The prose narrative, then, is not necessarily in contradiction with the Ode as to the manner of Sisera's death, though undoubtedly, if we had only the Ode to guide us, we should not be able to reproduce the scene described in 4^. The prose narrator seems to have hod independent informa- tion, oral or otherwise.
There are other pointit of difference between ch& 4 i.nd 6 which malte it probable that the lat«r writ«r has made free .-ae of sources other than the Song, (a) Aa we have seen, 5H '»• !» describes the uprii-int; of nianv tribes ; but in 4*0 Barak collecla 10,000 men from Zcbulun and Naphtali only. It cannot, how- ever, l)e denied that these are the trit)e8 whose prowess is moat prominent in the Sonf (5'"). (t) In the poem, tiii;/« of Canaan are mentioned, of whom Sisera is the leaaer ; in 42 Sisera la the general of Jabin, king of Canaan (or I4'T] of Ilazor), under whose tyranny the people of Isniel had l)een 'mightily opprraaed' for twenty yeara (4^). (c) The connexion of Jabin with the Jael-Sisera story is not clear. Jabin takes no part in the action ; and it ia posaible that he haa been introduced here through a reminiacence of Jabin, king of Mazor, the head of a Canaanit* confederacy, whoa« annv Joshua liefealvd at the Watera of Merom(Jo8 ll'">. id) Jabin'a city, Ilazor, was in Galilee, far distant fP3m the Kishon Valley ; and Kedosh is north of Haxor. Here (4>') were Heber'a tents,* to which Sisera tle<l after hia defeat, having tlrst (4'*) al>andoned hia chariot with the view of escaping his pursuing enemy. But («) it is curious that Sisen* ahould have pa.«id by Jabin'a stronghold when a«.eking shelter ; t and 03)il isditncult to rwoncile the gi^ogranhical daU of the proae venion with the implication that Jaei'a tent waa not far frcm the battleheld.
To return to the episcxle of Sisera's death at the hands of Jael. The prose version makes the ca-se against Jael blacker than the song does; for (n)
• In Jg !*• it ia reconlcd that 'the children of the Kenite, Mows' brother-in-law,' accompanied the Irilw of Jutlali to the north of Palestine after the conquest of Oie country. After eome un»lH,<ille<l time. Heber. 8<'<'mingly an im|<onanl prrstMi among tjiem, move<l northwanl to the territory- of Naphtali. and ' pitched his tent aa far aa the i^k in Zaanannim. whldi ia bv Ke<li-»h' (4"V While living there, ho aevma, according to 4i7, to have formed an alllanv-e with Jabin.
t It nuk'ht Ih' urgwl that Siwera may have thought the tent of the woUH-n a more ae,-ure haven than Jahm'a city ; a de(e*l*s) and discn-ilitcd general might well fear to return to hia maalo
B38
JAG UK
JAU
in 4" she invites Sisera to her tent, (6) in 4* his trustful reliance on her loyalty is shown by liis charge to her to stand at the tent door and deny, if asked, tliat any one lay concealed witliin ; and (c) in 4-' she kills him when asleep. But, on either storj', her act seems one of black and inexcusable treachery; and difficulty has been felt in reconciling tlie words of approval in 5-'* with the verdict of conscience. Various expedients have been devised to evade the difficulty. It has been supposed that Jael was granted a revelation from God (cf. Jg 4°) bitlding her slay Sisera, and that her action is to be conij)ared to Joshua's alleged pitiless extermina- tion or the aboriginal inliabitunts of Caniian, in accordance with the command recorded in Ut T''^. But this is to read something into the narrative for which there is no scriptural warrant ; Jael seems to have acted entirely on her own initiative. Muzloy* gave a more plausible explanation. When Sisera was in Jael's power, he urges, she was in a dilemma ; she must be treacherous to him or dis- loyal to Israel, for, if he got away safely, no one could tell liow soon he might raise another army. Now slie looked on him as an outlaw, as one who had no riglit to life or fair dealing, for the divine command had gone forth for the destruction of him and his host ; and the idea of human person- ality, of the individual's private rights, was little develojied in that primitive age. And thus she was justihed, relatively to the morality of her time, in killing Sisera; and the commendation of 5" is to be interpreted in like manner as expressing the natural feelings of a semi -barbarous people. This explanation, though valuable as laying stress on the rude condition of the Hebrew conscience in the early stages of Hebrew history, is not altogether satisfactory. For Jael's act was not in accordance with contemporary niorality.t It was a violation cf the duty of hospitality, conspicuously sacred among her countrymen and in her age. To such a deL'ree did Lot regard it that he was willing to purcTiase the safety of his guests by the honour of Lis daugliters (Gn 19"). And, according to the prose narrative, Sisera was not Jael's enemy : ' 1 here was peace between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite ' (Jg 4"). Thus she must have been in danger from the advance of Barak's army, flushed with victory, in whose track her tent lay, unless she could devise some plan for propitiating the conqueror. Self-preserva- tion suggested the way of escape, and she adopted it. ' Come and / will show thee the man whom thou seekest,' she said to Barak (4*").