One other person, place or group in the registry answers to the name Sisera. Every Sisera in the Bible
- verses
- 17
- first named
- Judges 4:2
- last named
- Psalms 83:10
- period
- before Israel's Monarchy
- role
- Deborah's adversary
Description
Who was Sisera?
Sisera was the commander of the Canaanite army under King Jabin of Hazor, who oppressed the Israelites for twenty years during the time of the judges (Jdg.4.2-3). Deborah, a prophetess and judge of Israel, summoned Barak and instructed him to gather an army to fight against Sisera (Jdg.4.4-7). Barak agreed to go only if Deborah accompanied him, to which she consented but prophesied that the honor of the victory would go to a woman (Jdg.4.8-9). In the ensuing battle at Mount Tabor, the Lord routed Sisera's army, and Barak pursued them (Jdg.4.14-16). Sisera fled on foot and sought refuge in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite (Jdg.4.17). Jael welcomed Sisera and gave him a drink, but while he slept, she drove a tent peg through his temple, killing him (Jdg.4.18-21). The victory song of Deborah and Barak celebrates the defeat of Sisera and the role of Jael in his demise (Jdg.5.24-31). The story of Sisera's defeat is also mentioned in 1Sa.12.9 as an example of God's deliverance of Israel from their oppressors and in Psalm 1Sa.83.9 as a prayer for God to defeat Israel's enemies as He did with Sisera. The account of Sisera's downfall highlights the power of God to deliver His people and the role of women in His plan.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
Places
Where this happens
The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.
The pattern
Where Sisera is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
17 verses across 3 of 66 books; 63 write the name nowhere. Named in Judges (15), 1 Samuel (1) and Psalms (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 17, across 3 books. The name is written 19 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Nothing in the graph stands one hop from this entity yet. These are the best-connected entities of the same type, so the page still ends somewhere. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- Judges 4Sisera brought Jabin’s chariots and army to the Kishon, then abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
- Judges 5Sisera was fought against by stars, swept away by the Kishon, and killed at Jael’s feet.
- 1 Samuel 12Sisera commanded the army of Hazor against Israel.
- Psalms 83Sisera is remembered among those who perished at the River Kishon.
Sources