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.
"Jael’s actions . . . contain conscious misuse of this [hospitality] ritual to lure Sisera to his death. However, Sisera is more culpable than Jael in his systematic violation of every step in the customary [hospitality] ritual. He brought shame on himself and on the household of Heber by disregarding the proper roles of guest and host. It is the contention of this writer that a conscious effort has been made on the part of the writers/editors of this material to use the strictures of the hospitality code to further heighten the literary character of the story. Each violation provides further assurance to the audience that violence, when it comes, as it surely must, is justified." [Note: Matthews, p. 20. This article provides much help in understanding the hospitality customs of the ancient Near East, some of which continue to the present day.] 