World English Bible · The judges
Judges 4
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The again did that which was evil in sight, when was . sold them into the hand of king of , who reigned in ; the captain of whose army was , who lived in Harosheth of the . The cried to , for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the for twenty years. Now , a , the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. She lived under palm tree between and in the hill country of ; and the came up to her for . She sent and called the son of Abinoam out of , and said to him, "Hasn't , the of Israel, commanded, 'Go and lead to Mount , and take with you ten thousand men of the children of and of the children of ? I will draw to you, to the river , , the captain of army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will him into your hand.'" said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." She said, "I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the journey that you take won't be for your ; for will sell into a woman's hand." arose, and went with to . called and together to . Ten thousand men followed him; and went up with him. Now the had separated himself from the , even from the children of Hobab, ' brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by . They told that the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount . gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the , to the river . said to , "Go; for this is the day in which has into your hand. Hasn't gone out before you?" So went down from Mount , and ten thousand men after him. confused , all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of before . abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet. But pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the ; and of fell by the edge of . There was not a man left. However fled away on his feet to the tent of the wife of the ; for there was peace between the king of and the house of the . went out to meet , and said to him, "Turn in, my , turn in to me; don't be afraid." He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." She opened a container of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him. He said to her, "Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.'" Then , wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground, for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and . Behold, as pursued , came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek." He came to her; and behold, lay , and the tent peg was in his temples. So subdued the king of before the on that day. The hand of the prevailed more and more against the king of , until they had destroyed king of .
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.