And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time.
Israel had lived twenty years under the iron chariots of Jabin. When the people cried to the Lord, help came through a woman already judging among them — named here as prophetess, wife, and judge.
The deliverer here is a woman, not a man. That says one thing about the men of Israel, and another about God.
We cannot doubt that there must be instruction in this, that the deliverer is a woman, not a man. The man comes in later, but everything begins with the woman. What a witness of complete failure, that apparently not a man could be found to do the Lord's work. It shows how thoroughly and universally the people had failed. But on the other hand, it shows how graciously God comes in, even using the humblest instrument. Wherever He can find faith that will trust Him in weakness, there He finds a chosen instrument for His work.
Another writer measures how alone she stood.
This is the kind of spirit that was holding the nation of Israel in bondage, and nobody seemed to care. Forty thousand spears in Israel, and not one lifted up in defence of God and His interests until this woman arose, Deborah, the prophetess.
Her authority did not come from herself. The title given her marks her as the channel through which God spoke.
Here there is no doubt that God worked sovereignly. She was a prophetess. She was the one who made God's mind known at that time, more than anyone else.
The names in this verse carry meaning of their own.
Deborah and Debir are practically the same word, and both mean "the word." What a fitting instrument for the overthrow of mere human reasoning! If God's word is the instrument, you may be sure of the outcome. Human reason will be brought down, as far as it lifts itself up against God. More than that, she was a prophetess. This is not just the letter of God's word, and not just the written word. It is the living word — God's word applied by the Holy Spirit. Then she is the wife of Lapidoth, that is, the wife of "a flaming torch." This reminds us of the passage in Philippians, where believers shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. That is what gives the victory over human understanding.
How she used that authority matters as much as the fact that she had it.
Deborah used real authority for God, and this shamed a people made soft by sin. Yet she kept the place that God's word gives to woman. Her circumstances could easily have become a great snare to her. Otherwise she would not have been a woman of faith… Did she go on circuit through the land of Israel like the other judges? Did she put herself at the head of the armies? Nothing of the kind. Instead of going to Barak, she sent and called him to her, where she lived.
The order of events in the chapter is itself a lesson. She was judging Israel before she ever summoned Barak to war.
God always raised up the one who was to deliver. So that person is first found alone with Him, in communion about the condition of His people. This is true separation. Othniel "judged Israel" before he "went out to war" (Judges 3:10). Deborah likewise "judged Israel" before she called Barak to deliver them. … Anyone who would help his brothers must himself be in fellowship with God.
She held a judge's office, but she chose a different word for herself in her later song.
Sad conditions in Israel continued until "I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel" (Judges 5:7). How beautiful to read this! She does not say "a leader in Israel," but "a mother." Her mother's heart was what moved her. She cared for the people as though they had been her children.
- Vacuum. No man could be found to do the Lord's work — forty thousand in Israel and not one spear lifted for God's interests.
- Instrument. Where men fail, God does not; He looks for faith that will trust Him in weakness, and finds His instrument there.
- Word. Her name means "the word." As prophetess she carried God's living word, applied by the Spirit — and it topples human reasoning.
- Place. She sent for Barak instead of going to him. She used real authority and kept the place God assigns to her.
- Order. She judged Israel before she called anyone to war. Fellowship with God comes first, deliverance second.
And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Deborah's court is a tree. Israel has suffered twenty years under Jabin's chariots, and God's mind now reaches the nation through a woman in the hill country — which raises two questions: why a woman, and why a palm?
The earlier judges were men God raised up to lead and fight. This chapter opens another way, and that is part of the message.
Once again we meet something unusual. Before this record, the Lord raised up men to lead, to guide and to fight for Israel in their need. But here we find Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, sitting under her palm tree and judging the nation of Israel. This was a very, very unusual state of things. It indicated that men were somewhat lacking in leadership, in courage and in direction from the Lord.
The failure is real, but it does not stop God.
It was not a normal state of affairs, but if men fail in their responsibility, God does not fail, and He will use a woman to accomplish His ends.
Verse 4 names her and her husband. Both names carry meaning, and together they point to God's answer to human reason.
