The final moments of the Canaanite army commander unfold with a rapid, pounding rhythm, capturing his absolute collapse. A chain of repetitive actions highlights his sudden loss of strength and his ultimate demise.
The primary approach among commentators is that this repetition is a stylistic feature of biblical poetry. It serves to emphasize how quickly he was killed and the finality of his fall, showing he had no chance of getting back up [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, אברבנאל]. He collapsed directly to his knees, ultimately becoming a ruined, lifeless, and looted casualty [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. His collapse directly at her feet is explained practically: Yael wisely ensured he was completely asleep before striking [רלב״ג], or alternatively, she herself had to kneel on the ground to drive the peg into him [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Her choice to use a tent peg rather than a conventional weapon was driven by modesty, ensuring she did not use an item typically meant for a man [חומת אנך].
In contrast to viewing the description as purely poetic, another perspective interprets the scene as a precise account of a prolonged, violent physical struggle. The commander possessed immense physical strength, and even after the peg pierced his temple, he fought desperately for his life. He dropped to his knees and tried to grab Yael's legs to pull himself up, but immediately fell flat. In his last moments, experiencing a final surge of natural strength just before death, he attempted to kneel one last time. However, he collapsed completely, and his soul departed in the exact spot where he fell [אלשיך].
Beyond the physical events, another layer of interpretation uncovers hints about what happened just before his death. Because the narrative details seven distinct actions of kneeling, falling, and lying down, some sages conclude that he forced himself upon Yael seven times that day [צאינה וראינה, מלבי״ם]. This approach, however, faces opposition from those who argue it strays too far from the plain meaning of the events [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. To address the difficulties of this tradition and to maintain Yael's purity, a mystical explanation suggests that Yael never actually came into contact with him. Instead, a female demon appeared, and he engaged with her rather than Yael. In this light, his ultimate destruction is seen not just as a physical death, but as a direct result of his connection with this demonic figure [נחל שורק, חומת אנך]. Another mystical insight views his ruin as a form of spiritual looting; through her fatal blow, Yael extracted and rescued hidden sparks of holiness that were trapped within him [נחל שורק].