“Now D’vorah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, was judging Isra’el at that time. She used to sit under D’vorah’s Palm between Ramah and Beit-El, in the hills of Efrayim; and the people of Isra’el would come to her for judgment.“-Judges 4:4-5
An important reminder.
We’ve been studying about how Israel’s gentile enemy armies subjugated Israel with the most recent conquest being Sisera’s conquest of the tribes located in the north.
Let’s not forget that from a spiritual perspective, this is something the Lord permitted as punishment for Israel’s idolatry.
And per the usual pattern, the Lord had mercy on these northern tribes and raised up a judge to rescue them.
Enter Devorah, Israel’s first female judge.
The original Hebrew says ISHAH NEVIAH which interestingly translates to “a woman of prophesy”.
Okay, this is super rare.
In fact, there are only 2 other women in all of the Scriptures who this title is attached to.
They were Moses’ sister Miriam and some obscure lady called Huldah who makes an appearance in the books of the kings.
And these weren’t just superficial titles applied to these women.
They were real prophets of God possessing supernatural power and were respected by the leaders of Israel.
In Deborah’s case, so prominent was her influence that her husband (named Lappidoth) is mentioned once and then we’ll never hear from him again.
However, I do need to let you know there is a Jewish tradition that conjectures that Lappidoth and Barak are one and the same.
According to the Hebrew sages, Lappidoth and Barak are adjectives used to describe Barak.
Lappidoth means “torches” and Barak means “lightening”.
I don’t buy that and can’t really find much extra-biblical evidence supporting this.
So I’m going to assume that Lappidoth and Barak are two different dudes.
Onward.
So Devorah is another one of those judges who does NOT fit into a nice and neat box in terms of how a judge is defined and what characteristics they’re supposed to have.
Even though she’s called a judge, Scripture never refers to her as a “deliverer” or “savior” of Israel.
On the other hand, Barak is called a savior of Israel.
What’s also interesting is at the beginning of our study of Judges, I mentioned the Biblical definition of a judge is NOT someone who stood in a courtroom and handed down innocent or guilty rulings.
However, Devorah is one of those exceptions.
Take a look at verse 5.
“She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.”-Judges 4:5
Well, there you have it.
The people of Israel came to her from far and wide to have their disputes judged.
And indeed the Hebrew word for justice is being used here.
It is ha-mishpat, literally a ruling of the law of Moses.
So it would seem that Devorah had two roles.
She was a prophet who brought God’s messages to the people and also served as a judge in a court.
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