Deborah

Deborah 

from Praying with the Women of the Bible

by Bridget Mary Meehan

I n the Hebrew scriptures Deborah is portrayed as judge,

prophet, warrior, and leader of Israel. She sits under a palm tree in the hill country of

Ephraim. There the Israelites come to her to settle disputes and pronounce judgments (Jgs

4:5). The prophet and judge was well known for her wisdom and discernment. The Song of Deborah, one of the oldest texts of the Bible, describes Deborah as a national leader. “For Deborah arose, a leader arose as mother in Israel. Sing of women warriors, of Deborah and Jael.”1

When warrior Deborah issues a call to battle against Canaanite oppression, Barak, the military leader of Israel,

refuses to obey unless the woman prophet accompanies

him. “Go,” spoke courageous Deborah to the weak Barak, “the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you.” Barak responded, “If you go with me, I will go but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” Deborah speaks confidently to Barak: “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Jgs 4:6,8–9). This passage refers to Jael, the woman who killed the Canaanite commander. “But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took

a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove

the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died” (Jgs 4:21).

Deborah combined the juridical, military, and political aspects of leadership. She is a judge, a prophet, a poet, and a mother in Israel. Scholar Mieke Bal writes:



The function of the judge in the book is an integrative leadership function on a local basis, which includes judicial, military, and political leadership. In combination with prophecy, which confers religious leadership as well, the function of Deborah is extremely powerful. In sharp contrast to Sisera’s waiting and confined mother, she is the instigator and head of the battle. She is the only judge who is also a prophetess and the combination is strikingly powerful.2



Some liberation theologians see Deborah’s story as a breakthrough from traditional submissiveness to a more activist stance. Julia Esquivel comments on Deborah’s and Jael’s assertive stance in the face of oppression:



The tradition of the strength of the male is broken. The captain of the armies of Israel asks a woman to accompany him into battle. And she who destroys the strong man of the enemy is a female fighter—Jael. She breaks a pact in order to defend the life of her people, its history and its future.3







For some feminists, Deborah is a model of female empowerment. For others Deborah’s association with military activity is a problem. Jewish feminist Lillian Sigal expresses her concern with warrior Deborah:



Her hymn to Yahweh gloats over Jael’s tricking Sisera into believing she will help him and over Jael’s assination of Sisera by driving a tent pet into his temple while asleep.… As we probe out holy texts for women to admire or emulate, we must be careful not to exalt the behavior of personalities who exemplify the values of patriarchy that treat the enemy as an “it” rather than a “thou.”4



Gale Yee, a biblical scholar, believes that Deborah the woman warrior causes such mixed responses because: “It is precisely the liminality of the woman warrior, her anomalous position neither inclusively male nor totally female, that permits the metaphor to support, denounce, modify, or otherwise express various facets of gender meanings and relationships.” Yee concludes that though the social organization of Israel would not have ruled out military leadership for women, it would not have been the norm. 5

Yet, women were on both sides of the Israel-Canaan conflict. Deborah and Jael were on one side. Sisera’s mother and her friends were on the other side. Writer William E. Phipps believes that at that time the worst humiliation for a man was to be killed by a woman. He notes: “The distress of the Canaanites is greater because their general is slain not only on the battlefield, but in a woman’s bedroom.”6

Even though Deborah is a judge, a strategist, a poet, a military and political leader in Israel, she is not referred to outside the Book of Judges. The bias of patriarchy ignores the contributions of women of God. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, expresses her outrage at how little things changed in religion in nineteenth- century America:



We never hear sermons pointing women to the heroic virtues of Deborah as worthy of their imitation. Nothing is said in the pulpit to rouse them from the apathy of ages, to inspire them to do and dare great things, to intellectual and spiritual achievements, in real communion with the Great Spirit of the Universe. Oh no! The lessons dole out to women, from the canon law, the Bible, the prayer-books and the catechisms, are meekness and self-abnegation; even with covered heads (a badge of servitude) to do some humble service for man.7



Traditional Jewish Midrash does not provide a comprehensive commentary on Deborah. However, what is present implies that Deborah’s story raises some controversial ideas for the rabbis:



