Bible Encyclopedia: Deborah

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

DEBORAH

deb'-o-ra (debhorah, signifying "bee"):

(1) Rebekah's nurse, who died near Bethel and was buried under "the oak of weeping" (Genesis 35:8 margin).

(2) A prophetess, fourth in the order of the "judges." In aftertime a palm tree, known as the "palm tree of Deborah," was shown between Ramah and Bethel, beneath which the prophetess was wont to administer justice. Like the rest of the "judges" she became a leader of her people in times of national distress. This time the oppressor was Jabin, king of Hazor, whose general was Sisera. Deborah summoned Barak of Kedesh-naphtali and delivered to him the Divine message to meet Sisera in battle by the brook Kishon. Barak induced Deborah to accompany him; they were joined by 10,000 men of Zebulun and Naphtali. The battle took place by the brook Kishon, and Sisera's army was thoroughly routed. While Barak pursued the fleeing army, Sisera escaped and sought refuge with Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, near Kedesh. The brave woman, the prototype of Judith, put the Canaanite general to sleep by offering him a draft of milk and then slew him by driving a peg into his temple.

Thus runs the story in Jud 4. It is on the whole substantiated by the ode in chapter 5 which is ascribed jointly to Deborah and Barak. It is possible that the editor mistook the archaic form qamti, in 5:7 which should be rendered "thou arosedst" instead of "I arose." Certainly the ode was composed by a person who, if not a contemporary of the event, was very near it in point of time. The song is spoken of as one of the oldest pieces of Hebrew literature. Great difficulties meet the exegete. Nevertheless the general substance is clear. The Lord is described as having come from Sinai near the "field of Edom" to take part in the battle; `for from heaven they fought, the very stars from their courses fought against Sisera' (5:20). The nation was in a sad plight, oppressed by a mighty king, and the tribes loth to submerge their separatist tendencies. Some, like Reuben, Gilead, Dan and Asher remained away. A community by the name of Meroz is singled out for blame, `because they came not to the help of Yahweh, to the help of Yahweh among the mighty' (5:23; compare the Revised Version, margin).

Ephraim, Issachar, Machir, Benjamin were among the followers of Barak; "Zebulun. jeopardized their lives unto the death, and Naphtali, upon the high places of the field" (verse 18). According to the song, the battle was fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; Sisera's host was swept away by "that ancient river, the river Kishon" (verse 21). Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, receives here due reward of praise for her heroic act. The paean vividly paints the waiting of Sisera's mother for the home-coming of the general; the delay is ascribed to the great booty which the conqueror is distributing among his Canaanite host. "So let all thine enemies perish," concludes the song; "O Yahweh: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." It is a song in praise of the "righteous acts" of the Lord, His work of victory which Israel's leaders, `the long-haired princes,' wrought, giving their lives freely to the nation's cause. And the nation was sore bestead because it had become faithless to the Lord and chosen new gods. Out of the conflict came, for the time being, victory and moral purification; and the inspiring genius of it all was a woman in Israel, the prophetess Deborah.

(3) Tobit's grandmother (the King James Version "Debora," Tobit 1:8).

Max L. Margolis

Strong's Hebrew

1683. Deborah -- two Israelite women
... Deborah. 1684 . two Israelite women. Transliteration: Deborah Phonetic Spelling:
(deb-o-raw') Short Definition: Deborah. ... women NASB Word Usage Deborah (10). ...
/hebrew/1683.htm - 6k

1682. deborah -- a bee
... 1681, 1682. deborah. 1683 . a bee. Transliteration: deborah Phonetic Spelling:
(deb-o-raw') Short Definition: bees. ... 1681, 1682. deborah. 1683 . ...
/hebrew/1682.htm - 6k

3941. Lappidoth -- husband of Deborah
... 3940, 3941. Lappidoth. 3942 . husband of Deborah. Transliteration: Lappidoth
Phonetic Spelling: (lap-pee-doth') Short Definition: Lappidoth. ...
/hebrew/3941.htm - 6k

Library

Deborah's Song
... LYRICS IV DEBORAH'S SONG. Men. For that the leaders took the lead in Israel" Women. ...
Women. Until that I, Deborah, arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/iv deborahs song.htm

