Deborah the Judge

Judges 4-5

  • Judges 4:4-6 At that time Deborah, a prophet, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.

  • Judges 5:1-2 Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day,“When locks are long in Israel, when the people offer themselves willingly—bless the Lord!

“In Tune” © Lauren Wright Pittman from lewpstudio.com

Biblical judges were charismatic figures who led the Israelites before the monarchical period. Typically, judges earned their title after victory in battle. When we meet Deborah in Scripture, she’s already a judge. How she came to be in the role of judge isn’t narrated for us. Deborah is the only woman judge, but presumably she earned the role the way her male counterparts did—through “personal charisma and military prowess” (“Deborah” by Jennifer L. Koosed). 

Deborah’s reputation as a military leader is evidenced in her relationship with Barak, who is so confident in her abilities that he insists she join him in battle against the Canaanites. She does, but tells him that the Canaanite leader Sisera “will be delivered into the hands of a woman.” (Ironically, that woman is not Deborah, but Jael.) Deborah’s foreknowledge about the battle points to a remarkable trait: Deborah is not only a judge, she’s a prophet (Judges 4:4). As a prophet, she communicated messages from God to God’s people. 

A woman, a judge, and a spokesperson for God. It’s no wonder Judges 5 sings her praise: “Because you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel...the land had rest for forty years.”

  • Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said of Deborah, “I didn’t know what judges did, but I wanted to be like her.”

  • Deborah’s time as judge is the high point of the Book of Judges. The book “begins with a woman as a judge, and after this woman’s reign as judge, her period of ruling, everything goes downward” (“Gender and the Book of Judges” by Jacob L. Wright). The devolution of Israelite society during the period of (male) judges leads to the establishment of the monarchy. 

  • Deborah is called “a mother in Israel,” but the Bible never mentions whether or not she has biological children. More likely, “mother in Israel” is an honorary title. 

  • Judges 5, known as the Song of Deborah, is one of the oldest passages in the Bible. 

  • Unlike the other biblical judges, Deborah is depicted actually adjudicating disputes (Judges 4:5). This makes her the only judge whose activity is comparable to modern-day judges. 

  • In our interview with scholar Julie Faith Parker, she called Deborah a “fiery woman” because Deborah is described as an “eshet lapidot” in Hebrew. Sometimes that’s translated as “wife of Lappidoth,” but the name “Lappidoth” appears nowhere else in Scripture. “Eshet lapidot” is better translated as “woman of torches” or “woman of flames.”