He said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No.
Sisera "had systematically violated every covenant of the code governing the actions of host and guest." [Note: Victor H. Matthews, "Hospitality and Hostility in Judges 4," Biblical Theology Bulletin 21 (Spring 1992):18.] Sisera should have gone directly to Heber, the head of the household, not to his wife’s tent. This violation of hospitality customs would have alerted Jael that something was amiss. Furthermore Sisera should not have accepted Jael’s offer of hospitality, but when he did, this doubtless indicated to Jael again that his intentions were not right. Sisera proceeded to make two requests of his host. He requested something to drink and that Jael would stand guard at the door of the tent, evidently to lie about his presence, which would have endangered her safety. Good guests did not make requests of their hosts in that culture nor did they put them in danger. So Sisera was asking for trouble.