How the Canaanites Brought the Israelites under Slavery for Twenty ...
... CHAPTER 5. How The Canaanites Brought The Israelites Under Slavery For Twenty Years;
After Which They Were Delivered By Barak And Deborah, Who Ruled Over Them ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 how the canaanites.htm

Women who Saved a Nation
... Then the prophetess Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, delivered Israel.
She ... So Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh. Barak ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/women who saved a nation.htm

The Growth of the Old Testament Prophetic Histories
... [Sidenote: The Song of Deborah]. That stirring paean of victory known as the Song
of Deborah was perhaps once found in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. ...
/.../the origin and permanent value of the old testament/vi the growth of the.htm

Though Many Other Widows came Near to Judith in virtue...
... Though many other widows came near to Judith in virtue, St. Ambrose proposes to
speak of Deborah only. ... 47. So, then, Deborah foretold the event of the battle. ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter viii though many other.htm

Love Makes Suns
... These are the closing words of Deborah, the great warrior-prophetess of Israel. ...
Deborah's knowledge was a mere skeleton outline as compared with ours. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/love makes suns.htm

The Debt of Israel
... Entering her low shelter in the camp some time later, she found Deborah absent. ...
"Fie!" she replied. "How couldst thou tell this story to Deborah? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter x the debt of.htm

Chapter xxxv
... 8. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried below Bethel beneath
the oak; so it came to be called the Oak of Weeping. Of ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xxxv.htm

In the Desert
... and waited. While they stood thus, Deborah, exhausted and praying, staggered
into the inclosure. "Rachel!" she panted. "The serving ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xix in the desert.htm

Judges
... repeated in a less elaborate form elsewhere, vi.7-10, x.6-16, is amply illustrated
by the stories that follow"the stories of Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Barak ...
//christianbookshelf.org/mcfadyen/introduction to the old testament/judges.htm

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Deborah

word; thing; a bee

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Deborah

(a bee). (B.C. 1857.)

The nurse of Rebekah. (Genesis 35:8) Deborah accompanied Rebekah from the house of Bethuel, (Genesis 24:59) and is only mentioned by name on the occasion of her burial under the oak tree of Bethel, which was called in her honor Allon-bachuth.
A prophetess who judged Israel. Judges 4,5. (B.C, 1316.) She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, (Judges 4:5) which, as palm trees were rare in Palestine, "is mentioned as a well-known and solitary landmark." She was probably a woman of Ephraim. Lapidoth was probably her husband, and not Barak as some say. She was not so much a judge as one gifted with prophetic command (Judges 4:6,14; 5:7) and by virtue of her inspiration "a mother in Israel." The tyranny of Jabin, a Canaanitish king, was peculiarly felt in the northern tribes, who were near his capital and under her jurisdiction. Under her direction Barak encamped on the broad summit of Tabor. Deborah's prophecy was fulfilled, (Judges 4:9) and the enemy's general perished among the "oaks of the wanderers" (Zaanaim), in the tent of the Bedouin Kenite's wife, (Judges 4:21) in the northern mountains. Deborah's title of "prophetess" includes the notion of inspired poetry, as in (Exodus 15:20) and in this sense the glorious triumphal ode, Judges 5, well vindicates her claim to the office.

ATS Bible Dictionary

Deborah

1. A prophetess, and wife of Lapidoth, judged the Israelites, and dwelt under a palm-tree between Ramah and Bethel, Jud 4:4,5. She sent for Barak, directed him to attack Sisera, and promised him victory. Barak, however, refused to go unless she accompanied him, which she did, but told him that the success of the expedition would be imputed to a woman and not to him. After the victory, Deborah composed a splendid triumphal song, which is preserved in Jud 5:1- 31.

2. The nurse of Rebekah, whom she accompanied from Aram into Canaan, Genesis 24:1-67. At her death, near Bethel, she was buried with honorable marks of affection, Genesis 35:8. There is something very beautiful in this simple and artless record, which would scarcely find a place in our grand histories, treating only of kings, statesmen, and renowned warriors. They seldom take the trouble of erecting a memorial to obscure worth and a long life of humble usefulness.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A bee.

(1.) Rebekah's nurse. She accompanied her mistress when she left her father's house in Padan-aram to become the wife of Isaac (Genesis 24:59). Many years afterwards she died at Bethel, and was buried under the "oak of weeping", Allon-bachuth (35:8).

