References (13)
And she sent for and summoned Barak, the son of Avinoam from Kedesh-Naftali, and said to him [this is the first of three speeches to Barak given by Deborah]: "Has not the Lord, the God of Israel (Yahweh Elohim), commanded and said, 'Go and go out against Mount Tabor and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? [There is a Kedesh northwest of Hazor and north of Lake Hula (). However, the most likely location here is Kirbet-Kedesh on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, just south of present-day Tiberias.]
And Barak said to her, "If you go up with me, then I will go, but if you do not go with me, I will not go either."
And she said [her second speech], "I will surely go with you, but the journey you are about to undertake will not be for your glory, for the Lord (Yahweh) will deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman."
And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
And Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and they went up 10,000 men on foot, and Deborah went up with him.
And they told Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor.
And Deborah said to Barak [third speech]: "Rev! This is the day that the Lord (Yahweh) has delivered Sisera into your hand; has not the Lord (Yahweh) gone out before you?"
And the Lord (Yahweh) sent confusion (caused panic, tumult – Hebr. hamam) upon Sisera and all his chariots and his entire army with the edge of the sword before Barak, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. [This is a key verse; it was not the 10,000 Israelites who put Sisera's entire army to flight, but God's intervention, cf. .]
But Barak pursued the chariots and the entire army to Charoshet-Hagojim ("the forest land of the heathen peoples"), and Sisera's entire army fell by the sword; not a single man was left (survived).
And behold, while Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for." And he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was (still) in his temple.
[Deborah's song breaks the pattern of stories and becomes an interruption. Just as before, the land had enjoyed peace from the sword for 40 years (, ), so it will be after God has raised up Deborah as judge, see . The chapter begins by mentioning Deborah and Barak together. The fact that Deborah is mentioned first and the verb sang (Hebr. va-tashar) is in the feminine form shows that it was Deborah who had the leading role in this song and Barak was with her. Songs of victory were not uncommon, see . There are also several non-biblical examples, such as Tukulti-Ninurta's epic poems (from the 13th century BC in Assyria) about his victories over Kashtiliash IV, the Kassite king of Babylonia.]
Then Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang this song:
[Chiasmus with Deborah's name central to the first stanza and Barak framing the second:]
Wake up (triumph),
wake up (triumph)
Deborah,
wake up,
wake up – speak (sing) a song!
Arise, Barak
and lead your captives into captivity,
you son of Avinoam [which is Barak, see ].
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah,
as was Issachar, so was Barak,
into the valley he rushed on his feet.
Among the multitudes of Reuben
there was great determination in their hearts.
What more shall I say?
I would not have time to tell about
Gideon [who won victory with a small army of 300 men, see ],
Barak [who obeyed the prophetic words of the judge Deborah. Together they defeated the enemy, see ],
Samson [who finally understood that his strength did not come from himself, see ],
Jephthah (Jiftach) [born out of wedlock, driven away by his brothers, but allowed to join in defeating the Ammonites and became a judge, see ],
David [Israel's most famous king, see ; ],
Samuel [Israel's great prophet, see ]
and the prophets,
