DEBORAH (dEb'o-rah), (Heb. ;7:7, deb-o-raw', a bee).
1. The nurse of Rebekah (Gen. xxxv :8), whom she accompanied from the house of Bethuel (xxiv 2. A prophetess, wife of Lapidoth. She dwelt, probably, in a tent, under a well-known palm-tree between Ramah and Bethel, where she judged Israel (Judg. iv :4, 5). This probably means that she was the organ of communication between God and his people, and probably, on account of the in fluence and authority of her character, was ac counted in some sort as the head of the nation, to whom questions of doubt and difficulty were re ferred for decision. In her triumphal song she says— 'In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the ways lay desert, And highway travelers went in winding by paths.
Leaders failed in Israel, they failed, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose, a mother in Israel.' From the further intimations which that song contains, and from other circumstances, the peo ple would appear to have sunk into a state of total discouragement under the oppression of the Canaanites; so that it was difficult to rouse them from their despondency and to induce them to make any exertion to burst the fetters of their bondage. From the gratitude which Deborah ex presses toward the people for the effort which they finally made, we are warranted in drawing the conclusion that she had long endeavored to instigate them to this step in vain. At length she summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh, a city of Naphtali, on a mountain not far from Hazor, and made known to him the will of God that he should undertake an enterprise for the deliverance of his country. But such was his dis heartened state of feeling, and at the same time such his confidence in the superior character and authority of Deborah, that he assented to go only on the condition that she would accompany him. To this she at length consented. They then re paired together to Kedesh, and collected there in the immediate vicinity of Hazor, the capital of the dominant power—ten thousand men, with whom they marched southward, and encamped on Mount Tabor. Sisera, the general of Jabin, king of Hazor, who was at the head of the Canaanitish confederacy, immediately collected an army, pur sued them, and encamped in face of them in the great plain of Esdraelon. Encouraged by De borah, Barak boldly descended from Tabor into the plain with his ten thousand men to give battle to the far superior host of Sisera, which was ren dered the more formidable to the Israelites by nine hundred chariots of iron. The Canaanites
were beaten; and Barak pursued them northward to Harosheth. Sisera himself, being hotly pur sued, alighted from his chariot and escaped on foot to the tent of Heber the Kenite, by whose site he was slain. This great victory (dated B. C. between i4o9 and which seems to have been followed up, broke the power of the native princes, and secured to the Israelites a re pose of forty years' duration. During part of this time Deborah probably continued to exercise her former authority; but nothing more of her history is kn9wn.
The song of triumph, which was composed in consequence of the great victory over Siscra, and said to have been 'sung by Deborah and Barak,' is usually regarded as the composition of De borah ; and was probably indited by her to be sung on the return of Barak and his warriors from the pursuit.
It is a peculiarly fine specimen of the earlier Hebrew poetry, and is one of the best of oriental poetry. We give a few verses from a revised version: Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir. When thou marchedest out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains flowed down at the presence of the Lord, Even that Sinai at the presence of the Lord the God of Israel.
The kings came, they fought ; Then fought the kings of Canaan In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; They took no gain of silver.
They fought from heaven; The stars from their courses fought against Siscra.
The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul, with strength.' (See BARAK ; JAEL.) Deborah was not so much a judge as one gifted with prophetic command ( Judg. iv:6, 14; v:71.
DEBT (at), (Heb. yasvd, hand).
"Whoso shall swear by the gold of the temple— by the gift on the altar—is a debtor" (Matt. xxiii :16) ; is bound by his oath; is obliged to fulfil his vow. "I am debtor to the Greeks and barbarians" (Rom. i:14) ; under obligations to persons of all nations and characters. Gal. y:3, he is a debtor—is bound—to do the whole law Men may be debtors to human justice, or to divine justice; bound to obedience, and if that be not complied with, bound to suffer the penalties an nexed to transgression.