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zeborahDeborah (Judges 4-5) is dear to me; I wasn't named for her but I was given a storybook about her when I was a young girl. She's the third or fourth named judge/leader of Israel, a prophetess, and she hears disputes at her court under the Palm of Deborah. She's the wife of some guy who's named but never mentioned again, and she's a mother.
The Canaanites are harrassing the Israelites with their advanced technology (nine hundred iron chariots) and Deborah asks Barak to lead an army to a river where Deborah will lure the enemy commander Sisera. Barak is nervous about this plan and will only go if Deborah goes with him. She agrees, but tells him that because he's being such a wimp, he won't get the honour of killing Sisera himself -- instead a woman will do it.
So off go Deborah, Barak, and ten thousand men, and completely rout the Canaanites in battle. (In my storybook, God made it rain so the ground turned to mud and the iron chariots got stuck. The Bible doesn't say as much, but there are references to the heavens pouring down water. It sounds plausible to me.) It doesn't seem like Deborah fights herself -- she tells Barak to go down with his men to fight, and he does -- but she's clearly the brains behind the whole operation. The Israelites keep getting stronger and win the war uneventfully.
At which point Deborah and Barak burst into a long song which recapitulates everything that's happened with a little invective to boot; and then things are peaceful again for the traditional "forty years".
I've skipped over what happened to Sisera, saving that for another post...
The Canaanites are harrassing the Israelites with their advanced technology (nine hundred iron chariots) and Deborah asks Barak to lead an army to a river where Deborah will lure the enemy commander Sisera. Barak is nervous about this plan and will only go if Deborah goes with him. She agrees, but tells him that because he's being such a wimp, he won't get the honour of killing Sisera himself -- instead a woman will do it.
So off go Deborah, Barak, and ten thousand men, and completely rout the Canaanites in battle. (In my storybook, God made it rain so the ground turned to mud and the iron chariots got stuck. The Bible doesn't say as much, but there are references to the heavens pouring down water. It sounds plausible to me.) It doesn't seem like Deborah fights herself -- she tells Barak to go down with his men to fight, and he does -- but she's clearly the brains behind the whole operation. The Israelites keep getting stronger and win the war uneventfully.
At which point Deborah and Barak burst into a long song which recapitulates everything that's happened with a little invective to boot; and then things are peaceful again for the traditional "forty years".
I've skipped over what happened to Sisera, saving that for another post...