And here again the names themselves tell us the spiritual meaning… What does Deborah mean? Deborah and Debir are almost the same word, and both mean "the word." What a fitting instrument for the overthrow of mere human reason… More than that, she was a prophetess. It is not just God's word according to the letter, not just the written word, but the living word. That is the word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit… Then she is the wife of Lapidoth, that is, the wife of "a flaming torch."
The verse names the exact spot: the hill country, between two towns. Both names mean something, and both show where a person must live if their advice is worth having.
Deborah was not a military leader (v. 5), but she sat in quiet retirement under a palm tree between Ramah (meaning "height") and Bethel ("the house of God"). Ramah would speak of her dwelling above the level of her surroundings, as we also ought to. Bethel reminds us that the house of God was an important matter to her, as indeed should be the case with every believer today. In such a place she was able to give good advice to those who came to her for judgment.
The tree is not scenery. The palm runs all through Scripture, and it carries one settled meaning.
When Solomon built the temple for God, the palm tree was very prominent in the decoration… You remember when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. They cut down palm leaves and spread them in the way as He entered, the victorious Messiah, into His city (John 12:12-13)… In Revelation 7, John the prophet sees a vast company saved out of the tribulation. They stand before the throne, and in their hands is the emblem of victory. We believe this is what the palm tree represents above all else: victory.
Deborah's song describes a nation at a standstill. Her seat under the palm shows where the change began.
The power of the enemy appears to have brought everything to a standstill; there was no response toward God. But we read in verse 7, "Until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel." Deborah lived under the palm tree (ch. 4:5). She had the sense of victory in her soul, and with that sense of victory she marshalled the forces of God's people. The enemy was completely routed. Knowing divine love closely, and a real sense of the victory of Christ in our souls, are resources available to us today.
Israel came to Deborah "for judgment" before she ever called Barak. That order runs through the whole book.
The result was not just one battle with the enemy and one defeat. It was the most terrible oppression, persecution and misery, at times lasting for long periods of years. It ended only when someone was raised up to judge Israel. Now, the one raised up was always raised up by God to deliver, and so we find him alone with Him in communion first about the condition of His people… Othniel "judged Israel" before he "went out to war." (Judges 3:10.) Deborah likewise "judged Israel" before she called Barak to deliver them.
- Failure. A woman judging Israel signals that the men had lost courage and direction — yet where man fails, God does not.
- Word. Deborah means "the word," and as a prophetess she is that word living and applied, married to "a flaming torch."
- Height. She sat between Ramah, "height," and Bethel, "house of God." She lived above her surroundings and near God's dwelling, and that is why her advice was good.
- Victory. The palm is the emblem of victory, from Solomon's temple to the crowd before the throne in Revelation 7 — and Deborah sat under it before the fighting began.
- Order. Deborah judged Israel before she called Barak. Self-judgment among God's people comes first, and the enemy's overthrow follows.
And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, Hath not Jehovah the God of Israel commanded? Go and draw towards mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun,
Jabin held the north of Israel, and Sisera's chariots made the odds look hopeless. The leader God used was a woman, and her message to Barak was not advice but a reminder: the order had already been given, down to the mountain, the tribes, and the number of men.
Deborah does not offer a plan. She asks a question Barak can only answer one way, and everything rests on who gave the order.
Deborah, true to her name, meets Barak with the Word: "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you?" How reassuring this is! It ties the battle to the strength of Almighty God. What are "10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun" compared with the huge armies and chariots of Sisera? Ah, if the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, the battle is already won.
Barak is not being asked to weigh a plan. He is handed orders, with the result already stated.
There is not a single sign of doubt, uncertainty, or hesitation in this message from Deborah. It is as clear and distinct as it can possibly be. She said, "The LORD has commanded you, Barak, to go with those two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. He has even named the exact number to call out of those tribes. You are to go and fight, and the battle is won. The LORD will deliver him into your hand."
Deborah sends; Barak goes. The verse also names his home town, Kedesh, and that name carries its own weight.
