Their practice was to seek guidance from God through prayer and meditation before making a ruling. These rulers were called mishpat-”judges,”-an office that traced back to a time when Moses appointed assistants to help him resolve disputes among the Hebrews ( Exodus 18). Judge Deborah was one of the rulers of the Israelites prior to the monarchy period that began with Saul (around 1047 BC). Deborah’s courage and wisdom in calling up an army to break Hazor’s control gave the Israelites 40 years of peace. This poem celebrates her victory over the Canaanites. This passage often called The Song of Deborah, is believed to date as early as the 12th century BC and is possibly the earliest example of Hebrew poetry. In Judges 5, we read judge Deborah’s story again, but this time in poetic form. More likely, “mother in Israel” is a title indicating that the nation looked to Deborah for leadership as the nation’s mother, similar to how the childless George Washington could be called “the father of our nation” of the United States. Yet we don’t know for certain if that means she was a mother to children. We know that Deborah was a “mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7). Some Biblical scholars have suggested that “lappidot” was not the name of Deborah’s husband or region, but rather the phrase “eshet lappidot” means quite literally “woman of torches”, a reference to Deborah’s fiery nature. Deciding to live single was not on a young woman’s list of options unless her husband had died and she had a big enough dowry to support herself. In Old Testament times, a woman could be only three things: a virgin, a married woman, or widowed. Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. The same word is used in Hebrew for “woman” and “wife,” so we don’t know for sure if Deborah was a “woman of Lappidoth” (a place) or “wife of Lappidoth” (a person) Many texts also believe that she was also a wife. (Now that’s some impressive company!)Īccording to the Book of Judges, Deborah was a prophetess and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. The only other person who was a combination of prophet and judge was Samuel. As a priestess, she did not offer sacrifices, as the men did, but she did lead worship services and preach. As a prophet, judge Deborah was said to hear God’s voice and share the Word with others.
Judge Deborah was only one of five women described as a prophet in the Old Testament (the others are: Miriam (Exodus. With an impressive resume as a judge, military strategist, poet, and prophet, she was also a singer and songwriter.
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