4.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/judges/4.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/judges/4.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/judges/4.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/judges/4.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/4.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/judges/4.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/judges/4.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/judges/4.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/judges/4.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/4.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(15) <span class= "bld">Discomfited.</span>—The same word as in <a href="/exodus/14-24.htm" title="And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked to the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,">Exodus 14:24</a>; <a href="/joshua/10-10.htm" title="And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.">Joshua 10:10</a>. The LXX. <span class= "ital">exestēse, </span>and the Vulg. <span class= "ital">perterruit, </span>imply the element of immediate Divine aid in the battle.<p><span class= "bld">Sisera, and all his chariots.</span>—“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (<a href="/psalms/20-7.htm" title="Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.">Psalm 20:7</a>; comp. <a href="/context/psalms/33-16.htm" title="There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.">Psalm 33:16-17</a>; <a href="/proverbs/21-31.htm" title="The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.">Proverbs 21:31</a>).<p><span class= "bld">And all his host.</span>—“Do unto them . . . as to Sisera, as to Jabin at the brook of Kison, which perished at Endor, and became as the dung of the earth” (<a href="/context/psalms/83-9.htm" title="Do to them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:">Psalm 83:9-10</a>). Considering the allusion to the swollen waters of the Kishon and the storm in <a href="/context/judges/5-20.htm" title="They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.">Judges 5:20-22</a>, it seems probable that Josephus is following a correct Jewish tradition when he describes the battle thus:—“They joined battle, and as the ranks closed a violent storm came on, and much rain and hail; and the wind drove the rain against the faces of the Canaanites, darkening their outlook, so that their archeries and their slings were rendered useless, and their heavy-armed soldiers, because of the cold, were unable to use their swords. But since the storm was behind the Israelites, it caused them less harm, and they further took courage from their belief in God’s assistance, so that, driving into the midst of the enemy, they killed many of them,” &c. (<span class= "ital">Antt. v.</span> 5, § 4). The battle thus closely resembled that of Timoleon against the Carthaginians at the Crimessus (Grote, xi. 246), and the English victory at Crecy, as has been graphically described by Dean Stanley (<span class= "ital">Jew. Church, </span>i. 329). We may add that similar conditions recurred in the battle of Cannæ, except that it was the storm of <span class= "ital">dust </span>and not of rain that was blown in the faces of the Romans by the <span class= "ital">Scirocco </span>(Liv. 22:46; Plut. <span class= "ital">Fab. </span>16).<p><span class= "bld">Sisera lighted down off his chariot.</span>—We find an Homeric hero, Idæus (<span class= "ital">Il. v.</span> 20), doing the same thing. On this the frivolous critic Zoilus made the objection, “Why did he not fly in his chariot?” The answer is the same as here: Sisera would have far more chance of escaping into concealment if he left the well-known chariot of a general. Besides this, his chariot—like those of the Egyptians at the Red Sea—was probably struggling in the trampled morass. <span class= "ital">“</span>It was left to rust on the banks of the Kishon, like Roderick’s on the shores of the Guadelete” (Stanley).<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/judges/4.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>4:10-16. Siser's confidence was chiefly in his chariots. But if we have ground to hope that God goes before us, we may go on with courage and cheerfulness. Be not dismayed at the difficulties thou meetest with in resisting Satan, in serving God, or suffering for him; for is not the Lord gone before thee? Follow him then fully. Barak went down, though upon the plain the iron chariots would have advantage against him: he quitted the mountain in dependence on the Divine power; for in the Lord alone is the salvation of his people, Jer 3:23. He was not deceived in his confidence. When God goes before us in our spiritual conflicts, we must bestir ourselves; and when, by his grace, he gives us some success against the enemies of our souls, we must improve it by watchfulness and resolution.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/4.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Lighted down off his chariot - Probably his chariot stuck in the morass (see the note at <a href="/judges/4-7.htm">Judges 4:7</a>); or he might leave his chariot in order to mislead his pursuers, and in hope of gaining a place of safety while they were following the track of the chariot-wheels and the bulk of the host. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/judges/4.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>15. the Lord discomfited Sisera—Hebrew, "threw his army into confusion"; men, horses, and chariots being intermingled in wild confusion. The disorder was produced by a supernatural panic (see on [217]Jud 5:20).<p>so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet—His chariot being probably distinguished by its superior size and elegance, would betray the rank of its rider, and he saw therefore that his only chance of escape was on foot.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/judges/4.