The account in the Book of Judges describes a contest for control of the Jezreel Valley. Mount Tabor commands the northwest section of the Jezreel Plain, and lies at the boundary of Naphtali and Zebulon lands. The army of the king of Hazor, under the command of the mercenary general Sisera, harassed the Israelite tribes. Sisera's army was much stronger than any force the Israelites could field. Sisera was in command of a force of nine hundred iron chariots.