Judge of Israel: Deborah

Deborah was both a prophetess and judge. She was the wife of a man named Lappidoth, and her name meant “honey bee.”

Following the death of Ehud, the Israelites “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 4:1), so God handed them over to Jabin, king of Canaan. With his commander Sisera and an army of chariots, he oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, and they finally cried to the Lord for help.

Deborah was leading the Israelites, and she summoned Barak son of Abinoam to command the Israelite army, telling him God would give Sisera and his army into his hand. Barak said he would only go if Deborah went with him, and Deborah declared: “Certainly I will go with you . . . But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” —Judges 4:9

Barak took 10,000 soldiers and slaughtered Sisera’s entire army, but Sisera fled and hid in the tent of a woman named Jael. While Sisera was hiding under a blanket, Jael drove a tent peg through his head, fulfilling Deborah’s prophecy. The Israelites eventually defeated King Jabin, and there was another forty years of peace.

After the victory, Deborah wrote a song celebrating what God had done and honoring the Israelites who played a role in defeating the Canaanites. Known as “The Song of Deborah,” it is found in Judges 5, and is believed to be one of the oldest biblical passages.