Judges 4-5: Deborah

Judges 4: Deborah and Barak
Judges 5: The Song of Deborah

Judges 4 and 5 offer two different accounts of the same story, the first in prose and the other in poetry. The long poem that comprises the song of Deborah is a much earlier work, and the preceding prose narrative is probably based off of it. There are some key differences in the two accounts, though they are quite similar to one another.

Deborah and Barack begins "The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died." But the text immediately preceding this places Shamgar between Ehud and Deborah. Indeed, Shamgar's placement is confusing, especially because the account of his leadership is so brief. Probably he was inserted between the stories of Ehud and Deborah after these stories had been established in the bible.

Deborah and BarakJudges 4
For the Israelites' apostasy, the Lord hands them over to King Jabin of Canaan, who has oppressed the Israelites cruelly for 20 years and has 900 chariots of iron. The commander of his army is Sisera.

At this time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, judges Israel. She summons Barak son of Abinoam, of the tribe of Naphtali, to tell him that the Lord has commanded him to bring 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebuln to Mount Tabor. The Lord will have the Israelites defeat Sisera at the Wadi Kishon.

Barak says he will only go if Deborah accompanies him, and she agrees to do so, but warns, "the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (Judg. 4.9). This prophecy (or foreshadowing, for the author) will prove to be true, but not in the way the reader will expect.

A side note then informs us:

Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
(Judg. 4.11)

You might be wondering, "What in the world does that have to do with the story? The answer is "probably a lot." When the biblical author introduces information, it is always with good reason. A note like this would not exist without good reason.

When Sisera hears Barak is near, he summons his 900 chariots and all his men, and go to meet the Israelite. The Lord throws his army into a panic before Barak, and the Canaanites are all struck down as they flee in their chariots. But Sisera dismounts and flees on foot toward the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite. King Jabin is at peace with Heber, so this seems like a good place to go.

Jael invites Sisera in and covers him with a rug. When he asks for water she gives him milk, a sign of great hospitality. Sisera then asks that Jael not tell anyone he is there. When he falls asleep, Jael takes a tent peg and a hammer, and drives the peg into Sisera's temple, until it goes into the ground. Barak comes in hot pursuit, to find his enemy dead, fallen by the hand of a woman.

The Israelites then fight until they destroy King Jabin.

The Song of DeborahJudges 5
The first verse informs us that Deborah and Barak "sang," but the verb is singular, so probably only Deborah sang this song.

The song blesses and praises the Lord, describing his power over nature and his prowess in battle. And - look at this! - Shamgar is mentioned in verse 6: "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, / in the days of Jael, caravans ceased / and travelers kept to the byways." But wait a minute. Shamgar doesn't sound like an Israelite at all! And he probably isn't.

In any case, Deborah is praised for causing the peasantry to prosper and grow fat on plunder. She arises "as a mother" to the people. Indeed, this seems to be a song reprimanding the rich and championing the poor peasants of Israel. Israel did not have the aristocratic shields and spears to fight with. They did not ride on white donkeys or sit on rich carpets. Yet they march to conquer a great army. Well, not all of them march. Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, and Isaachar are praised for their actions. The other tribes are chided for their inaction: Reuben tarried and searched its heart. Gilead, Dan, and Asher stay put. Zebulun and Naphtali both "scorned death."

The author then presents an image of divine war, a sort of "on earth as it is in heaven." As the kings fight at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, the stars fight from heaven against Sisera. This is the abstraction of the Lord's army made concrete.

The narrator then describes a scene that we did not see in the prose account: "The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon." This account seems remarkably similar to the escape from Egypt, as Israel's enemies are thrown into a panic and defeated with a rush of water. It can be said to recallthat event.

The song curses"Meroz" because they did not help the Lord. What city or clan this was, or their relationship with Israel, is unknown.

The poem then praises Jael for her actions and recounts her slaying Sisera in classic biblical poetry:

He asked water and she gave him milk,
she brought him curds in a lordly bowl

This emphasizes Jael's hospitality through climatic parallelism, as the object delivered increases in richness from water to milk to "curds in a lordly bowl."

She put her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen's mallet

This parallelism seems to increase in specificity and greatness. It was not just any hand, but the right hand. It was not only a tent peg, but actually a workmen's mallet. (This has implications for the prose account, in which it is said she grabs both. Perhaps this is a misinterpretation of biblical poetry on mine or the author's part. We shall probably never know, though.)

she struck Sisera a blow,
she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple

Again, these parallel verses increase in specificity.

He sank, he fell,
he lay still at her feet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell dead.

In this parallel structure, the content is not changed, but is rather rearranged. We do not receive any new information; instead the death is emphasized and dwelled upon.

We then get a poignant account of Sisera's mother looking out the window, wondering why her son is not home. Her ladies answer for her - or does she answer herself? They are surely finding and dividing the spoil, a girl or two for every man and other splendors. And of course, Sisera has not gotten a woman in battle; a woman has gotten him.

"And the land had rest forty years."