Deborah

How Nave’s arranged it

• 1. Nurse to RebeccaGenesis 24:59
• Buried beneath an oak tree near Beth-elGenesis 35:8
• 2. The prophetess, a judge of IsraelJudges 4:4Judges 4:5Judges 5:7
• Inspires Barak to defeat SiseraJudges 4:6–16
• The triumphant song ofJudges 5

The passages, in Bible order (7)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 7 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 24:59

   So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 24:592 voices

   “And her nurse - Whose name, we learn from Gen 35:8, was Deborah, and who, as a second mother, was deemed proper to accompany Rebekah. This was a measure dictated by good sense and prudence. Rebekah had other female attendants. See Gen 24:61.

   “(Verse 59.) And they sent away their sister Rebecca, and her belongings, and Abraham's servant, and the men who were with him. In Hebrew, it says: And they sent away their sister Rebecca, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. For it was fitting that a virgin setting off for marriage without her parents should be comforted by the consolation of her nurse.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 24:59→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Genesis 35:8

   Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 35:82 voices

   “Deborah (Hebrew, a "bee"), supposing her to have been fifty years on coming to Canaan, had attained the great age of a hundred eighty. When she was removed from Isaac's household to Jacob's, is unknown. But it probably was on his return from Mesopotamia; and she would have been of invaluable service to his young family.

   “(Verse 8) And Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died and was buried near Bethel. If the nurse of Rebekah named Deborah is dead, as the Septuagint interpreters also translated here, and the Hebrew word is Meneketh: we cannot know why they put 'substantiam' there, 'nutricem' here.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 35:8→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Judges 4:4

   Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

   ›Commentary on Judges 4:42 voices

   “Because these nations have come as enemies against your people, let us hear what judgment the psalmist calls down upon them. "Deal with them as with Midian; as with Sisera." You have read the book of Judges; this is that Midian whom Gideon defeated. "As with Sisera and Jabin." Jabin and Sisera are the foes whom Deborah and Barak conquered. "At the torrent Kishon, who perished at Endor." Deborah and Barak destroyed Sisera, the general of the army. So much for what Scripture says; learn now what it means.

   “Deborah, a prophetess - One on whom the Spirit of God descended, and who was the instrument of conveying to the Israelites the knowledge of the Divine will, in things sacred and civil. She judged Israel - This is, I believe, the first instance of gynaecocrasy, or female government, on record. Deborah seems to have been supreme both in civil and religious affairs; and Lapidoth, her husband, appears to have had no hand in the government. But the original may as well be translated a woman of Lapidoth, as the wife of Lapidoth.

   Everything gathered on Judges 4:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Judges 4:5

   And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.

   ›Commentary on Judges 4:52 voices

   “Because these nations have come as enemies against your people, let us hear what judgment the psalmist calls down upon them. "Deal with them as with Midian; as with Sisera." You have read the book of Judges; this is that Midian whom Gideon defeated. "As with Sisera and Jabin." Jabin and Sisera are the foes whom Deborah and Barak conquered. "At the torrent Kishon, who perished at Endor." Deborah and Barak destroyed Sisera, the general of the army. So much for what Scripture says; learn now what it means.

   “She dwelt - Rather, “she sat,” namely, to judge the people Jdg 4:10, but not in the usual place, “the gate” Rth 4:1-2; Pro 22:22. It suited her character, and the wild unsafe times better, that she should sit under a palm-tree in the secure heights of Mount Ephraim, between Ramah and Bethel (Jdg 20:33 note). This verse shows that the Judges exercised the civil as well as military functions of rulers 1Sa 7:15-17.

   Everything gathered on Judges 4:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Judges 4:6–16

   She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.

   ›Commentary on Judges 4:6–162 voices

   “Because these nations have come as enemies against your people, let us hear what judgment the psalmist calls down upon them. "Deal with them as with Midian; as with Sisera." You have read the book of Judges; this is that Midian whom Gideon defeated. "As with Sisera and Jabin." Jabin and Sisera are the foes whom Deborah and Barak conquered. "At the torrent Kishon, who perished at Endor." Deborah and Barak destroyed Sisera, the general of the army. So much for what Scripture says; learn now what it means.

   “Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded?--a Hebrew form of making an emphatic communication. Go and draw toward mount Tabor--an isolated mountain of Galilee, northeast corner of the plain of Esdraelon. It was a convenient place of rendezvous, and the enlistment is not to be considered as limited to ten thousand, though a smaller force would have been inadequate.

   Everything gathered on Judges 4:6–16→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Judges 5:1

   On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

   ›Commentary on Judges 5:12 voices

   “Then sang Deborah and Barak . . . on that day--This noble triumphal ode was evidently the composition of Deborah herself. The meaning is obscurely seen in our version; it has been better rendered thus, "Praise ye Jehovah; for the free are freed in Israel--the people have willingly offered themselves" [ROBINSON].

   “Deborah, as “a prophetess,” both composed and sang this noble ode, which, for poetic spirit and lyric fire, is not surpassed by any of the sacred songs in the Bible. And, as Miriam took up the first verse of the song of Moses Exo 15:21, and sang it as an antiphony, so Barak, with the chorus of men, answered the song of Deborah by singing Jdg 5:2, which is also exactly suited for an antiphon, summing up as it does the subject matter of the whole ode. Compare David’s example 2Sa 6:15.

   Everything gathered on Judges 5:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Judges 5:7

   Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.

   ›Commentary on Judges 5:72 voices

   “Ceased - The people forsook all their unfortified towns, not being able to protect them from military insolence. A mother - That is, to be to them as a mother, to instruct, and rule, and protect them, which duties a mother owes to her children.

   “Render the word “villages” (here and in Jdg 5:11) judgment, rule, or judges, rulers. The sense is “The princes (or magistrates) ceased in Israel,” i. e. there was no one to do justice in the gate, or defend men from their oppressors.

   Everything gathered on Judges 5:7→

   Verse page →Original language →