Her Hand to the Nail and Hammer - Judges 5:26

In the book of Judges we learned, “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, praise you the LORD for the avenging of Israel,  … Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish”, and in chapter five and verse twenty-six of Judges, we learn how Deborah and Barak sung, “she put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer” where we read,

She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.

The verse reads, “She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer;” The writer began with the words, “she put her hand to the nail” which means “she, Jael, stretched out and extended her, Jael’s, physical hand toward the pin, peg or tent stake”, “and her right hand” or “and her, Jael’s, right physical hand” “to the workmen’s hammer” which means “toward the laborer’s mallet or hammer”. The writer shared how “Deborah and Barak’s” song included the details about “Jael” extending her physical hand toward the tent stake, and she stretched forth her right physical hand toward the laborer’s mallet or “hammer”. 

The verse goes on to say, “and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.” The writer continued with the words, “and with the hammer” which means “and by the use of the laborer’s mallet or hammer” “she smote Sisera” or “she, Jael, struck, beat down and conquered Sisera whose name means ‘battle array’ and was the conquering general under king Jabin of Hazor”, “she smote off his head” which means “she, Jael, utterly destroyed, annihilated and crushed his, Sisera’s, physical head”, “when she had pierced” or “at the time she, Jael, smote, shattered and severely wounded” “and stricken through” which means “and struck, passed and abolished” “his temples” or “his, Sisera’s temples on the side of his head. The writer shared how “Deborah and Barak” included the way “Jael” took the laborer’s mallet or hammer and struck “Sisera” by passing the tent stake through the temples on the side of his head. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how “Deborah and Barak” recounted the story of “Jael” using a “tent stake” and a laborer’s “hammer” to strike down “Sisera”. “Jael” was thorough in her work, and God wants us to be the same way in His Kingdom. “God so loved the world, that He sent His Only Begotten Son (Jesus), that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), and when we submit our lives to Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the grave after three days as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and to help us thoroughly accomplish the task He assigned for us in this world. (See John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Matthew 4:10)

Next time we learn how Deborah and Barak sing, “at her feet he bowed”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".