Deborah the Prophetess

In eastern countries, back then women were usually looked down upon and weren’t respected. In jewish families women have so many responsibilities that the men cannot disrespect them or a lot wont get done. Women are responsible for a kosher kitchen, lighting shabbat candles, and bringing up the children in the home, In this story we see the potential and power woman can really have and the changes they can, make in society because of the opportunities given to them.

Deborah lived more than three thousand years ago, about the year 2650 after Creation, known as the period of the Judges, and she was in fact the judge in her time. Since the jews have not yet been united under one king they were ruled and guided by temporary judges. At this time the Jews were under the rule of the King Jabin of Hazer. For the past 20 years they were brutally oppressed and by general Sisera.

After Ehud’s death, previous judge, they worshiped idols and forsook the ways of the Torah. G-d delivered them into the hands of the the King of Canaan as a punishment for their sins. The earliest definite reference to the Canaanites is a Sumerian text in Syria from the 18th century BCE which mentions Canaan. The general Sisera was cruel to the Jews and made them suffer.The Jews were oppressed for 20 years and cried unto G-d in despair. Like other stories the jews sinned, the Lord punished them and then a judge is appointed to help them fight to get out of the misery.

Deborah sat under a palm tree while she gave the jews empowering words of wisdom and hope. She was a part of the few that stayed honourable to G-d. Unlike her neighbors she never turned to idol worship and stayed G-d fearing through these hard times. G-d appointed her to be the one to save the jews from the Canaanites and bring them to victory, so she told Barak, son of Abinoam, to go fight against the Sisera and his army. Barak being the righteous man said he would go but only if she would come along with him to have the spirit and presence of G-d by the side of the Jews.

Sisera learned about these battles that the Jewish soldiers were planning and quickly rounded up his best troops and he was confident that he had what it takes to lead the Canaanites to victory. With fear of the Jewish army the Canaanites troops started fleeing and vanishing into separate directions despite the fact that they were winning. with the inability to regain control of his soldiers, Sisera went to hide in a friends home until this would all die down. His friend Heber, descendant of Jethro, was aware and okay with his actions but his wife Jael was not.

When Sisera was asleep in his sleeping area Jael came over and proving her anger and disagreement with Sisera’s decisions she drove a nail through his temple. As Barak approaches Heber’s home looking for Sisera, Jael pulls him aside to tell him where he is. When Barak sees what Jael has done he thanks her.

Now that the jews were victorious and free and Deborah accomplished what G-d assigned her to do she wrote a poem. This poem is still sung to this day and is considered second to the song of Moses. This represents the respect and power of Deborah and the strength a women can have when given an opportunity.

There are many similarities between Deborah the prophetess and Samson the prophet but there are also many differences. For example, Samson liked to work alone and believed a team wasn’t necessary but Deborah relied on group of supporters and fighters to help her finish her tasks. This might be the reason Samson was never really victorious with his several battles and Deborah was. Deborah was described as smart and faithful, while Samson as described as strong and smart. Samson was a Nasir from birth and always had the presence of G-d by his side, while Deborah only has records from this story so we don’t know when she specifically received the presence of G-d, whether it was birth of particularly for this event. As I said Deborah was ore of a people person and not only did she rely on the people but the people relied on her for faithful and hopeful remarks to keep them going on when Samson wasn’t really known for that.