Judges 4:1-15

Context

Deborah Summons Barak

4:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight¹ after Ehud’s death. 4:2 The Lord turned them over to² King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor.³ The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim.⁴ 4:3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera⁵ had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,⁶ and he cruelly⁷ oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess,⁸ wife of Lappidoth, was⁹ leading¹⁰ Israel at that time. 4:5 She would sit¹¹ under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel¹² in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled.¹³

4:6 She summoned¹⁴ Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the Lord God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun! 4:7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army.¹⁵ I will hand him over to you.” 4:8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame¹⁶ on the expedition you are undertaking,¹⁷ for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.”¹⁸ Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 4:10 Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him;¹⁹ Deborah went up with him as well. 4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away²⁰ from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived²¹ near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

4:12 When Sisera heard²² that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 4:13 he²³ ordered²⁴ all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon. 4:14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action,²⁵ for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you!²⁶ Has the Lord not taken the lead?”²⁷ Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 4:15 The Lord routed²⁸ Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword.²⁹ Sisera jumped out of³⁰ his chariot and ran away on foot.

[4:1] ¹tn Heb “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[4:2] ²tn Heb “the Lord sold them into the hands of.”

[4:2] ³tn Or “King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler.”

[4:2] ⁴tn Or “Harosheth of the Pagan Nations”; cf. KJV “Harosheth of the Gentiles.”

[4:3] ⁵tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:3] ⁶tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.

[4:3] ⁷tn Heb “with strength.”

[4:4] ⁸tn Heb “ a woman, a prophetess.” In Hebrew idiom the generic “woman” sometimes precedes the more specific designation. See GKC 437-38 §135.b.

[4:4] ⁹tn Heb “she was.” The pronoun refers back to the nominative absolute “Deborah.” Hebrew style sometimes employs such resumptive pronouns when lengthy qualifiers separate the subject from the verb.

[4:4] ¹⁰tn Or “judging.”

[4:5] ¹¹tn That is, “consider legal disputes.”

[4:5] ¹²map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[4:5] ¹³tn Heb “for judgment.”

[4:6] ¹⁴tn Heb “sent and summoned.”

[4:7] ¹⁵tn Heb “horde”; “multitude.”

[4:9] ¹⁶tn Or “honor.”

[4:9] ¹⁷tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.

[4:9] ¹⁸tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the Lord will sell Sisera.”

[4:10] ¹⁹tn Heb “went up at his feet.”

[4:11] ²⁰tn Or “separated.”

[4:11] ²¹tn Heb “pitched his tent.”

[4:12] ²²tn Heb “and they told Sisera.”

[4:13] ²³tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:13] ²⁴tn Or “summoned.”

[4:14] ²⁵tn Heb “Arise!”

[4:14] ²⁶tn The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[4:14] ²⁷tn Heb “Has the Lord not gone out before you?”

[4:15] ²⁸tn Or “caused to panic.”

[4:15] ²⁹tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:15] ³⁰tn Heb “got down from.”