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. What we learn about faith and courage from judge deborah. The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Deborah the archeological remains of hazor 1204 1144 bc. Judges 4 english standard version esv deborah and barak. On that day deborah sang this songand barak, son of abinoam. Deborah judges 45 bible commentary theology of work.
Deborah is introduced, as are the other 11 judges in the book of judges, without fanfare. In the narrative about the military heroine deborah, jael kills sisera, the canaanite general of king jabin, after he escapes from the battle with deborah s general, barak. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil bible gateway. I asked where she got that idea, and she said it was right out of the book of judges deborah s story, in fact. These books tell of the israelites reign over the land of canaan and have a heavy focus on divine reward and punishment. Deborah is one of the major judges meaning charismatic leaders, rather than juridical figures in the story of how israel takes the land of canaan the only female judge, and also the only judge to be called a prophet, deborah is a decisive figure in the defeat of the canaanites, a victory told in two accounts, a prose narrative in judges 4 and an ancient song known as the song of deborah. The story of gideon from the tribe of manasseh chapters 68 reveals a.
The book of judges chapters 4 and 5 record the history of the nation of israel in the time of the prophetess deborah. The book of joshua claims the canaanites were destroyed by the invading hebrew tribes in one swift action. According to the biblical narrative these judges led israel from the end of the conquest of canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. This suggests that judges were seen as gods people, and their gender was unimportant. Is so called because it contains the history of the deliverance and government of israel by the men who bore the title of the judges. In the hebrew language the title judge indicates someone who will.
According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the fourth judge of premonarchic israel and the only female judge mentioned in the bible, and the wife of lapidoth. Deborah again the israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord, now that ehud was dead. The song of deborah is a very ancient poem, one of the earliest writings that the bible preserves. When uprising broke out in israel, when the people rallied for dutybless the lord. The book of judges follows the book of joshua which is the sequel to the five books. Service as a judge and deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lapidoth, she judged israel at that time. Book of judges bible study commentary the cycle of sin. Judges 4 esv deborah and barak and the people of bible. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess and the only female judge mentioned in the bible. Judges bible study outlinecontents by chapter and verse. In her main story story, deborah is a heroine and prophetess. Judges chapter 5 gives the same story in poetic form. The midrash a collection of teachings on the torah explains that the hebrew people are said to be like bees in several ways. However, as will be seen below, deborah s actions and attitude deserve careful attention.
The judges or leaders of israel includes samson, deborah, gideon, and samuel. Deborah is the only woman judge mentioned in the book of judges. Judges 5, 12 the full story of deborah, a prophetess of the god of the israelites, from the tribe of ephraim. The people recognize her wisdom and come to her for counsel and conflict resolution judges 4. Included in this period are people like ruth and boaz and rahab. There is no indication who deborahs parents were, what kind of work lapidot did, or whether they had any children. Deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they. 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.
Deborah is a judge before the battle, but the narrative does. Jan 23, 2014 prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. Ann burton does a great job of writing the story of the early years of the israeli prophetess and judge deborah. However, in hebrew, the same word is used for woman and wife, so we dont know. Meaning of deborah s name deborah, devorah or dvorah in hebrew is translated as bee. 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. Judges 5, new american standard bible nasb the bible app. Traditional jewish chronology places deborahs 40 years of judging israel judges 5.
Two of the more illustrious of the judges were deborah and gideon. A slave girl beaten and tortured by her hebrew hating canaanite master, ybyon. Deborah s story of strength and leadership in judges 4 has inspired many women. Her story is told in both prose judges 4 and poetry judges 5. In the narrative of the hebrew bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the book of joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the books of samuel, during which biblical judges served as temporary leaders. Bible dictionaries books of the bible verse of the day bible in a year bible topics. The latter sense is obviously the relevant one for the book of judges, though the sole female judge, deborah, in fact also acts as a judicial authority, sitting under the palm tree named after her.
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. The book of judges is the second of the books of the former prophets in hebrew scripture, and serves as part of the historical books of the greek septuagint old testament, along with joshua, ruth, samuel, and kings, as well as the books of the restoration. She is shown here in a stained glass window by the russianjewish artist. The wife of heber the kenite, jael plays an important role in the story of israels wars with the canaanites, described in the book of judges. The two literary creations have subtly different attitudes, and in placing them side by side, the historian of the book of judges encourages the reader to read them together as well as separately. They often date it to the 11th or even 12th century b. Deborah lived somewhere about 1150 bce, about a century or so after the hebrews entered canaan. Maybe thats why deborah made such a good judge and. The song of deborah and barak then deborah and barak the son of abinoam sang on that day, saying, that the leaders led in israel,that the people volunteered,bless the lord. The hebrew word translated judges in the english title of the book refers not to specialized judicial officers or magistrates but to leaders in general. Deborah told barak that god commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of jabin king of canaan and his military commander sisera. Book of judges bible study outline judges commentary part one the cycle of sin defined by i gordon.