It is feeble Deborah who sends and calls for Barak. If the word is to be effective, it must find an instrument, and it is not Deborah but Barak who is to go to war. He comes from Kedesh — one of the cities of refuge, and its name points to where true shelter is found. It means "the sanctuary of the wrestler" — Kedesh-Naphtali — and no wrestler comes out to victory unless his home is in the sanctuary.
A woman was giving the orders. That fact says something about the men of Israel, and her name says something too.
No man in Israel was able to take the place of judge among them, so a woman, Deborah, had taken this responsibility. This was not a normal state of affairs. But if men fail in their responsibility, God does not fail, and He will use a woman to do what He intends. Deborah's name means "the word," reminding us that it is by the word of God that our true deliverance comes.
The meeting place and the two tribes are not chosen at random. The men called up come from the very ground Jabin controlled.
Barak, with Deborah beside him, leads his little army of men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Mount Tabor. This was the territory Jabin mostly controlled. Zebulun suggests the abiding communion, and Naphtali the spirit of true conflict. They are, therefore, fittingly united. The mountain suggests the lifting up of soul that comes from communion. It lets a man look over the whole conflict widely and calmly. The "mount of purpose" is a fitting place to start such a conflict from, for God cannot use someone who wavers.
An order from God brings something with it. Barak did not count on it.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If the command of God has been given, it is a pledge of His presence. What need then of the feeble instrument through whom that command had been given?
The way this victory came left no man able to claim it.
Clearly, from every side, the victory was entirely to the praise of God. As for the shape it took, man — Israel, the general and all — should have received it as a humiliation.
- Commanded — Deborah's question points back to an order already given. The authority is not hers but God's, and that settles the result before anyone draws a sword.
- Clear — the message names the place, the tribes, the number, and the result. Not one word of it hesitates.
- Called — the word must find an instrument. Deborah sends, Barak goes, and he comes from Kedesh, a city of refuge — no fighter wins unless he lives in the sanctuary.
- Coupled — Zebulun and Naphtali meet at Tabor, communion feeding conflict. The mountain is no place for a man who wavers.
- Credited — a command from God is a pledge of His presence. So the small force and the weak instruments leave all the praise with Him.
and I will draw unto thee, to the torrent Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will give him into thy hand.
Deborah brings Barak a message from God, and it is more than an order. God names the enemy, the place, the chariots and the ending, all before a single Israelite moves. That raises a question: if God has already settled the outcome, what remains for the man He calls?
God sends Barak against a force far larger than his own. One writer notes that the numbers stop mattering once you know who gave the order.
Deborah, true to her name, meets Barak with the Word: "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded?" How reassuring this is! How it links with the strength of Almighty God. What are "ten thousand from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun" compared with Sisera's mighty armies and chariots? Ah, if the LORD God of Israel has commanded, the battle is already won.
In the next verse Barak asks for a companion before he will go. One writer weighs that request against the command.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If God has given the command, it is a pledge of His presence. What need then of the feeble instrument through whom He gave that command?
God says He will draw Sisera out. Sisera will think he picked the battlefield himself, and the name of that place hints at what waits for him.
The scene of the conflict is at the river Kishon, where, at a later day, Elijah killed the false prophets (1 Kings 18:40). Its name comes from a root meaning to bend, and translators have usually given it as "winding." Other words from the same root are closely connected with it: "a bow" and "to lay a snare." So the name suggests a weapon of war, and the ambush that the trickster himself falls into. Kishon seems to be the place of his own choice for the battle. He falls into the pit he had dug for others. Yet God had foreseen and provided for all of it.
The river itself had a part in the victory. One writer links that back to this promise.
The river Kishon also has a part in this victory (Judges 5:21). God had said He would influence Sisera to come to Kishon (ch. 4:7). It may be that the torrent itself swept many of his army away, perhaps because Israel's army had trapped them.
Why would a man with that promise want company? One writer looks for the motive underneath.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and tangible prop as well. There are many such souls in Christendom. On their part there is so little sense of the presence of God, so slight a knowledge of His will, so little decision about the way they live. So, to go on in the path of God, they prefer leaning on another person to depending on Him alone.
God kept His word to give Sisera into Barak's hand — but not in the way Barak would have chosen. Every instrument He used was small and weak.
