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Sisera ( he, סִיסְרָא ''Sîsərā'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King
Jabin Jabin ( he, יָבִין ''Yāḇīn'') is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner', or 'the wise'. It may refer to: * A king of Hazor at the time of the entrance of Israel into CanaanJoshua 11:1, whose overthrow and that of the northern chiefs with w ...
of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of
Zebulun Zebulun (; also ''Zebulon'', ''Zabulon'', or ''Zaboules'') was, according to the Books of Genesis and Numbers,Genesis 46:14 the last of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's tenth son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Zebulun. Som ...
and
Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah (Jacob's sixth son). He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ...
under the command of
Barak Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephrai ...
and
Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...
, Sisera was killed by
Jael Jael or Yael ( he, יָעֵל ''Yāʿēl'') is the name of the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible. After Barak demurred at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turned ...
, who hammered a tent peg into his
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
.


Biblical account

According to the biblical book of
Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
, Jabin, King of Hazor, oppressed the
Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
for twenty years. His general was Sisera, who commanded nine hundred iron chariots from
Harosheth Haggoyim Harosheth Haggoyim ( he, חרושת הגויים, lit. ''Smithy of the Nations'') is a fortress described in the Book of Judges as the fortress or cavalry base of Sisera, commander of the army of "Jabin, King of Canaan". Sisera is described as ha ...
, a fortified cavalry base. After the prophetess Deborah persuaded Barak to face Sisera in battle, they, with an Israelite force of ten thousand, defeated him at the Battle of Mount Tabor on the plain of
Esdraelon The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...
. Judges 5:20 says that "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera", and the following verse implies that the army was swept away by the Wadi Kishon. Following the battle, there was peace for forty years. After the battle, Sisera fled on foot until he came to campsite of
Heber the Kenite Jael or Yael ( he, יָעֵל ''Yāʿēl'') is the name of the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible. After Barak demurred at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turned ...
in the plain of
Zaanaim Zaanaim, Zaanannim or Bezaanaim is a place name applied to one or two locations in the Hebrew Bible. According to Serge Frolov (2013), its location "cannot be determined with any degree of certainty." Zaanaim means "wanderings", "the unloading of t ...
, where he was received by
Jael Jael or Yael ( he, יָעֵל ''Yāʿēl'') is the name of the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible. After Barak demurred at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turned ...
, Heber's wife. Jael brought him into her tent with apparent
hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...
and gave him milk. Jael promised to hide Sisera and covered him with a rug; but after he fell asleep, she drove a
tent peg A tent peg (or tent stake) is a spike, usually with a hook or hole on the top end, typically made from wood, metal, plastic, or composite material, pushed or driven into the ground for holding a tent to the ground, either directly by attaching to t ...
through his temple with a mallet, her blow being so forceful that the peg pinned his head to the ground. Later, during his farewell address, the prophet
Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
referred to the Israelites' subjection to Sisera as a consequence of their "forgetting the LORD their God".


Archaeological information

The etymology of Sisera's name is unclear. Sisera's name has been variously identified as
Philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...
, Hittite,
Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...
, or Egyptian (Ses-Ra, "servant of Ra"). The Israeli scholar and
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
Adam Zertal Adam Zertal ( he, אדם זרטל; 1936 – October 18, 2015) was an Israeli archaeologist and a tenured professor at the University of Haifa. Biography Adam Zertal grew up in Ein Shemer, a kibbutz affiliated with the Hashomer Hatzair movemen ...
identifies Sisera with the sea people called
Shardana The Sherden ( Egyptian: ''šrdn'', ''šꜣrdꜣnꜣ'' or ''šꜣrdynꜣ'', Ugaritic: ''šrdnn(m)'' and ''trtn(m)'', possibly Akkadian: ''še-er-ta-an-nu''; also glossed “Shardana” or “Sherdanu”) are one of the several ethnic groups the Se ...
(or Sherden), arguing that Sisera came from the island of
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
.Judy Siegel-Itzkovic
Long time archaeological riddle solved, Canaanite general was based in Wadi Ara
Jerusalem Post, 07/02/2010
Zertal and Oren Cohen proposed that the excavation at
El-Ahwat El-Ahwat ( ar, الاحواط, "the walls") is an archaeological site in the Manasseh Hills, Israel. It located 10 miles east of Caesarea near Katzir. The site was discovered in November 1992 by Adam Zertal during the Manasseh Hill Country Surv ...
, between
Katzir-Harish Harish ( he, חָרִישׁ, cha-reesh, lit. "ploughed furrow") is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. Its jurisdiction is an area of 9,736 dunams. It is currently being expanded into a city projected to eventually have a population of 100,00 ...
and Nahal Iron, is the site of
Harosheth Haggoyim Harosheth Haggoyim ( he, חרושת הגויים, lit. ''Smithy of the Nations'') is a fortress described in the Book of Judges as the fortress or cavalry base of Sisera, commander of the army of "Jabin, King of Canaan". Sisera is described as ha ...
, Sisera's military base."Archaeological mystery solved"
,
University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
press release, July 1, 2010.
However, consensus has not been reached regarding the site of Harosheth Haggoyim. Niditch suggests that its association with the term ''haroset'' might indicate its placement at any number of wooded places.


