What does Judges 4:17 mean?

The feared general of Canaan's army has run away from his battle with Barak and the Israelites. Recognizing that the battle was lost, Sisera abandoned his iron chariot and fled on foot to avoid being captured and killed. Given that he flees in one direction, while his army is pursued and defeated in another, suggests he left as soon as the Israelites attacked (Judges 4:12–16).

Sisera now arrives at the tent of a woman called Jael. She is the wife of Heber the Kenite, the man introduced in a sidenote earlier in this passage (Judges 4:11). The Kenite people, who had been allies of the Israelites, had settled in southern Israel. Heber, though, had broken away from his people and settled in the north. His location was not far from Kedesh and Mount Tabor.

Heber had struck some peace agreement with King Jabin of Hazor: the Canaanite king oppressing Israel (Judges 4:1–3). This implies some formalized alliance between Heber's clan and the Canaanites. This means Heber was technically allied against Israel. This may be why Sisera, desperate to find a place to hide from Barak and his soldiers, comes to Heber's tents looking for refuge.