(2.) A prophetess, "wife" (woman?) of Lapidoth. Jabin, the king of Hazor, had for twenty years held Israel in degrading subjection. The spirit of patriotism seemed crushed out of the nation. In this emergency Deborah roused the people from their lethargy. Her fame spread far and wide. She became a "mother in Israel" (Judges 4:6, 14; 5:7), and "the children of Israel came up to her for judgment" as she sat in her tent under the palm tree "between Ramah and Bethel." Preparations were everywhere made by her direction for the great effort to throw off the yoke of bondage. She summoned Barak from Kadesh to take the command of 10,000 men of Zebulun and Naphtali, and lead them to Mount Tabor on the plain of Esdraelon at its north-east end. With his aid she organized this army. She gave the signal for attack, and the Hebrew host rushed down impetuously upon the army of Jabin, which was commanded by Sisera, and gained a great and decisive victory. The Canaanitish army almost wholly perished. That was a great and ever-memorable day in Israel. In Judges 5 is given the grand triumphal ode, the "song of Deborah," which she wrote in grateful commemoration of that great deliverance. (see LAPIDOTH, JABIN .)

Thesaurus

Deborah (10 Occurrences)
... The spirit of patriotism seemed crushed out of the nation. In this emergency Deborah
roused the people from their lethargy. ... Standard Bible Encyclopedia. DEBORAH. ...
/d/deborah.htm - 14k

Barak (14 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Lightning, the son of Abinoam (Judges 4:6). At the
summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin. She accompanied ...
/b/barak.htm - 14k

Jael (6 Occurrences)
... She then led Barak, who was in pursuit, into her tent, and boastfully showed him
what she had done. (see SISERA; DEBORAH.). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. ...
/j/jael.htm - 14k

Sisera (18 Occurrences)
... that it entered into the ground where he lay, and "at her feet he bowed, he fell;
where he bowed, there he fell down dead." The part of Deborah's song (Judges 5 ...
/s/sisera.htm - 17k

Kishon (6 Occurrences)
... In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judges 5:21) it is spoken of as "that ancient
river," either (1) because it had flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the ...
/k/kishon.htm - 12k

Lappidoth (1 Occurrence)
... lap'-i-doth, -doth (lappidhoth, "flames," "torches"; the King James Version, Lapidoth):
Deborah's husband (Judges 4:4). The Hebrew name is a feminine plural ...
/l/lappidoth.htm - 7k

Allon-bachuth (1 Occurrence)
... Oak of weeping, a tree near Bethel, at the spot where Deborah, Rebekah's nurse,
was buried (Genesis 35:8). Large trees, from their rarity in the plains of ...
/a/allon-bachuth.htm - 7k

Allonbachuth (1 Occurrence)
... Oak of weeping, a tree near Bethel, at the spot where Deborah, Rebekah's nurse,
was buried (Genesis 35:8). Large trees, from their rarity in the plains of ...
/a/allonbachuth.htm - 7k

Shamgar (2 Occurrences)
... The goad was a formidable sharpointed instrument, sometimes ten feet long. He was
probably contemporary for a time with Deborah and Barak (Judges 3:31; 5:6). ...
/s/shamgar.htm - 9k

Kedesh (12 Occurrences)
... It was originally a Canaanite royal city (Joshua 12:22), and was the residence of
Barak (Judges 4:6); and here he and Deborah assembled the tribes of Zebulun ...
/k/kedesh.htm - 14k

Bible Concordance

Deborah (10 Occurrences)

Genesis 35:8 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 4:5 She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 4:9 She said, "I will surely go with you: nevertheless, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 4:10 Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 4:14 Deborah said to Barak, "Go; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn't Yahweh gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 5:1 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 5:7 The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 5:12 'Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Judges 5:15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Subtopics

Deborah

Deborah: Nurse to Rebecca

Deborah: Nurse to Rebecca: Buried Beneath an Oak Tree Near Beth-El

Deborah: The Prophetess, a Judge of Israel

Deborah: The Prophetess, a Judge of Israel: Inspires Barak to Defeat Sisera

Deborah: The Prophetess, a Judge of Israel: The Triumphant Song of

Epic: Deborah's Song

Patriotism: Deborah

Related Terms

Barak (14 Occurrences)

Jael (6 Occurrences)