The historical background of this great event is unknown. The Israelite confederation consists of central Palestine with the (east-Jordanic) Machir, and the northern tribes with the exception of Dan and Asher. This has suggested to some an invasion from the coast, or from the north by way of the coast, since had Dan and Asher fallen into the hands of the enemy, this would probably have been referred to in some way. Sisera is scarcely a Semitic name; a "Hittite" origin has been suggested.[1] Shamgar son of Anath seems equally foreign; the latter is the name of a Syrian goddess and the former recalls Sangara, a Hittite chief of Carchemish in the 9th century. The context suggests that Shamgar is a foreign oppressor (ver. 6), but he appears to have been converted subsequently into one of the "judges" of Israel (iii. 31), perhaps with the idea of bringing their total up to twelve.
The prose version (iv.) contains new and conflicting details. Deborah, whose home is placed under "Deborah's palm" between Ramah and Bethel, summons Barak from Kadesh-Naphtali to collect Naphtali and Zebulun, 10,000 strong, and to meet Sisera (who is here the general of a certain Jabin, king of Hazor) at Mt. Tabor. But Sisera marches south to Kishon, and after his defeat flees north through Israelite territory, past Hazor to the neighbourhood of Kadesh. His death, moreover, is differently described (iv. 21, v. 25-27), and Jael "who with inhospitable guile smote Sisera sleeping" (Milton) is guilty of an act which has possibly originated from a misunderstanding of the poem. In the prose narrative Jabin has nothing to do with the fight, whereas in Josh. xi. he is at the head of an alliance of north Canaanite kings who were defeated by Joshua at the waters of Merom. It would seem that certain elements which are inconsistent with the representation in Judg. v. belonged originally to the other battle. Kadesh, for example, might be a natural meeting-place for an attack upon Hazor, and the designation "Jabin's general," applied to Sisera, is probably due to the attempt to harmonize the two distinct stories. Moreover, Deborah, who is associated with the tribe of Issachar (v. 15), appears to have been confused with Rebekah's nurse, whose tomb lay near Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 5). Some more northerly place seems to be required, and it has been pointed out that the name corresponds with Daberath (modern Daburiyeh) at the foot of Tabor, on the border of Zebulun and Issachar. At all events, to represent her as a prophetess, judging the people of Israel (iv. 4 seq.), ill accords with both the older account (v.) and the general situation reflected in the earlier narratives in the book of Judges.