Deborah is the only female judge whose story is recounted in the book of judges. Most of the major figures in the book of judges are acknowledged as leaders after military victory. Timeline, maps, chronology, sermons of deborah maps of the deborah, timeline of deborah. The people of her time had no difficulty in accepting her as a judge. I asked where she got that idea, and she said it was right out of the book of judges deborah s story, in fact. The song of deborah is a very ancient poem, one of the earliest writings that the bible preserves.
And deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lapidoth, she judged israel at that time. Really, there are quite a number of good women described in the scriptures, but precious few of. The book of judges includes several interesting genres. The account of deborah and barak is found in judges 4 and 5 in the old testament.
This suggests that judges were seen as gods people, and their gender was unimportant. Yet the writer of judges refers only to deborah as the judge to whom the word of the lord came judges 4. Before her were othniel, ehud and shamgar, the latter only for a short time. The israelites had been under the control of the canaanite king jabin and the commander of his army, sisera. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of canaan, who reigned in hazor. 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. 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. Women played a large part in biblical events and they are a vital part of the church today. 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. 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. If that doesnt work, try doing character studies on jephthah or samson. The story of deborah in the bible, judge, prophetess. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our judges series and curriculum. Deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they.
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. Judges 4 niv deborah again the israelites did evil bible gateway. In the song, deborah lauds jael, calling her most blessed of women. They often date it to the 11th or even 12th century b.
Deborah is introduced, as are the other 11 judges in the book of judges, without fanfare. Its author is anonymous but it is usually assumed that samuel, the prophet wrote it. So the lord sold them into the hands of jabin king of. Based on the information in the bible, only samuel and gideon equaled her accomplishments. This study on judges originated from a handout and class notes in dr. 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. 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.
Tragedy and hope in the book of judges bibleproject. What we learn about faith and courage from judge deborah. If you are running out of parking spaces in your church, try preaching a sermon on judges 19. She lived during the time of israels judges, as told in the bibles book of judges. She was only one of five women described as a prophet. The lord spoke through her as she held court under a tree called the palm of deborah in ephraim. The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. Deborah has an impressive resume of judge, warrior, poet, and prophet as well as singer. 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 is sitting under the palm tree, it is called the palm of deborah, maybe because that is where she sat and held court. 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. Deborah has an impressive resume of judge, warrior, poet, and prophet as well.
Perhaps the new testament writer meant to list only those who literally conquered kingdoms. The book of judges contains the history of about 300 years when israel had no king. And this is one incredible book of stories and people. The book of judges deborah, one of the most talked about women in the bible, tells barak they should take on the canaanite army. Although deborah wasnt a priestess who offered sacrifices, she did lead public worship services. She held court under the palm tree of deborah in the hill country of ephraim, deciding the peoples disputes. 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.
Deborah provides a picture of leadership that wasnt normally seen in the society of her time. Firstly, to better understand deborah, we have to discover the world she lived in. The canaanites had 900 chariots of iron and ruled over israel for 20 years judges 4. Deborah gave the word for battle to commence, and the israelites, with gods help, overcome the great army of sisera. 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.
Her story is told in both prose judges 4 and poetry judges 5. The book of judges follows the book of joshua which is the sequel to the five books of moses. 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. The story of deborah is in judges 4, and the song is in judges 5. God uses a good woman only when a good man cant be found, she said. 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. Deborah was both a prophetess and ruler of the people of ancient israel, the only woman among the twelve judges. The book of judges is a history book in the old testament of the bible.
But he worries they dont stand a chance against canaanite commander sisera and his modern technology. These continue as such in our christian old testament of the bible. For the most part, the book of judges reflects a negative. At that time deborah, a prophetess, wife of lappidoth, was judging israel. She was only one of five women described as a prophet in the old testament. She was the only woman who served as a judge during those extended years of turmoil. Deborah is a judge before the battle, but the narrative does. Leadership resides not in gender but in character and gifting.
Deborah is the only woman judge mentioned in the book of judges. The people recognize her wisdom and come to her for counsel and conflict resolution judges 4. So join us each week throughout the summer as we look at a different influential. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess and the only female judge mentioned in the bible. The powerful woman of deborah and the book of judges. Deborah stands out due to both her spiritual and civil leadership. Facts about deborah in the bible her story is told in both prose judges 4 and poetry judges 5. Prophet deborah is the only female judge in the torah. Instead, god appointed special people, called judges to lead the people.
The military hierarchy recognizes her as supreme commander and in fact will only go to war on her personal command judg. Deborah was one of the judges of israel during a time of oppression. She was also a prophet and the wife of lappidoth judg. The book of judges provides fuel for a variety of theological controversies. While deborah went with the army, she did not engage in battle. Deborah again the israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord, now that ehud was dead. For the most part, the book of judges reflects a negative picture of gods people drifting away spiritually and then eventually experiencing gods judgment. Being a prophetess must have helped deborah to solve these disputes spiritually rather than simply politically or judicially. 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. The bible records no dissent or rebellion against her. However, difficulties inherent in dating historical biblical events of this period, for which the main source is the bible. 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.
Many scholars claim that this song, found in chapter 5 of the book of judges, is one of the oldest existing biblical texts. What deborah does and doesnt say about women in the. 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. After ehuds death the jews forsook the ways of the torah and adopted many of the idols of the. She is called a prophetess and the wife of lappidoth. Deborah bible story, deborah bible character, deborah bible lesson. All great stories in the old testament point to the greatest story in the bible and that is the story of jesus. 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. According to the book of judges, deborah was a prophetess of the god of the israelites, the fourth judge of premonarchic israel.