Bible Strands
Judges 4:18
Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jael addresses the fleeing Canaanite commander Sisera as he arrives at her tent following the collapse of his army's campaign. She extends an invitation for him to leave the battlefield and seek shelter under the protection of a prior peace agreement between their clans.
The words — The command סוּרָ֧/ה אֲדֹנִ֛/י (su.Ra/h 'a.do.N/i) literally translates to "turn aside, O my lord," serving as a formal hospitable directive to enter a domestic enclosure.
The thread — This pattern of using welcoming language to redirect hostile forces appears in 2 Kings 6:19, where Elisha directs Aramean soldiers away from their intended target by claiming to know the man they seek.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to track how phrases of safety and hospitality function as tactical instruments, requiring attention to the precise moment when spoken reassurance diverges from physical reality.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 6:19 And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.