Jael, the victor crowned with honour, is contrasted with Sisera’s mother, the bereaved victim.
The anxieties of Sisera’s mother are contrasted with the
frivolous assurances
of her princesses.The almost desperately cheerful expectations of these women are contrasted with the cruel reality of which the reader is already aware.1
Jael is named, whereas Sisera’s mother is unnamed, and also powerless.2
28 “Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’