Based on the information in the bible, only samuel and gideon equaled her accomplishments. The book of judges highlights six judges during this time and shows their increasing corruption. 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. This day was a normal day in the life of israel, deborah set up court, and the people came to have their disputes settled. What we learn about faith and courage from judge deborah. 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. Tragedy and hope in the book of judges bibleproject. The book of judges includes several interesting genres. At that time deborah, a prophetess, wife of lappidoth, was judging israel. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the fourth judge of premonarchic israel. So join us each week throughout the summer as we look at a different influential. 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. Deborah stands out due to both her spiritual and civil leadership.
Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in harosheth haggoyim. She was only one of five women described as a prophet. Deborah bible story, deborah bible character, deborah bible lesson. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil bible gateway. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess and the only female judge mentioned in the bible. 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. Most of the major figures in the book of judges are acknowledged as leaders after military victory. The book of judges is a history book in the old testament of the bible. Very few women in scripture rose to positions of national leadership. Deborah is introduced, as are the other 11 judges in the book of judges, without fanfare. Being a prophetess must have helped deborah to solve these disputes spiritually rather than simply politically or judicially.
Deborah judges 45 bible commentary theology of work. The song of deborah is a very ancient poem, one of the earliest writings that the bible preserves. Many scholars claim that this song, found in chapter 5 of the book of judges, is one of the oldest existing biblical texts. Background today we are going to study the book of judges, but i think it always helps to understand the context of a book before you study it, so first i want to show how judges fits into the history of the nation of israel. The book of judges provides fuel for a variety of theological controversies. She was also a prophet and the wife of lappidoth judg. Really, there are quite a number of good women described in the scriptures, but precious few of. Deborah has an impressive resume of judge, warrior, poet, and prophet as well as singer. Some scholars think that deborah s 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. For the most part, the book of judges reflects a negative. The people of her time had no difficulty in accepting her as a judge. Someone had taught her that a godly woman leading meant a man had failed somewhere. The story of deborah in the bible, judge, prophetess.
The bible however, never stated how long he ruled as a judge judges 3. This study on judges originated from a handout and class notes in dr. The military hierarchy recognizes her as supreme commander and in fact will only go to war on her personal command judg. The book of judges contains the history of about 300 years when israel had no king. The story of deborah from the bibles book of judges is an astonishing story of a powerful ruler and prophetess who still inspires women and men today. Book of judges, an old testament book that, along with deuteronomy, joshua, i and ii samuel, and i and ii kings, belongs to a specific historical tradition deuteronomic history that was first committed to writing about 550 bc, during the babylonian exile. Yet the writer of judges refers only to deborah as the judge to whom the word of the lord came judges 4. Women played a large part in biblical events and they are a vital part of the church today. Instead, god appointed special people, called judges to lead the people. 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.
Deborah, the only female judge in the bible, excelled in multiple areas. Although deborah wasnt a priestess who offered sacrifices, she did lead public worship services. She is called a prophetess and the wife of lappidoth. Firstly, to better understand deborah, we have to discover the world she lived in. After ehuds death the jews forsook the ways of the torah and adopted many of the idols of the.
Although sisera escaped, he was later killed by jael who, after giving him milk and butter, attacked him with a tentpeg and a workmans hammer. If you are running out of parking spaces in your church, try preaching a sermon on judges 19. Deborah is the only woman judge mentioned in the book of judges. Although not recorded in the bible, pharaoh merneptah attacks israel at the end of the 80 years of peace in 1205 bc as recorded in the famous merneptah stele. Deborah gave the word for battle to commence, and the israelites, with gods help, overcome the great army of sisera. The canaanites had 900 chariots of iron and ruled over israel for 20 years judges 4. Its author is anonymous but it is usually assumed that samuel, the prophet wrote it. Prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. One of the biggest travesties of skipping the book of judges in sunday school is that one of the greatest role models in the bible for our little girls is the fourth judge, deborah. This suggests that judges were seen as gods people, and their gender was unimportant. The israelites had been under the control of the canaanite king jabin and the commander of his army, sisera. All great stories in the old testament point to the greatest story in the bible and that is the story of jesus.
But he worries they dont stand a chance against canaanite commander sisera and his modern technology. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of canaan, who reigned in hazor. She was the only woman who served as a judge during those extended years of turmoil. The book of judges follows the book of joshua which is the sequel to the five books of moses. Robert chisholms hebrew class at dallas theological seminary. These judges start off fairly well othniel, ehud, deborah but become increasingly worse gideon, jephthah, samson. The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they. Deborah the judge was the 4th of the 15 judges who ruled over the land of israel during ancient times, before the israelites had kings. And deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lapidoth, she judged israel at that time.
Deborah again the israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord, now that ehud was dead. If you are teaching old testament stories in chronilogical order this could be a good time to begin memorizing the names of the 39 books. Her story is told in both prose judges 4 and poetry judges 5. Deborah is sitting under the palm tree, it is called the palm of deborah, maybe because that is where she sat and held court. The book ends with two very disturbing stories that show how incredibly lawless the. And this is one incredible book of stories and people. These continue as such in our christian old testament of the bible. Leadership resides not in gender but in character and gifting. However, difficulties inherent in dating historical biblical events of this period, for which the main source is the bible. She held court under the palm tree of deborah in the hill country of ephraim, deciding the peoples disputes.
While deborah went with the army, she did not engage in battle. Before her were othniel, ehud and shamgar, the latter only for a short time. The powerful woman of deborah and the book of judges. Deborah is a judge before the battle, but the narrative does. The book of judges deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they should take on the canaanite army. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of.
If that doesnt work, try doing character studies on jephthah or samson. Deborah was only one of four women designated as a prophet in the hebrew bible, and as such, she was said to transmit the word and the will of god. Deborah has an impressive resume of judge, warrior, poet, and prophet as well. Deborah was both a prophetess and ruler of the people of ancient israel, the only woman among the twelve judges. The bible records no dissent or rebellion against her. In the song, deborah lauds jael, calling her most blessed of women. The people recognize her wisdom and come to her for counsel and conflict resolution judges 4. The account of deborah and barak is found in judges 4 and 5 in the old testament.
Deborah provides a picture of leadership that wasnt normally seen in the society of her time. Deborah is the only female judge whose story is recounted in the book of judges. Othneil, ehud, shamgar, deborah, gideon, tola, jair, jephtha, ibzan, elon, abdon, and samson appear as judges of israel in that order in the book of judges. Facts about deborah in the bible her story is told in both prose judges 4 and poetry judges 5. She lived during the time of israels judges, as told in the bibles book of judges. Timeline, maps, chronology, sermons of deborah maps of the deborah, timeline of deborah.
Deborah was a judge that mainly settled disputes holding court under the palm tree of deborah between ramah and bethel in the mountains of ephraim judges 4. The lord spoke through her as she held court under a tree called the palm of deborah in ephraim. 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. Deborah was one of the judges of israel during a time of oppression. What deborah does and doesnt say about women in the. I asked where she got that idea, and she said it was right out of the book of judges deborah s story, in fact. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and curriculum.
She was only one of five women described as a prophet in the old testament. God uses a good woman only when a good man cant be found, she said. They often date it to the 11th or even 12th century b. For the most part, the book of judges reflects a negative picture of gods people drifting away spiritually and then eventually experiencing gods judgment. Perhaps the new testament writer meant to list only those who literally conquered kingdoms.