In the song, deborah lauds jael, calling her most blessed of women. Many scholars claim that this song, found in chapter 5 of the book of judges, is one of the oldest existing biblical texts. Deborah, who led a victorious military coalition mentioned in judges 4. These judges start off fairly well othniel, ehud, deborah but become increasingly worse gideon, jephthah, samson. Some scholars think that deborahs song was written well before the rest of the book of judges, and is thus one of the oldest passages in the hebrew bible, while others believe that it was written during the time of the babylonian exile. This passage, often called the song of deborah, may dat. The book of judges is the second book in neviim prophets, the second section of the tanach hebrew bible. According to author joseph telushkin in his book jewish literacy, the only thing known about deborahs private life was the name of her husband, lapidot or lappidoth. Dec 31, 2017 deborah is an important figure in the book of judges. Jul 01, 2019 it is rare to hear anyone project deborah as an example of spiritual and civil leadership to follow. And for the record, i thought it was pretty accurate to the story of deborah in the book of judges. Imagine my surprise when that section was completely glossed over and hardly touched especially since that is the portion we have the most detail on in scripture.
The people of her time had no difficulty in accepting her as a judge. The book of judges highlights six judges during this time and shows their increasing corruption. What we learn about faith and courage from judge deborah in. Deborah and the no available men argument marg mowczko. The book of judges, which is believed to have been written by the prophet samuel around 1050 bc, presents us with a sad and turbulent period in israels history. These continue as such in our christian old testament of the bible. She was the fourth judge of premonarchic israel and the only female judge mentioned. The fourth of the judges who ruled over the jewish people after the death of. She lived during the time of israels judges, as told in the bibles book of judges. Deborah is one of the most influential women of the bible. The book of judges depicts the life of israel in the promised land from the death of joshua to the rise of the monarchy. We know this because the book of judges deborah s story describes continued warfare between the two groups. As military commander in the biblical book of judges, barak, with deborah, from the tribe of ephraim, the prophet and fourth judge of premonarchic israel, defeated the canaanite armies led by sisera. Deborah is introduced, as are the other 11 judges in the book of.
Firstly, to better understand deborah, we have to discover the world she lived in. How to say deborah or debra in hebrew names youtube. She was a prophet, a judge of israel and the wife of lapidoth. Timeline, maps, chronology, sermons of deborah maps of the deborah, timeline of deborah sermons and outlines of deborah archeological evidences of deborah. The book of judges summary online bible nwt american. God uses a good woman only when a good man cant be found, she said. The prophetess deborah a strong woman of god beginning. On the one hand, it is an account of frequent apostasy, provoking divine chastening. For the most part, the book of judges reflects a negative picture of gods. The biblical account of deborah ends with the statement that after the battle, there was peace in. Old testament hebrew english holy name king james version with strongs numbers. You can start to study judges of israel by clicking on these 47 images. According to ancient jewish tradition the author was samuel the prophet, who lived at the times of saul and david around the year bc. I will sing, i will sing to the lord, i will make music to the lord, the god of israel.
The book of judges records those events in which some of the ancient israelites began to sin judges 2. Deborah ranks among the most famous women of the hebrew bible, known to christians as the old testament. According to author joseph telushkin in his book jewish literacy, the only thing known about deborah s private life was the name of her husband, lapidot or lappidoth. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the. The book of ruth originally formed part of this book, but about a. The hebrew bible credits deborah not only with starting an uprising that freed israel from oppression but also with composing and performing a song that celebrates the victory. Not only known for her wisdom, but deborah was also known for her courage. Someone had taught her that a godly woman leading meant a man had failed somewhere. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in harosheth haggoyim. She is the only woman of the hebrew bible who gained renown on her own merit, not because of her relationship to a man.
The song of deborah, preserved in chapter 5, is a brilliant example of early hebrew poetry, composed in the ancient canaanite style around 1200 b. Her story is told in the book of judges, chapters 4 and 5. Aug 01, 2006 deborah is a character in jaels story and one of the reasons i read this book next was to hear the other side of the scene id already read from jaels perspective. Lord, when you went out from seir, when you marched from the plains of edom, the earth shook. Most of the major figures in the book of judges are acknowledged as leaders after military victory. At that time deborah, a prophetess, wife of lappidoth, was judging israel. Bible by tikva frymerkensky deborah is one of the major judges meaning charismatic leaders, rather than juridical figures in the story of how israel takes the land of canaan. Sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Bimbam formerly gdcast is a new media studio making jewish videos. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. In judges 5, we read judge deborah s story again, but this time as a poem. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of. The military hierarchy recognizes her as supreme commander and in fact will only go to war on her personal command judg. The bible records no dissent or rebellion against her.
Apr 12, 2019 deborah is introduced, as are the other 11 judges in the book of judges, without fanfare. Deborah is the only female judge mentioned in the bible. The story reached its present shape much later in israels history. The powerful woman of deborah and the book of judges. The book ends with two very disturbing stories that show how incredibly lawless the people have become.
Leadership resides not in gender but in character and gifting. The book of judges the hebrew word translated judges in the english title of the book refers not to specialized judicial officers or magistrates but to leaders in general. Tragedy and hope in the book of judges bibleproject. The prophetess deborah 26542694 jewish history chabad. Prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. And this is one incredible book of stories and people. The same word is used in hebrew for woman and wife, so we dont know for sure if deborah was a woman of lappidoth a place or wife of lappidoth a person. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and curriculum. She lived during the time of israels judges, as told in the bible s book of judges.
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