Deborah
(a bee). (B.C. 1857.)
The nurse of Rebekah. (Genesis 35:8) Deborah accompanied Rebekah from the house of Bethuel, (Genesis 24:59) and is only mentioned by name on the occasion of her burial under the oak tree of Bethel, which was called in her honor Allon-bachuth. A prophetess who judged Israel. Judges 4,5. (B.C, 1316.) She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, (Judges 4:5) which, as palm trees were rare in Palestine, “is mentioned as a well-known and solitary landmark.
” She was probably a woman of Ephraim. Lapidoth was probably her husband, and not Barak as some say. She was not so much a judge as one gifted with prophetic command (Judges 4:6,14; 5:7) and by virtue of her inspiration “a mother in Israel.” The tyranny of Jabin, a Canaanitish king, was peculiarly felt in the northern tribes, who were near his capital and under her jurisdiction. Under her direction Barak encamped on the broad summit of Tabor.
Deborah’s prophecy was fulfilled, (Judges 4:9) and the enemy’s general perished among the “oaks of the wanderers” (Zaanaim), in the tent of the Bedouin Kenite’s wife, (Judges 4:21) in the northern mountains. Deborah’s title of “prophetess” includes the notion of inspired poetry, as in (Exodus 15:20) and in this sense the glorious triumphal ode, Judges 5, well vindicates her claim to the office.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Deborah
Deborah deb'-o-ra (debhorah, signifying "bee"): ⇒See a list of verses on DEBORAH in the Bible. (1) Rebekah's nurse, who died near Bethel and was buried under "the oak of weeping" (Ge 35:8 margin). (2) A prophetess, fourth in the order of the "judges." In aftertime a palm tree, known as the "palm tree of Deborah," was shown between Ramah and Bethel, beneath which the prophetess was wont to administer justice. Like the rest of the "judges" she became a leader of her people in times of national distress. This time the oppressor was Jabin, king of Hazor, whose general was Sisera. Deborah summoned Barak of Kedesh-naphtali and delivered to him the Divine message to meet Sisera in battle by the brook Kishon. Barak induced Deborah to accompany him; they were joined by 10,000 men of Zebulun and Naphtali. The battle took place by the brook Kishon, and Sisera's army was thoroughly routed. While Barak pursued the fleeing army, Sisera escaped and sought refuge with Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, near Kedesh. The brave woman, the prototype of Judith, put the Canaanite general to sleep by offer…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Deborah
1. The nurse of Rebekah, died on Jacob's return to Can., and was buried under the terebinth (' Allon-bacuth ') below Bethel (Gn SS* E). 2. The heroine of the great battle by the Kishon in which Sisera and his allies were defeated (Jg 4 and 5). After a period of oppression and insecurity, which had lasted since the days of Shamgar (Jg5'), and had fallen heavily upon tne tribes bordering on the plain of Jezreel, D., a woman of martial and determined spirit, together with Barak, resolved to free their people from the aggressions of the Canaanites. Issachar, their tribe (Jg 5"), had been the principal suH'erer, but could not cope with the enemy unaided. Accordingly, the summons was sent round to all * A full discussion of the meaning of the name Is ^ven by Moore (Jvdget, p. ii ff.X who formerly connected TEO in TDD p with Aramaic T?p 'border, frontier.' Kiriatb-sepber would on this etjTnolo^ be ' Frontier-town,' a suitable enough meaninpr. But for phonetic diflicuUies that st*nd in the way Moore has sow abandoned this derivation. the tribes,* claiming their assistance in the cause of J"…
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Deborah
1. Rebekah's nurse (Gen 24:59), faithful as a servant from Rebekah's childhood, and so, when dead at an advanced age, lamented as much as one of the family. Her burial place at the oak beneath Bethel was hence called Allon-Bachuth," the oak of weeping" (Gen 35:8). She was in Jacob's household now, as she had been in his mother's, who was by this time dead, as appears from Gen 35:27. 2. The prophetess and judge ("a bee"), a personal or possibly an official name applied to poets, seers, and priestesses. The symbol of a monarch in Egypt; a honey bee to her friends, a stinging bee to the enemy (Cornelius a Lapide). "Lived under the palm tree"; a landmark, as palms were rare in Palestine (Jdg 4:5); possibly meaning Baal Tamar, "the sanctuary of the palm" (Jdg 20:33). Wife of Lapidoth; "a mother in Israel," a patriotic and inspired heroine like Miriam. Jabin oppressed the northern tribes adjacent to Hazor his capital (Zebuhn, Naphtali, and Issachar, which she judged). Barak, at her call, summoned these (to whom the central tribes, Ephraim, Manasseh (Machir), and Benjamin in part sent conti…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia