As deborah prophesied, a woman settles the score with sisera. During deborahs 40 years of peace which ended in 1144 bc in northern israel, the philistines were establishing themselves in southern israel, but did not start oppressing judah until 1118 bc. Deborah, prophet and heroine in the old testament judg. Claiming that deborahs victory has been confirmed as taking place in 1216. The victory song of deborah and barak on that day deborah and barak, son of abinoam, sang this song. Deborah the prophetess from the tribe of ephraim deceased. See more ideas about bible, bible mapping and bible stories. Deborah is one of the most influential women of the bible.
He himself escapes on foot, while his army is pursued as far as harosheth of the gentiles and destroyed. Likely fearful to comply with such a command, barak told deborah, if you go with me, i will go. Generally speaking, the women of the bible who achieve prominence do so through either marriage or motherhood. Judges were charismatic political and military leaders who ruled over the tribes of israel in the approximately twohundredyear period between israels appearance in canaan and the formation of the monarchy under saul circa 12001020 b.
Leaders are magnets, not bulldozers, and deborah was a magnet. Deborah made good use of all the gifts and opportunities god sent her way. Thus, this was the very first successful attempts of israel during the time of joshua. He honourably slays the two kings of midian, judges 8. Deborahs courage and wisdom in calling up an army to break. It is considered part of the deuteronomic history that begins in the last book of the torah and ends with the second book of kings. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and curriculum. Prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. Deborah told barak that god commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of jabin king of canaan. The timeline begins with adam in eden, then on to noah and the flood and the birth of israel through abraham, isaac, and jacob.
How this happened, neither the poem nor the story records. But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. Deborah would settle disputes but she would not lead the army. Deborah and her general barak lead the israelite army in a battle against the canaanite king jabin. Judge deborah was one of the rulers of the hebrews and the only female leader in the old testament. Deborah promoted the war of liberation from the oppression of jabin king of canaan judg. Deborah became judge at a time when israel was experiencing a spiritual and moral decline, partly due to the loss of their national leaders, moses and joshua. Before her were othniel, ehud and shamgar, the latter only for a short time after ehuds death the jews forsook the ways of the torah and adopted many of the idols of the people about them. Places that were associated with the judges of ancient israel. Clearly one of the bibles most outstanding figures, she served ancient israel as a prophet, judge, military leader, songwriter, and minstrel. The children of israel again did that which was evil in the sight of yahweh.
These rulers were called mishpat, which is translated as judges. Judges chapter 5 is known as the song of deborah, a text that exults in her victory over the canaanites. Her governance is so good that the land had rest for forty years judg. These books tell of the israelites reign over the land of canaan and have a heavy focus on divine reward and punishment. Their silence on such important matters is a reminder that neither the story nor the song was framed as a record of deborahs life.
Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and. The period of the judges is 50 1014 bc for a total of 336 years. After attending a lecture at the seminary where i teach, i saw a female student whom id not seen in months. In chapter 6 of my book deborahs daughters, i quote from carol meyers discovering eve. Jabin, canaanite king amazing bible timeline with world.
When reading through the book of judges, this is one chapter which we could easily bypass in favor of reading about the next judge. This was less than 200 years after joshua led the jewish people into the holy land in the year 2488. After greeting me, she enthusiastically told me about the exciting ministries god was allowing in and through her life. O lord, when you went out from seir, when you marched from the country of edom, the. Deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they should take on the canaanite army. She sent and called for barak ben avinoam from qedesh.
In 1184 bc barak comes to deborah from kedeshnaphtali. The biblical battle of mount tabor takes place during the time of the book of judges recorded in chapters 4 and 5 between canaanite forces of the king of hazor and the israelite army led by barak and deborah. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to determine the exact time and place of deborahs war within the general. For the next 40 years the jewish people knew real peace. Deborah is a judge before the battle, but the narrative does. Men in israel vowed to fight, and people volunteered for service. We first read about deborah in the holy book of judges as a. But he worries they dont stand a chance against canaanite commander sisera and his modern technology. The book of judges was probably written after the reforms of josiah in 622 b. The book of judges is the second book in the deuteronomic history, a history that begins with the farewell address of moses in deuteronomy and ends with the exile of judah in 587 b. King jabin of hazor, sends sisera, his army commander. Deborah lived more than three thousand years ago, about the year 2650 after creation.
The period in which deborah lived is known as the period of the judges, and she was in fact the judge in her time. Deborah judges 45 bible commentary theology of work. The biblical judges are described in the hebrew bible, and mostly in the book of judges, as people who served roles as military leaders in times of crisis, in the period before an israelite monarchy was established. The book of judges is the second book in neviim prophets, the second section of the tanach hebrew bible. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in harosheth haggoyim. There are valuable lessons to be learned in the book of judges. In reading the book of judges, it is essential to note that the combined years of peace and righteousness far outnumbered the years of failure and persecution. But sisera fled away and ended up being killed by a woman named jael. This poetry celebrates the hebrews victory over the canaanites and siseras army.
When deborah became judge, the israelites had been subjugated for 20 years by jabin, king of canaan. This section identifies the causes and consequences of israels apostasy, notes israels failure to properly complete the conquest, and provides a preamble summary of the entire book esp 2. And the lord routed sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before barak judges 4. Oxford university press, 1988, 174 who observes that some elements of deborah and jaels story correspond with the realities of israel in the iron age, where localized and sporadic defense problems. I will draw sisera the head of yavins army and his chariotry and masses to wadi. Barak then pursued the fleeing chariots and army of sisera and killed them all. The use of judges to rule israel can be traced all the way back to the time of moses institution of the judicial system where judges ruled on decision made within the. The people recognize her wisdom and come to her for counsel and conflict resolution judges 4. Deborah would become the only woman to judge israel. Most of the major figures in the book of judges are acknowledged as leaders after military victory. This took place in the first year of deborahs reign. He bravely pursues the flying midianites, judges 8. Traditional jewish chronology places deborahs 40 years of judging israel judges 5. The book of judges depicts a very dark hour in the history of israel, and yet the events of this book come so very soon after the golden years of the joshua generation.
It is not the kind of reading we do for pure enjoyment, but it is an important era in the history of israel, an era that we need to understand, and from which we. The fourth of the judges who ruled over the jewish people after the death of joshua, was not a man, but a woman, one of the most famous of all times, the prophetess deborah. In doing so, we miss a poetic description of the preceding events as they recap gods deliverance. The judges became leaders by either selfappointment, the request of the israelite people, or the lords designation. We also learn from deborahs example that the prophetess role and the role of judge were more significant than the role of military leader or fighter. Introduction to the book of the judges ad dei gloriam. Also, failure to spend some time in this chapter robs us of reading one of the masterpieces of hebrew. The book of judges follows the book of joshua which is the sequel to the five books of moses. Gods prophecy had come to pass, as he had spoken through deborah. Deborah the prophetess leader from 2654 until her death. According to the book of judges, deborah was the fourth judge of premonarchic israel. She is cited as the primary author of the song of deborah ch.
Like other judges, her story focuses on her military conquests. Rather, deborah served the lord competently, with capability, and in confidence of her abilities. Deborah tells barak to assemble his army for a battle that will take place at mt. Any list of the powerful leaders of ancient israel would have to include the kings and judges, and we cannot overlook the fact that deborah stood in the line of judges of israel. Being the only female judge in the vast history of israel, deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of jabin, king of canaan and his military commander sisera. Her court was set up in deborahs palm between ramah and bethel in the hills of ephraim. Deborahs story offers us an important reminder of the power and freedom of god, and serves to rebuke us for our own cowardice and lack of faith. Deborah and the book of judges by avi lazerson the story of deborah the prophetess which is told in the book of judges shoftim in hebrew is a story that has a special relevance for our generation.
Deborah s courage and wisdom in calling up an army to break hazors control gave the israelites 40 years of peace. They were more like heroes, champions, or deliverers than what we think of as judges todaymany judges were chosen instead as military leaders to deliver israel from her enemies. Deborah celebrated the victory by composing a famous song, which can be found in chapter 5 of the book of judges. According to the book of judges, deborah was a woman from ephraim who served as a tribal leader and as a woman who was called to speak on behalf of yahweh. The commander of jabins army was named sisera, and he had 900 iron chariots formidable weapons against israels foot soldiers judges 4. The account in the book of judges describes a contest for control of the jezreel valley. Because of deborahs strong, confident, commanding words to barak and her presence with him, barak did take 10,000 israelite troops down from mount tabor as commanded. The military hierarchy recognizes her as supreme commander and in fact will only go to war on her personal command judg. Deborah was the single female judge out of the that israel had. At no point do we see any of the judges rallying all of the tribes for battle. Our passage begins with a recounting of the theme of the book of judges. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil. After siseras death, the jewish army drove yavin out of his fortified city, ending the threat completely.