1. Judges 4:21 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the narration of Jael's murder of Sisera have in common with that of Ehud's murder of Eglon?

Judges 4:21 (ESV)

21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

The narration in each case has each movement described carefully. As Ehud’s manipulation of Eglon and his courtiers serves to satirize Eglon and his men for their gullibility, so Jael’s manipulation of Sisera by means of verbal ambiguity satirizes him for his gullibility. Ehud thrusts…his sword into Eglon’s belly; Jael drives…her tent peg…into Sisera’s head.1