SUMMARY
Chapter four is a narrative account of the exploits of DeborahAn Israelite prophetess and influential judge. More and Barak, possibly at Esdraelon, while chapter five, possibly the oldest biblical material we have (1125 BCE), is a poetic version of the same story. Deborah is treated as a prophet.
ANALYSIS
The story of Deborah and Barak and their defeat of the Canaanites in the north is a twice-told tale, once in prose (Judges 4) and once in poetry (Judges 5). There are differences, though one should not be overly concerned with harmonization. The prose version begins with the first three elements of the recurrent cycle: Israel’s apostasy (v. 1) results in their being handed over to Jabin, king of Canaan (v. 2), who oppressed them for 20 years under Sisera, until the people cried out to God (v. 3). This is a very clear example of the Book of Judges’ understanding of Israel’s history. As long as the people obeyed God there was progress toward the consolidation of the Promised Land. But when they disobeyed, that progress was stopped and Israel was subjected to tyranny.
After following the pattern closely through its first three steps, it is striking that the fourth step, where God explicitly raises up a deliverer, is absent. It is true that Deborah is a leader in Israel in two senses. She is one who “judges” in the sense of arbitrating legal disputes and she is a prophet who speaks God’s word to the people. In her role as a prophet and acting on the word of the Lord, Deborah (“Bee”), wife of Lappidoth (“Torches”) summoned Barak (“Lightning”) to lead an army against the Canaanites at Mount Tabor (vv. 4-7). Barak was afraid and refused to go until Deborah lent her authority and assurance to his mission by unhesitatingly agreeing to accompany him as they delivered Israel from oppression (vv. 8-10). The expected step of God’s raising up an individual deliverer, however, is replaced at this point by a collaboration of the two leaders—Deborah as legal judge/prophet and Barak as military general—and a non-Israelite woman named JaelWoman who killed Sisera in the days of Deborah. More who will bring the final blow upon the head of the Canaanite military leader, Sisera (4:18-22–see below). We have seen that Judges employs this cyclical pattern as an interpretive key, and that any alteration in the pattern warrants further investigation. A close reading of the rest of the story suggests that this crucial step is omitted in this case to indicate that the true deliverer of Israel is neither Deborah, nor Barak, nor Jael, but God.
The battle, itself, took a decisive turn for Israel when a torrential rainstorm caused the Kishon River to overflow, miring Sisera’s 900 iron chariots in the mud as we learn from the poetic version in 5:21. As was the case at the Red Sea and in the fallThe Fall refers specifically to the disobedience of Adam and Eve when they listened to Satan rather than adhering to God's command not to eat the fruit from the tree. When people act contrary to God's will, they are said to fall from from grace... More of Jericho, it is God who defeats the enemy (4:15), a point that Deborah herself also makes clear (4:14).
The role of women is particularly important in these stories. Deborah’s courage and faith in persuading Barak, discerning the activity of God, and stirring others to accept their responsibilities were instrumental in the victory. The prose account closes with the introduction of another heroine (4:17-24). Sisera, realizing he has lost, flees to the tent of Heber (“Ally”) the Kenite for sanctuaryA sanctuary is the consecrated area around the altar of a church or temple. It also means a place of safety where one can flee for protection. In the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms, God is referred to as a sanctuary, a refuge from... More. Heber’s wife, Jael (“Wild Goat”), welcomes him, and gives him food and a place to sleep. But instead of guarding the tent, as Sisera has requested, she takes a hammer and drives a tent peg through his templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More, killing him and fulfilling Deborah’s earlier prophecyProphecy is the gift, inspired by God, of speaking and interpreting the divine will. Prophets such as Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel spoke words of judgment and comfort to the people of Israel on behalf of God. More (v. 14).
Readers may rightly question Jael’s actions, as many have done, but this story praises the faith and loyalty with which she responded to a serious situation. Her faith might be contrasted with the lack of fidelity that Israel would soon display as the cycle inevitably repeats.