Sisera in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Captain of the host of Jabin, the Canaanite king who reigned in HAZOR. (See JABIN; JAEL; BARAK; DEBORAH; KISHON.) Sisera resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles. frontHAROSHETH.) His doom was a standing reference in after times (1 Samuel 12:9; Psalm 83:9). The "curdled milk", still offered by Bedouin as a delicacy to guests, is called leben. It is not only refreshing to the weary, but also strongly soporific, and Jael's aim would be to cast Sisera into a sound sleep. In Judges 5:20, "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera," the reference is not only to the storm of hail beating in the enemy's face which Josephus describes, but also to the falling meteoric stars of autumn which descended as the defeated host fled by night. (Israel Exploration Quarterly Statement, July 1878, p. 115-116.) The divine approval of the faith of Jael in killing Sisera involves no approval of her treachery. So in the case of Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, God in approving their faithful zeal in executing His will gives no sanction to the alloy of evil which accompanied their faith (Hebrews 11:32). From this great enemy sprang Israel's great friend, Rabbi Akiba, whose father was a Syrian proselyte of righteousness; he was standard bearer to Bar Cocheba in the Jewish war of independence (Bartolocci 4:272). 2. One of the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:53; Nehemiah 7:55). Canaanite captives were dedicated to help the Levites in the heavier work of the temple.