This verse begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, which Revised Standard Version does not translate here. However, if 4.12 is rendered as an independent clause (as in the last example above), a connector such as “So” (New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “Then” would be appropriate.

Sisera called out all his chariots: The repetition of the name Sisera may indicate, as it does in some languages, that Sisera will be the loser in the conflict. However, in many languages this may prove too repetitive, in which case translators may use the pronoun “he” (Good News Translation). Called out renders the same Hebrew verb as the one translated “summoned” in verse 4.10. Just as Barak called out his troops, Sisera calls out his well-equipped army. New American Bible says “assembled,” and New International Version has “gathered together.” Here the emphasis is on the words all and chariots, both of which occur twice in this verse. Sisera is putting all his effort into this battle. We might say “Sisera ordered all his chariots into battle.”

Nine hundred chariots of iron: These chariots have already been mentioned in verse 4.3. In Hebrew this phrase reinforces the preceding clause. Some languages will prefer to combine them as Good News Translation does by saying “he called out his nine hundred chariots of iron.” However, this rendering loses some of the flavor of the original text, which may be expressed by saying “He called together his chariots of iron, all nine hundred of them!”

And all the men who were with him refers to Sisera’s own troops. Again the word all is significant. The Hebrew word rendered men (ʿam) is literally “people,” which seems yet another ironic use of this term (see verse 2.4). Though there are nine hundred chariots, there could have been many more soldiers. Some chariots could hold two or even three men, and that would not be counting the foot soldiers.

From Harosheth-ha-goiim indicates that Sisera’s men are marching from Harosheth-of-the-Gentiles. By repeating this name, the storyteller is emphasizing that these people are not Israelites. They do not know or follow Yahweh. For the meaning of this town name, see verse 4.2.

To the river Kishon: See the comments on verse 4.7. The area around the river Kishon is the scene of the coming battle. Revised Standard Version‘s rendering for this phrase and the previous one seems ambiguous, as if the army were assembled between the town and the river. In many languages it will be better to introduce another verb, as Good News Translation has done: “and sent them from Harosheth-of-the-Gentiles to the Kishon River.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• Sisera called out his iron-wheeled chariots—all nine hundred of them—and all his soldiers from Harosheth-of-the-Gentiles to go into battle at the river of Kishon.

• Sisera ordered his nine hundred iron-wheeled chariots and all his troops to prepare for battle. They set out from Harosheth-ha-goiim and came to the wadi at Kishon.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .