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.
Even though Jael was God’s instrument of delivering Sisera into the Israelites’ hands, some scholars have criticized her methods. [Note: E.g., Keil and Delitzsch, p. 306. ] Compare Rahab’s lie and Ehud’s strategy. Oriental hospitality required Jael to protect her guest. Instead she treacherously assassinated him. Yet in the light of Sisera’s violation of hospitality customs it seems that Jael’s act was self-defense. Moreover, this was war, and holy war at that. What she did shows her commitment to do God’s will, namely, destroying the inhabitants of the land (cf. Deuteronomy 31:1-8; Deuteronomy 32; Joshua 1:1-9). [Note: Wood, Distressing Days . . ., pp. 198-99.] I believe that is the reason Deborah honored her in the poem that follows in chapter 5.