Again the people fell under the power of their enemies, and Jabin, king of Hazor, enslaved them. Scripture describes his oppression as "mighty."... God used an instrument, especially in the case of Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army: "a nail of the tent" — just an iron spike for holding the ropes. A woman directed Barak. With his ten thousand men he faced Jabin's mighty army and utterly defeated it, though nine hundred chariots of iron strengthened it. To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent pin! Barak had heard beforehand that the venture he took up so unwillingly and fearfully would not be for his honour; and so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
One writer reads Sisera as a picture of a greater enemy. His name says what that enemy does.
Sisera was the great leader, and his name means "he that binds with chains," and we are well aware that the great captive-maker is Satan himself. In the end something very weak destroyed him — a woman and a tent peg crushed his head and killed him, and Jesus, the woman's Seed, has crushed the serpent's head.
- Command. God's order carries His presence with it; once He has spoken, the battle is already decided.
- Draw. God moves the enemy as well as His own people — Sisera marches to Kishon thinking he picked the ground.
- Snare. Kishon's name suggests a bow and a trap; the schemer falls into the pit he dug, and God had foreseen all of it.
- Prop. Barak believed God, but he still wanted something he could see to lean on. One writer finds the same habit today.
- Glory. God kept His promise through a woman, a tent peg and a river, so no one could mistake whose victory it was.
And Barak said to her, If thou goest with me, then I will go, but if thou goest not with me, I will not go.
God has just given Barak a direct order through Deborah, with a promise: He will hand Sisera over to him. Barak's reply attaches a condition to it. Why would a man holding such a promise still need someone at his side, and what does God do about it?
Deborah did not bring Barak a suggestion. She brought a command that carried God's presence with it. That is why his hesitation stands out.
In this light, Barak's unbelief comes out clearly. If the command of God has been given, it is a pledge of His presence. Why then does he need the weak person through whom that command came? He had said, "I will draw to you ... Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand."
Barak does obey. But he will only go with someone else beside him.
He obeys. But he does not have the faith to go forward as a man who has heard directly from God and so needs no one else. Barak will not go without Deborah. But this lack of faith is nothing to his credit. Men will hold the place that matches the measure of their faith, and God will again be glorified through a woman. Barak has faith enough to obey if someone near him leans straight on God, but not enough to do it himself. This is too often the case. God does not reject him, but He does not honour him.
Barak's condition is not open unbelief. It is dependence on God plus something he can see, and one writer finds the same thing common today.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and tangible prop as well. There are many such souls in the Christian world. They have so little sense of God's presence, so little knowledge of His will, and so little firmness about how they live, that to keep walking in God's path they would rather lean on another person than depend on Him alone. The counsel of "spiritual directors" guides them, instead of the Lord, His Spirit and His Word. What if the leader they follow is wrong? But God, the Lord, His Spirit, His Word, are never wrong!
Barak's request did more than expose his own weakness. It also changed Deborah's position.
Barak's lack of character made him want to be the woman's helper, when Scripture makes her the helper of the man. He lowered the office God had set him in, and worse, he tried to take Deborah out of her place of dependence as a woman.
God does not cancel the victory. He moves the honour, and His answer matches the terms Barak set.
How slow we are to take in the thoughts of God, and how weak our faith often turns out to be when the hour of testing comes. If Barak will not act on the divine command without the support of a woman, then to a woman will be the chief honour in the hour of victory.
Barak's name appears later in a list of men of faith. One writer notes that its order is not the order of history.
In the book of Judges the names come in the order of history: Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson. In the letter the order follows the rank of faith: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah. Is this change of order in the perfect word of God without a purpose? Gideon was a man whose heart and conscience had been searched. Barak's faith was so weak that he would not face the enemy without Deborah, and so he lost the honour God offered him.
The verse invites a verdict on Barak. One writer turns the verdict around on the reader.
And this in the face of a plain command! Ah, if we are inclined to blame Barak too harshly, let us include ourselves. How often have we held back, waiting for some weak human helper, some human strength to lean on, when the living God has given us His command.
- Command — God's order to Barak carried His presence with it. He needed nothing more to be sure of winning.
