And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
Deborah said unto Barak, Up: for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. From the commanding position the Israelites had taken up, she must have seen the hostile cavalcade advancing across the plain, and finally encamping at Taanach, on a long spur of the mount. The plain on the bank of the Kishon was chosen as the battlefield by Sisera himself, who was unconsciously drawn there for the ruin of his army. It is just at this point that the traveler catches the first distinct view of the arched summit of Tabor. From that summit Deborah must have watched the gradual drawing of the enemy toward the spot of her predicted triumph. She raised the cry, which twice over occurs in the story of the battle, "Arise, Barak" (cf. Judges 4:12). She gave with unhesitating confidence to the doubting troops the augury which Barak had asked before the insurrection began - "This (this, and no other) is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand" (cf. Judges 4:8, Septuagint version).
From Tabor to Taanach is a march of about thirteen miles, and therefore the approach must have been long foreseen by the Canaanite forces (Stanley, 'Lectures on the Jewish Church,' p. 321). We are rather inclined to think that the camp of Sisera was surprised by an unexpected attack from the mountains very early in the morning. On receiving the signal from Deborah, Barak ordered his troops forthwith to march. It is a striking proof of the full confidence Barak and his troops reposed in Deborah's assurance of victory, that they relinquished their advantageous position on the hill, and rushed into the plain in face of the iron chariots they so much dreaded. They were at first agitated by fear (Josephus, 'Antiquities, b. 5:, ch. 5:, sec. 3); besides, they were ill-accoutred, or but rudely armed (Judges 4:8); because Jabin had practiced the same policy as the Philistines afterward did (1 Samuel 13:19-22). 'Rapidly they descend the mountain, cross over by Nain into the valley of Jezreel, then incline to by left, to avoid the low and marshy ground, and by the first faint light of the morning they are upon the sleeping host of the Canaanites. This assault, wholly unexpected, threw them into instant and irrevocable confusion. But half awake, the whole army fled in dismay down the plain, hotly pursued by the victorious Barak. No time was allowed them to recover from their panic. God also fought against, them (Judges 4:14, middle clause; also Judges 4:4). Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 5:, ch. 5:, sec. 4) adds that a storm from the east beat furiously in the faces of the Canaanites, but only on the backs of the Hebrews' ('The Land and the Book,' i:e. p. 142).
The flight became indiscriminate, multitudes were massacred by the plain of Endor, between Tabor and the little Hermen (Psalms 83:10), and still they ran westward, probably in the hope of finding refuge in the Canaanite fortress of Megiddo; but the numerous rivulets which issue from the hills of Megiddo having been swollen by the rain, had converted the adjacent fields into an impassable morass (Judges 4:19), and prevented them continuing that line of retreat. The victorious enemy was behind them; on their left were the hills of Samaria, in the hands of their enemies; on their right was the swollen river and the marshes of Thora; they had no alternative but to make for the narrow pass which led to Haresheth. The space, however, becomes more and more narrow, until within the pass it is only a few rods wide. There horses, chariots, and men became mixed in horrible confusion, jostling and treading down one another; and the river, here swifter and deeper than above, runs zigzag from side to side of the vale, until, just before it reaches the castle of Harosheth (Harothieh), it dashes sheer up against the perpendicular base of Carmel. There is no longer any possibility of avoiding it. Rank upon rank of the flying host plunge madly in, those behind crushing those before deeper and deeper in the tenacious mud, They stick fast-are overwhelmed-are swept away by thousands ('The Land and the Book,' 1:, p. 143).