‘ And Yahweh sold them, into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Nations.'
Hazor was an important city state in northern Canaan which had great influence over its neighbours (Joshua 11:1-2; Joshua 11:10). Archaeology tells us that it had been there since the third millennium BC and in the second millennium was extended by the building of a lower city. At this stage it would have about forty thousand inhabitants, a large city indeed. The lower city contained a Canaanite temple and a small shrine. It was referred to regularly throughout the centuries, by Egypt, Mari and Babylon, as an important political centre, and its ruler was given the title ‘Great King' (sarrum), a status above that usually conferred on rulers of city states.
A previous king Jabin had ruled over this area in the time of Joshua, and had led a confederacy against Joshua and had been defeated and slain (Joshua 11:1-15). (This Jabin was probably his grandson or great-grandson). That was the first occasion when Israel had won a great victory over chariots. And Hazor was then burned and what remained of its inhabitants put to the sword. The lower city was destroyed by Joshua and not later rebuilt. But many of the warriors had inevitably escaped, and it is probable that some refugees had fled from Hazor before he returned, and they would repopulate the city. ‘Smote them until none remained' and ‘utterly destroyed them' refer to what Israel did with those they caught, in obedience to Yahweh's commandments.
As Joshua was not in a position to occupy it, which is why he burned it as a major Canaanite threat, upper Hazor (but not lower Hazor) was rebuilt. Good sites were too valuable not to be re-used. So at this time it had been re-established and was now under another Jabin. This may have been a throne name or simply a family name re-used. No doubt Hazor was still ‘the head of the kingdoms' (Joshua 11:10), the centre of a confederation of cities.
“The captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Nations.” Jabin maintained a standing army and again ruled, not only over Hazor, but probably as overlord over a number of other cities in a confederacy. His general was named Sisera. Sisera's name is possibly Illyrian and it would seem he was a petty king of Harosheth of the Nations, whose site is unknown. Its name may have arisen from its cosmopolitan population or from the fact that it was populated with foreign mercenaries. Sisera himself may have been a foreign mercenary.
“Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin.” Jabin had grown powerful and was seeking to extend his empire. In this way northern parts of the tribal confederacy west of Jordan became subject to him, and became his ‘servants'. They were ‘sold' into his hand by Yahweh, handed over as slaves. This would involve heavy tribute and probably heavy taskwork (‘he mightily oppressed' - Judges 4:3).