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">The Lord discomfited Sisera, </span> with great terror and noise, as the word signifies, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/exodus/14-24.htm" title="And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked to the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,">Exodus 14:24</a> <a href="/joshua/10-10.htm" title="And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.">Joshua 10:10</a> 1Sa 10</span>, most probably with thunder, and lightning, and hailstones, or other such instruments of destruction poured upon them from heaven, as is sufficiently implied, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/judges/5-20.htm" title="They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.">Judges 5:20</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">With the edge of the sword, </span> i.e. by the sword of Barak and his army, whose ministry God used; but so that they had little else to do but to kill these whom God by more powerful arms had put to flight. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Fled away on his feet, </span> that he might flee away more secretly and securely in the quality of a common soldier, whereas his chariot would have exposed him to more observation and hazard. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/judges/4.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all his chariots, and all his host,.... Frightened them, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, or disturbed them with a noise and tumult, as the word signifies; with a noise in the heavens, which were in their ears, as Abarbinel observes, like the noise of a large army, as was the case of the Syrians, <a href="/2_kings/7-6.htm">2 Kings 7:6</a>; and they saw, he says, horses and chariots of fire, and the like, which terrified them; and all this he supposes was done before Barak descended from the mountain, so that he had nothing to do when he came but to pursue and kill, whereby it plainly appeared it was the Lord's doing. Josephus (i) says there was a great tempest of rain and hail, and the wind blew the rain in their faces, which so blinded their eyes, that their slings and arrows were of no use to them; and they that bore armour were so benumbed, that they could not hold their swords. Something of this kind is intimated by Deborah in her song, <a href="/judges/5-20.htm">Judges 5:20</a>; and this was accompanied or followed by a slaughter <p>with the edge of the sword before Barak; the fright and dread they were put into was increased by the appearance of Barak, who fell upon them in their confusion, and cut them to pieces: <p>so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet; being very probably swift of foot; and besides thought it safest to quit his chariot, which in the confusion was in danger of being run against by others; as also he might judge he should not be so easily discerned who he was when on foot, as a common soldier, as in his splendid chariot; and this he might do in his fright, not considering his horses were swifter than he: thus Homer represents a Trojan warrior leaping out of his chariot to escape Diomedes, and another as doing the same to get clear of Achilles (k). <p>(i) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 5. sect. 1.) sect. 4. (k) Vid. Iliad. 5. & 20. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/judges/4.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/4.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">15</span>. <span class="ital">discomfited</span>] lit. ‘confused,’ ‘threw into a panic.’ The word, not a common one, occurs again in the prose counterpart to the Song of Moses (<a href="/exodus/14-24.htm" title="And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked to the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,">Exodus 14:24</a>), and in <a href="/joshua/10-10.htm" title="And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.">Joshua 10:10</a> just before the poetic fragment <span class="ital"><a href="/context/judges/4-12.htm" title="And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor....">Jdg 4:12-13</a></span>; cf. <a href="/1_samuel/7-10.htm" title="And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.">1 Samuel 7:10</a>. The words <span class="ital">with the edge of the sword</span> do not go well with <span class="ital">threw into a panic</span>; they may have come accidentally from <span class="ital"><a href="/judges/4-16.htm" title="But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell on the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.">Jdg 4:16</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/4.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span>- <span class="cmt_word">The Lord discomfited</span>, etc. Deborah had announced that the Lord was gone out before the host of Barak, and so the victory was not man's, but the Lord's. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."Judges 4:15<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/judges/4.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>"And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak." ויּהם, as in <a href="/exodus/14-24.htm">Exodus 14:24</a> and <a href="http://biblehub.com/joshua/10-10.htm">Joshua 10:10</a>, denotes the confounding of the hostile army by a miracle of God, mostly by some miraculous phenomenon of nature: see, besides <a href="/exodus/14-24.htm">Exodus 14:24</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/22-15.htm">2 Samuel 22:15</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/psalms/18-15.htm">Psalm 18:15</a>, and <a href="/psalms/144-6.htm">Psalm 144:6</a>. The expression ויּהם places the defeat of Sisera and his army in the same category as the miraculous destruction of Pharaoh and of the Canaanites at Gibeon; and the combination of this verb with the expression "with the edge of the sword" is to be taken as constructio praegnans, in the sense: Jehovah threw Sisera and his army into confusion, and, like a terrible champion fighting in front of Israel, smote him without quarter, Sisera sprang from his chariot to save himself, and fled on foot; but Barak pursued the routed foe to Harosheth, and completely destroyed them. "All Sisera's army fell by the edge of the sword; there remained not even to one," i.e., not a single man. <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/judges/4-15.htm">Judges 4:15 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../judges/4-14.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 4:14"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 4:14" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../judges/4-16.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Judges 4:16"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Judges 4:16" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>