See Judges iv. j

IT was a gloomy period in the history of her people when Deborah became judge over Israel. The national spirit had become feeble and idolatry and wickedness had increased. The people chafed under the discipline and stern morality which the statutes of Moses enjoined, and many of them renounced their allegiance to God, neglected his service, and worshipped with those who served Baal and Ashtaroth. Then "the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim; and the children of" Israel came up to her for judgment." -

When the people prayed for deliverance from the bitter oppression of Jabin, Deborah called Barak, the leader of the armies of Israel, and directed him to proceed, with ten thousand men of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, toward Mount Tabor, where it was promised that Sisera and his 'army should be delivered into his hand. "And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; put if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor: for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Sisera met Barak, with nine hundred chariots and all his armed men; but they melted away before the victorious hosts of israel, till all were slain. Sisera escaped from the field and took refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. Jael covered him with a 'mantle, and when he had fallen asleep through weariness, she took a nail of the tent, crept softly to his side, and drove the nail through his temples into the ground. "So God subdued on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the children of Israel."

Here we see the story most vividly portrayed. Inside the tent, in a posture indicating the agony of, his death, lies Sisera, clad in mail, pinned to the earth. Jael stands gazing upon him from the door, and she has drawn aside the tent cloth, so that Barak and his followers, who are seen approaching, may look in upon the fallen chieftain. The figure of Jael is remarkably lithe and graceful, yet her countenance shows the strength of will which enabled her to perform so unwomanly a deed. There is no cruelty expressed in the features, but they seem equally devoid of any trace of pity or compunction. The broken lights in the evening sky produce a fine contrast to the subdued twilight of the interior.