- Condition — Barak added a condition to that command, and so kept the place that matched the measure of his faith.
- Prop — His fault was not refusing God. He wanted God plus something visible to lean on — a human guide instead of the Lord, His Spirit and His Word.
- Consequence — The victory still came, but the chief honour went to a woman; God did not reject Barak, yet He did not honour him.
- Caution — Barak's name still stands on the list of the faithful. Before blaming him, count how often you have held back from a plain command of God.
And she said, I will by all means go with thee, only that it will not be to thine honour upon the way which thou goest, for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
God had given Barak a plain command through Deborah, and Barak answered that he would only go if she came with him. This verse is her reply: she will go, but the glory will not be his.
Barak had a plain command from God. He still would not move without a person at his side.
If God has given the command, it is a pledge of His presence. What need is there then of the weak instrument through whom that command came?… Barak clearly did not fully grasp this. He says to Deborah, "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." And this in the face of a plain command! If we are inclined to blame Barak too harshly, let us include ourselves. How often have we held back and waited for some weak instrument of nature, some human arm! And the living God had already given us His command.
The motive under Barak's condition is a common one.
What was Barak's motive at bottom? He was willing to depend on God, but not without a human and visible support as well. There are many such souls in the Christian world. They have so little sense of God's presence, so slight a knowledge of His will, and so little firmness about their own walk. So to keep going in God's path, they prefer leaning on another to depending on Him alone. What if the leader they follow is mistaken? But God, the Lord, His Spirit and His Word are infallible!
Deborah does not refuse him. God does not drop him from the work either. What changes is the share of credit he will carry away.
Barak will not go without Deborah. But this lack of faith is not to his credit. Men will keep the place that matches the measure of their faith; and God will again be glorified through a woman. Barak has faith enough to obey if he has someone near who can lean directly on God, but not enough to do so himself. This is too often the case. God does not reject him, but He does not honour him. In fact, it is by no means the same faith in God. And it is by faith that God is honoured.
Her words are not a bid for the leading role. She names the shame of the situation and still refuses to take a place that is not hers.
She sees that it would be to the shame of the leaders in Israel that God should give a post of public activity to a woman among them… But Deborah keeps the place God's Word assigns to woman. She does so in all her exercise of authority for God, to the confusion of this people made weak by sin. And her circumstances might have proved a great snare to her. Otherwise she would not have been a woman of faith. This chapter gives us the history of two women of faith, Deborah and Jael.
The prophecy is precise, yet Deborah herself is not filling in the details. Commentators note that she is not pointing at anyone in particular when she says it.
However, Deborah agreed to go, but not without rebuking his timidity, telling him that the glory of the victory would not be his, for she assured him, "the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (v. 9). This was a true prophecy, though Deborah was probably not thinking of Jael (vv. 17–21) when she spoke it.
The word "woman" lands twice in the story — first in Deborah, then in Jael, who kills Sisera in her tent.
"Another woman!" So on every side, the victory clearly belonged to the praise of God alone. In the shape it took, man — Israel, the general and all — should have received it as a humiliation.
The end of the battle matched Deborah's warning.
To crown the defeat, the great Sisera, the hero of so many victories, fell before a woman and a tent peg! Barak had been told beforehand that this venture would not be for his honour. He took it up reluctantly and timidly, and so it turned out. The very weakness and smallness of the means used made it clear that all the honour and glory was God's.
Barak lost the chief honour. That is not the last word on him.
Barak's faith is like that of many who can follow if someone else will lead, though they cannot take first place. It is very gracious of God to mention Barak in Hebrews 11:32. He puts him in the cloud of witnesses who had become victorious by their faith.
- Command. God's word to Barak was plain. Asking Deborah to come with him was hesitation in the face of a clear command.
- Condition. He had faith enough to obey if someone near him leaned on God, but not enough to lean there himself.
- Consequence. God did not reject him, but He did not honour him. A man keeps the place that matches the measure of his faith.
- Crown. Barak's condition moved the honour elsewhere. Sisera fell to a woman and a tent peg, and the small means made the glory God's alone.
- Grace. The story still names Barak among those who conquered by faith. God graciously remembers a man who could follow but could not lead.