Deborah says Midrash made mistakes. Instead of going to Barak, her husband, she made him come to her, a sign of disrespect. The midrashists conclude that “eminence is not for women” (Megillah 146). They attribute to God the defense of their own marital vulnerability, adding wishfully that Deborah was punished by loss of prophetic power while she composed the song that speaks too much of herself.8





How do we react to Deborah? Do we see her as a heroic leader, a model of courage who, after twenty years of Canaanite oppression, led her people to victory and liberated them from injustice and evil? Do we see her as the wise judge and prophet who reflects the feminine face of God in a patriarchal society? Do we agree with Denise Carmody’s assessment of her that “[a]t the least, this account reminds us that the laws constraining biblical women were never the sole determiners of their lives. When they had religious gifts or charismatic powers, women could muster considerable influence….”9

Or are we embarrassed by the justification of violence in Deborah’s story? Do “women warriors” make us nervous? Can women ever exercise power aggressively? Are there some things, such as the liberation of the oppressed from injustice, worth fighting for? Or should women model a value system that stands for nonviolent resistance in the face of oppression? Perhaps, if we contemplate assertive Deborah deeply enough, we may discover new insights into her courage that will give us answers to these dilemmas. Like Deborah, women can become models of female empowerment who will energize and inspirit those who are held down and have little hope. The question all of us need to ask is how can we become the prophetic women and men that our world needs to lead the way to the fullness of justice, where all are one in the realm of God? If we want a companion to accompany us on this journey, Deborah will once again lead the way.







Reflection



“Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for [Sisera] had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years.

“At that time Deborah, a prophetess, and wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came to her for judgment. She summoned Barak…and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, I will go but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’ And she said, ‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman’” (Jgs

4:3–9).







Discussion Starters



1. What impact did Deborah as judge, prophet, and warrior have on her society? What impact does assertive, warrior, prophet, judge, Deborah have on you?

2. How have women’s roles changed in our society?

3. What models of female empowerment do we have today?

4. How can we be prophetic in our world and in our Church today?




Prayer Experience



1. Use some classical or instrumental music to help you relax. Close your eyes and take some deep breaths. Be aware of Shekinah, God’s powerful feminine presence, dwelling among us.

2. Use a prayer phrase or a mantra to center yourself in Shekinah’s strength within you.

3. Become aware of any experience of oppression that you perceive in your life…Church…

world. Be conscious of any feelings, thoughts, sensations, images that emerge.

4. Imagine yourself doing battle with this oppression…. Invite others to join you in your struggle…. Be conscious of choices, discernments, and judgments that need to be made. Open yourself to Shekinah’s presence empowering you to do what needs to be done so that justice will prevail.

5. Dialogue with Deborah—prophet, judge, warrior, leader. Invite her to accompany you in your battle. Share with her your thoughts, feelings, insights, images. Listen to Deborah’s counsel as she shares with you some new insights and deep understanding into the oppression and injustices you face. Invite other mentors and companions to join you in this struggle.

6. Ask Shekinah to reveal to you ways you are being called to be prophet, judge, warrior, and/or leader in this situation now. Name, affirm, and celebrate your call in some festive way such as lighting a candle as a symbol of your call, or writing it down on a piece of paper and placing in a special bowl or container. Members of a group could place individual symbols in a container, around a centerpiece or candle. If you are a woman, decide on a specific way you can express your sense of female empowerment in your life and, if appropriate, share with others in your faith community. If you are a man, decide on a specific way you can support female empowerment and, if appropriate, share with women in your faith community.

7. Give thanks for the contemporary “Deborahs” who give courageous witness to God’s liberating presence in our world as presidents, governors, legislators, judges, bishops, pastors, preachers, parents, relatives, teachers, journalists, scholars, theologians, coaches, counselors, health professionals, etc. Take a few minutes to say each of their names in a litany-like prayer of gratitude. For example: I praise you Shekinah, for (name person) because



(name reason). If you want, affirm one or more of the prophetic women you know in some concrete way such as in a thank-you note, a phone call, a surprise visit, a small gift, a hug, and so on.