Sisera in later Jewish tradition

The Jewish Encyclopedia reports that possibly his father was
Shamgar Shamgar, son of Anath ( he, ''Šamgar''), is the name of one or possibly two individuals named in the Book of Judges. The name occurs twice: #at the first mention, Shamgar is identified as a man who repelled Philistine incursions into Israelit ...
. According to Jewish legend, because Sisera's mother cried a hundred cries when he did not return home, a hundred blasts are blown on the
shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...
on
Rosh Hashana Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
, the Jewish New Year. The Talmud states that the descendants of Sisera studied Torah in Jerusalem and even taught children there. A direct descendant of Sisera was
Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Yosef (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf''; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second c ...
. According to the
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, Jael engaged in sexual intercourse with Sisera seven times, but because she was attempting to exhaust him in order to kill him, her sin was for Heaven's sake and therefore praiseworthy. Also according to the
Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
, Sisera had previously conquered every country against which he had fought. His voice was so strong that, when he called loudly, the most solid wall would shake and the wildest animal would fall dead.
Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...
was the only one who could withstand his voice and not be stirred from her place. Sisera caught enough fish in his beard when bathing in the Kishon to provision his whole army, and thirty-one kings followed Sisera merely for the opportunity of drinking, or otherwise using, the waters of Israel.Jewish Encyclopedia
/ref>


Sisera in artistic works

Sisera's murder by Jael was frequently depicted in historical European art. Lucas van Leyden, a Dutch engraver and painter during the Renaissance period, created a woodcut of the scene.
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (9 December 1728 – 19 November 1804) was an Italian opera composer of the classical period. Biography Guglielmi was born into the Guglielmi family of musicians in Massa. His father, Jacopo Guglielmi, was a comp ...
(1728–1804) wrote an oratorio, ''Debora e Sisera'', for the Lenten season of 1788 at the
Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...
,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, which was said to have been "almost universally regarded as one of the most sublime works of the late 18th century." German composer
Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...
wrote an
oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
(1793) on the story of Sisera for the church of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
.Italian opera website
In
Geoffrey Household Geoffrey Edward West Household (30 November 1900 – 4 October 1988) was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel '' Rogue Male'' ( 1939). Personal life He was born in Bristol; his father Hora ...
's 1939 spy thriller '' Rogue Male'', the protagonist muses: "Behold, Sisera lay dead and the nail was in his temples." In a half-hour radio drama, '' Butter in a Lordly Dish'' (1948),
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
has her protagonist drug a lawyer's coffee; after revealing her true identity, she hammers a nail into his head. The central image of Aritha van Herk's novel 'The Tent Peg' refers to Sisera. In
Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
's novel ''
The Last Chronicle of Barset ''The Last Chronicle of Barset'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope, published in 1867. It is the sixth and final book in the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, preceded by ''The Small House at Allington''. The novel is set in the c ...
'', artist Conway Dalrymple paints the heiress Clara Van Siever as Jael driving a nail through the head of Sisera. The story of Jael and Sisera has been the subject of many paintings, including those by Artemisia Gentileschi,
Gregorio Lazzarini Gregorio Lazzarini (1657 – 10 November 1730) was an Italian painter of mythological, religious and historical subjects, as well as portraits. One of the most successful Venetian artists of the day, a prominent teacher, and father to a signific ...
,
James Northcote James Northcote (22 October 1746, in Plymouth – 13 July 1831, in London) was a British painter. Life and work Northcote was born in Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote, a watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and ...
,
Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engraving ...
and
James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), anglicized as James Tissot (), was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of fashionable, modern scenes and society life in Paris before moving to London in 1871 ...
. In
Shelby Foote Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of '' The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three ...
's ''Stars in Their Courses'' (1994), about the
Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
, the author reflects on the defeat of General Robert E. Lee. "The Stars in Their Courses" is the title of a chapter about the Battle of Gettysburg in the novel ''Lone Star Preacher'' (1941) by John Thomason. The quotation from Judges 5:20 appears at the end of the chapter. In the ''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' episode "Pro Se", the schizophrenic James Smith suffers from the delusion that (among other things) he is General Sisera and various women are trying to poison him. In Waking the Dead s4ep1 "In Sight of The Lord" a series of murders are committed with a large nail through the head fixing the victim to the floor. The biblical meaning of the act is explored in the process of solving the murders.


See also

*
Meroz Meroz ( ''Mêrōz''; ) is a city mentioned in the Book of Judges. Thought to be a city within the plains of Galilee north of Mount Tabor in Israel which was cursed by the angel of God in the song of Deborah and Barak; whose inhabitants did not co ...


References

{{Authority control Hebrew Bible people Book of Judges Canaanite people Tel Hazor