Judges 4:23

THE CONCLUSION OF THE CANAANITE WAR (Judges 4:23-24)

"So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan."

These verses are a summary of the extensive war against the Canaanites which ensued following the tremendous victory detailed in this chapter. How long the war lasted, we are not told, but the words, "more and more ... until," etc. indicate that far more was involved than this single victory. The following chapter reveals that six of the tribes of Israel were involved in the conflict instead of merely the two mentioned in Judges 4. Besides that, the Canaanite threat to Israel is no more mentioned in the Word of God, a result that simply could not have followed merely a single battle along the river Kishon, impressive as that victory surely was. "What is meant in this chapter is that Barak's great victory was the beginning of successful resistance to Jabin, by which Israel recovered their independence, and finally broke the Canaanite power."[21]