Sisera

[mosheli]

Aug 15, 2018 19:57:45 GMT -8 messianic said:

Hi, everyone, 

I got a question. I was listening to Ray vander Laan's teaching. He mentioned that the name Sisera in Judges 4 means snake. It would make sense in some way in the sense that Jael, who killed him would mean: "JHVH God." So, if Sisera means snake, then it would be sort of a picture of the head of the snake being crushed by JHVH God.  

However, here is the problem.... I can't find any source that confirms Sisera's name.... The only meaning, I find is: Horse or swallow...  

Do you all have any thoughts on this? 

There is a possibility that Sisera matches Seqenenre of the 17th dynasty of Egypt because their head wounds are described very similarly, and the names are similar, and the times are similar (if the exodus was at the end of the 12th dynasty and David was in the Amarna period of the 18th dynasty). If they possibly do match then the meaning of Seqenenre's name "(he) who strikes like Ra/Re (the sun god)" or "he whom Ra makes brave" is partly similar to Sisera "Hawk eye an Hebrew euphemism meaning Servant of Ra". I will just add the similar descriptions of the head wounds below.

Sisera:
"and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. .... He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead"
"At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead."

Seqenenre:
"The horizontal nature of the ... wounds indicate that he was lying on his right side, either asleep or having been felled by a blow."
"...it is not known whether he fell upon the field of battle or was the victim of some plot"
"A blow from an axe must have severed part of his left cheek, exposed the teeth, fractured the jaw, and sent him senseless to the ground; another blow must have seriously injured the skull, and a dagger or javelin has cut open the forehead on the right side, a little above the eye. His body must have remained lying where it fell for some time"
"The wound on his forehead was probably caused by a Hyksos axe and his neck wound was probably caused by a dagger while he was prone. There are no wounds on his arms or hands, which suggests he was not able to defend himself."
"Until 2009 the main hypotheses have been that he died either in a battle against the Hyksos or was killed while sleeping."

Sisera:
"Then Jael, Heber's wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer/mallet in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin/nail into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; .... He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples."
".... She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples."

Seqenenre:
"The terrible wounds on Seqenenre's skull were caused by ... people attacking him with a dagger, an axe, a spear (or javelin) and possibly a mace."
"... evidence of terrible wounds about the head."
"A blow from an axe must have severed part of his left cheek, exposed the teeth, fractured the jaw, and sent him senseless to the ground; another blow must have seriously injured the skull, and a dagger or javelin has cut open the forehead on the right side, a little above the eye. His body must have remained lying where it fell for some time"
"...it is not known whether he fell upon the field of battle or was the victim of some plot"
"The wound on his forehead was probably caused by a Hyksos axe and his neck wound was probably caused by a dagger...."

Though the match might be wrong because (1) Seqenenre's head has 5 wounds not 1 or 2, (2) Jael struck through the temples not elsewhere on the head, and (3) the tent peg struck through to the ground while there is no match in Seqenenre's head? Plus (4) Rohl matches Jabin of Hazor with Ibni/Ibni-addu/Yabni-hadad of Hazor.
But the similarities are intriguing, and the differences might be explained eg Sisera had just come from battle.
Interesting that Alon/Dan said "he was apparently a foreign commander who turned his hand to help the Canaanite Jabin attack the Jews", and another source says "Sisera's name has been variously identified as Philistine, Hittite, Hurrian, or Egyptian".

[alon]

I suppose there is an outside chance. However I did some reading on Seqenenre, and I find it highly unlikely. On the other hand, all possibilities need to be addressed, so ...

Some of the problems:

- he was mumified, but hurriedly
-- brain, heart, and other organs were left
--- not at all like Egyptians would have treated a king
--- and it is unlikely any Semetic peoples would have mumified him
- he had several massive head wounds, any one of which likely would have kiled him
-- doubtful he could have run far with those wounds
-- head wounds bleed profusely, so instead of feeding him she'd have more likely recorded tending his wounds
- the number and severity of those wounds seem to me to indicate hatred and rage, probably on the part of more than one person
-- she was supposedly a friend, not someone who would have mutilated his corpse like that
- if he was killed in battle, as his wounds suggest, then the one that could possibly attributed to a tent stake would more likely have been done by a javelin 

But, still, within the realm of possibility; though barely. On the other hand, I am neither scholar nor historian. So that is just a lay opinion.

Dan C

[mosheli]

Those are some good reasons Alon/Dan, though some might be able to be explained. I reread the Judges chapters and I noticed that it implies Sisera's mother was in Hazor, so that seems to suggest for sure that Sisera can't be Seqenenre. Though its disappointing to have to let the match go.

Re the original post the suggested meanings for Sisera's name i have seen are: Sisera (samekh + yod, sus + sera, ses + Ra)
"Sisera's name has been variously identified as Philistine, Hittite, Hurrian, or Egyptian"
"most historians are not sure or agreed on where Sisera was from"
"(Hawk eye, an Hebrew euphemism meaning) Servant of Ra."
"(might be applied to almost anything that darted around quickly such as a) horse or swallow"
"ready for war"
"supporting something/someone + a hand".