DEBORAH, the name of two women mentioned in the Old Testament (Heb. for "bee"). (I) Foster-mother of Rebecca, buried under the "Oak of Weeping" below Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 8). It has been suggested that this tree is connected with the "palm tree of Deborah," between Bethel and Ramah (Judges iv. 5), the home of Deborah. (2) This latter is the famous prophetess and "judge," who, in company with Barak, son of Abinoam, delivered Israel from a Canaanite oppression.
Two narratives of this exploit have been preserved, an account in prose in Judges iv., and a descriptive poem in Judges v. They differ in one or two important details. The most obvious contrast is in the identity of the enemy overthrown. The prose narrative makes the enemy Jabin, king of Hazor, though a prominent part is played by his commander-in-chief, Sisera, who lived at Haro sheth-haggoyim. In the poem Jabin does not appear, and Sisera is an independent king. It is possible that the introduction of Jabin is due to the conflation of two traditions, one of which re ferred to Sisera, while the other was parallel to the story of the defeat of Jabin, king of Hazor, by Joshua (Josh. xi. 1-9) at the Waters of Merom. Another contradiction is to be found in the manner of Sisera's death. In Judges ch. iv. he is murdered in his sleep, in ch. v. he is struck down from behind whilst drinking a bowl of milk.
Assuming that the tradition preserved in ch. v. is the older, we can do something to reconstruct the actual history of the events. Israel holds the wilder parts of the country, the hills and the forests, but their settlements in the central range are cut off from those in the northern hills by a chain of Canaanite (Egyp tian?) fortresses down the plain of Esdraelon. For the time the plain dominates the hills; the Israelites are disarmed and their communications are cut. At the instigation of the prophetess Deborah, and possibly aided by her spells, Barak raises the clans of Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir (Manasseh), Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali. Asher, Dan, Gilead (Gad) and Reuben hold aloof. Judah and Simeon are not mentioned. The Israelite clans fall on the enemy at Taanach; a thunderstorm, in which Israel sees the coming of Yahweh, strikes terror into the Canaanites, their chari ots are useless on the sodden ground, and the Kishon swollen by torrential rains, sweeps away the fugitives. Sisera escapes on foot, pursued by Barak, but, taking refuge in the tent of Heber the Kenite, is treacherously slaughtered as he drinks.
The poem is one of the most important documents of ancient times. It is contemporary with the events to which it refers, and is therefore invaluable as a picture of the life of Israel in the early days of the settlement. Further, it is in itself a magnificent lyric outburst, and proves a very high standard of poetic skill in ancient Israel.