Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 4:19

"And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him." — Judges 4:19 (ASV)

Please give me a little water. —The request was natural enough; but, as he had not made it at first, we may suspect that he wanted to taste food in the tent, as a way of rendering the inviolable laws of Eastern hospitality still more secure. Saladin refuses to let Reginald of Chatillon drink in his tent, because he means to kill him.

A bottle of milk. —Rather, the skin of milk. The word “bottle” means, of course, a leather bottle or skin.

Josephus says that the milk was “already corrupted,” that is, it was buttermilk (Antt v. 6, § 5). This is quite probable, because buttermilk (lebban) is a common drink in Arab tents.

When R. Tanchum adds that buttermilk is intoxicating, and Rashi that it produces deep sleep, and that it was her object to stupefy him, they are simply giving free rein to their imagination. Josephus says, “He drank so immoderately that he fell asleep.”

It might have been supposed that she would naturally offer him wine; but it is far from certain that even “must” or “unfermented wine”—much less fermented wine, which requires considerable skill to make—would have been found in those poor tents. Furthermore, these Kenites may have been abstainers from wine, as their descendants the Rechabites were (Jeremiah 35:2).