This general statement at the end of the episode underlines God’s role in the victory over King Jabin. At this point neither Deborah, nor Barak, nor Jael, and not even Sisera is cited. This verse is very similar to the first half of verse 3.30 (see comments there).

So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan: Sisera’s death at the hands of Jael signals that Jabin himself is defeated. This clause is literally “And God humbled on that day Jabin….” Like Revised Standard Version, many languages will prefer to put the time phrase on that day at the beginning of the verse. God renders the generic Hebrew word ʾelohim (see verse 1.7). There is a play on words here since the Hebrew verb rendered subdued (kanaʿ) resembles the word for Canaan. For this verb see the comments on verse 3.30.

The expression Jabin the king of Canaan occurs once here and two more times in the next verse. This is in line with the stylistic device mentioned earlier whereby the name of the defeated villain is repeated often at the end of the story. This is a common technique, not just in Hebrew, but in many languages around the world. The mention of Jabin also forms an inclusio around the story as a whole (verse 4.2, 23, 24). For the king of Canaan, see verse 4.2.

Before the people of Israel (literally “before the faces of the sons/children of Israel”) might give the impression that the Israelites stood by and watched. This is not the case. The Israelites participated in the battle, but the ultimate victory came from God. This phrase is similar to the one in verse 4.15, where the LORD routed Sisera’s army “before Barak.” The preposition before suggests that God went ahead of the Israelites, destroying their enemies on their behalf. We can also say “God allowed [or, helped] Israel to subdue Jabin….” For some reason Contemporary English Version credits this victory to Israel alone by beginning the verse with “That same day the Israelites defeated the Canaanite King Jabin….” Translators should take care to include God as the key participant here.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• So on that day God permitted the Israelites to defeat Jabin the king of Canaan.

• So that day God subjugated* the Canaanite king Jabin [and his army] and the people of Israel were victorious over them.
* The words for “subjugate” and “Canaan” sound alike in Hebrew.

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 .