Changes

== Life and family ==

== Life and family ==

Her full name is "Deborah, wife of Lappidoth." (Hebrew '''לַפִּידֹ֑ות''') ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=4|verses=4}}) That could mean the wife of a man named Lappidoth or simply "the woman of the lamps," because ''Lappidoth'' is the plural of '''לַפִּידֹ֑''' ''lappid'' a lamp, torch, or flame. Some Rabbinical commentators identify this Lappidoth with [[Barak]] (Hebrew '''בָרָ֣ק''', a flash of lightning) and suggest that Barak/Lappidoth was a furnisher of lamps for the [[Tabernacle]].<ref name=Hirsch>Hirsch EG, Levi GB, Schechter S, and Kohler K, "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=187&letter=D Deborah]," ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref> However, Deborah seems to have been an [[Ephraim (tribe)|Ephraimite]], while Barak was clearly a [[Naphtali (tribe)|Naphthalite]]. ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=4|verses=6}}).

Her full name is "Deborah, wife of Lappidoth." (Hebrew '''לַפִּידֹ֑ות''') ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=4|verses=4}}) That could mean the wife of a man named Lappidoth or simply "the woman of the lamps," because ''Lappidoth'' is the plural of '''לַפִּידֹ֑''' ''lappid'' a lamp, torch, or flame. Some Rabbinical commentators identify this Lappidoth with [[Barak]] (Hebrew '''בָרָ֣ק''', a flash of lightning) and suggest that Barak/Lappidoth was a furnisher of lamps for the [[Tabernacle]].<ref name=Hirsch>Hirsch EG, Levi GB, Schechter S, and Kohler K, "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=187&letter=D Deborah]," ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'', n.d. Accessed December 15, 2008.</ref> However, Deborah seems to have been an [[Ephraim (tribe)|Ephraimite]], while Barak was clearly a [[Naphtali (tribe)|Naphtalite]]. ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=4|verses=6}}).

== Background ==

== Background ==

This sad situation continued for twenty years, and then Deborah began her career as a judge. She was a [[prophet]]ess, and that meant that [[God]] often gave her some knowledge of future events. But the real meaning of the term ''prophet'' is one who testifies in God's Name, and Deborah was accustomed to doing this. She would also hold court under the "palm tree of Deborah" (a possible reference to an earlier Deborah who was nurse to [[Rebekah]]) and there administer justice.

This sad situation continued for twenty years, and then Deborah began her career as a judge. She was a [[prophet]]ess, and that meant that [[God]] often gave her some knowledge of future events. But the real meaning of the term ''prophet'' is one who testifies in God's Name, and Deborah was accustomed to doing this. She would also hold court under the "palm tree of Deborah" (a possible reference to an earlier Deborah who was nurse to [[Rebekah]]) and there administer justice.

One day she received a clear vision from [[God]] of a way to draw King Jabin and his military commander, [[Sisera]], into a battle that he would lose. So she summoned [[Barak]], a Naphthalite, and gave him the order from God: to recruit a force of ten thousand men, part Naphtalite and part [[Zebulun (tribe)|Zebulunite]], and take station on [[Mount Tabor]]. Sisera would attempt to draw Barak out to the Kishron River, and there Barak could defeat him.

One day she received a clear vision from [[God]] of a way to draw King Jabin and his military commander, [[Sisera]], into a battle that he would lose. So she summoned [[Barak]], a Naphtalite, and gave him the order from God: to recruit a force of ten thousand men, part Naphtalite and part [[Zebulun (tribe)|Zebulunite]], and take station on [[Mount Tabor]]. Sisera would attempt to draw Barak out to the Kishron River, and there Barak could defeat him.

Barak was capable but timid, and he told Deborah that he would go to Mount Tabor only if Deborah accompanied him. Deborah consented to this, but advised Barak that the victory would not redound entirely to his credit, because Sisera would fall to a woman. But in saying that, Deborah was not talking about herself, but about [[Jael]], wife of Heber the Kenite, with whom King Jabin had a peace treaty.

Barak was capable but timid, and he told Deborah that he would go to Mount Tabor only if Deborah accompanied him. Deborah consented to this, but advised Barak that the victory would not redound entirely to his credit, because Sisera would fall to a woman. But in saying that, Deborah was not talking about herself, but about [[Jael]], wife of Heber the Kenite, with whom King Jabin had a peace treaty.