nine hundred chariots of iron; 4 T And Deborah, a prophetand twenty years he mightily ess, the wife of Lapidoth, she oppressed the children of Israel. judged Israel at that time. f ch. 1. 19. g ch. 5. 8. Ps. 106. 42. sex then living to judge the people; that is, by acting as God's mouth to them, correcting abuses, redressing grievances, and determining causes, especially in matters pertaining to the law and the worship of God. She was resorted to by the people of Is Had so many at his service and under his control. It is probable that part of them belonged to the neighboring powers (ch. 5. 19,) who were confederate with him on this occasion, but altogether they made out the vast number here mentioned. 'God provides, on purpose, mighty adversa-rael, from different parts, for judgries for his church, that their humilia- ment or counsel relative to subjects tion may be greater in sustaining, of general interest to the nation, or and his glory may be greater in de- that part of it where she resided, and liverance. Bp. Hall.- - Twenty discharged her duty by expounding years. A longer period of oppression the Scriptures, and animating the than either of the former, because magistrates in their several districts God proportions the judgments of his to put the laws in execution. 'I do sinning people to the aggravation of not find any prophet in Israel during their offences. their sin; but so soon as I hear news 4. And Deborah a prophetess. Heb. of their repentance, mention is made * Deborah ishâh of a prophetess, and judge of Israel. nebiah, Deborah a woman a pro- There is no better sign of God's rephetess. The words 'prophet,' and conciliation than the sending of his 'prophetess,' are of a very extensive holy messengers to any people; he is and somewhat ambiguous significa- not utterly fallen out with those whom tion in the Old Testament, being he blesses with prophecy.' Bp. Hall. sometimes applied to persons extra- Under every dispensation the Most ordinarily endowed of God with the High exercises his prerogative as a power of foretelling future events or sovereign in the bestowment of spiritof working miracles, or of chanting ual gifts, and though women, under or singing forth the praises of God the Christian economy, are precluded under supernatural influence; and from the function of public teachers,___ sometimes to those who were re- yet nothing hinders them from makmarkably instructed in divine know-ing the most eminent attainments in ledge by the immediate inspiration divine knowledge, and becoming of the Spirit of God, and therefore able in a private capacity to render appointed to act as interpreters of the most signal services to the minhis will. As to Deborah, she proba-istry and the cause of Christ. The bly belonged to the latter class, and was perhaps only a woman of eminent holiness, prudence, and knowledge of divine things, by which she was qualified above any of the other import of the name Deborah is ‘a bee;' an equivalent to which we find in the classic name Melissa, signifying also a bee. Females possessed of her spirit in respect to the assiduous 5 And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount h Gen. 35. 8. Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. and oppressors of their country. But so far as the work of judging the people depended upon counselling and directing them in difficult cases, and expounding the will of God un study of the Scriptures, will find themselves, like David, feeding upon that which is sweeter to their taste than honey or the honey-comb, and in the benevolent employments to which it will prompt them, will ❘ der the influence of the spirit of proevince the busy and untiring diligence of their insect exemplar.— phecy, this, though a woman, she The wife of Lapidoth. The termination of the word is the Heb. feminine plural, which very seldom occurs in the names of men. Some therefore render it 'woman of Lapidoth,' as if it were the name of a place. Others, as Lapidoth taken appellatively signifies lamps, would read it a woman of lamps,' i. e. one who made wicks for the lamps of the tabernacle. Others again, with more show of probability, would translate it a woman of illuminations or splendors,' by which they would understand a woman supernaturally enlightened, endowed with :xtraordinary wisdom, and who had hus become very eminent and illus-7. 6, 8. rious. After all, the present renderng, wife of Lapidoth,' is the most robable. Thus 2 Kings 22. 14, Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum.' And for examples of feminine terminations in the names of men, see 'Shelomith,' 1 Chron. 3. 9; 'Meramoth,' Ezra 8. 33; and Mikloth,' 1 Chron. 27. 4.-¶Judgd Israel. That is, in the manner above described. It can hardly be supposed that she performed all the duties usually involved in the office of a judge of Israel, of which one of the principal was leading the tribes in person to war against the enemies 5. She dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah. That is, perhaps, collect. a palm-grove, a pleasant and shady recess, amidst a thick plantation of palm-trees; which from this circumstance went ever after by the name of Deborah's palm-grove. Whether this is designed to intimate that her ordinary settled habitation was selected in this place, or that her judg ment-seat was fixed here in the open air for hearing the applications that were made to her, it is not easy to determine. yoshcbeth, was either sense. יושבת) The original sitting,) will admit of From the phrase 'sit 6 And she sent and called unto him, Hath not the LORD i Burak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said i Heb. 11. 32. k Josh. 19. 37. God of Israel commanded, say- evidently is incorrect, as the verb in ting in judgment,' Ps. 9. 8, it would appear, that the latter is the more genuine import of the words.¶ Between Ramath and Bethel in mount Ephraim. Consequently very near the confines of the tribes of Ben-proximation to the sense of the Hejamin and Ephraim, in one of which brew must be attempted, and here as lay Ramah, and in the other Bethel, in other cases of doubtful interpretathe former about six miles north of tion, the prevailing usage (usus loJerusalem, the latter about twelve. quendi) of the sacred writers in re6. Kedesh-naphtali. So called to gard to the word in question, must distinguish it from two other cities afford the clew to our inquiries. of the same name, the one in Issa- That its primary import is to draw, char, the other in Judah. This to draw out, and thence, in some place was situated on an eminence, cases, to prolong, to protract, as about eight miles north-west from the the sound of a trumpet in blowing, head of the sea of Galilee. To Kedesh is universally conceded. Indeed, she sent for Barak, in virtue of the Le Clerc, Schmid, and others, on the authority with which she was invest- ground of its being applied to the ed as prophetess, and which seems to long-drawn sound of a trumpet, Ex. have been generally acknowledged 17. 13; Josh. 6. 5, propose to supply by her people. 'He could do nothing the original word for trumpet and to without her head, nor she without take it as a command to Barak to go his hands; both together made a com- and blow the trumpet on mount Tabor, plete deliverer and effected a com- as a signal for the gathering of the plete deliverance. The greatest and tribes, as Ehud did upon mount best are not self-sufficient, but need Ephraim. Gesenius and Winer in one another.' Henry. Hath not their lexicons, understand it of draw. the Lord God of Israel commanded, ing out, or asunder, a military force, &c. The usual form of a strong i. e. intrans. extending, expanding, affirmation. It does not appear, how-spreading themselves out. A preferever, that Barak had received any able sense we think to be that of command whatever previous to this time.--¶Go and draw toward mount Tabor. The true sense of the term 'draw,' in this connexion, is a point much debated by commentators. According to the rendering in our common translation, it would naturally be taken as a command to approach toward mount Tabor; but this drawing, drafting, or enlisting, not perhaps by compulsion, but by argument and persuasion; not so much to raise an army of conscripts, as a band of volunteers; as will be easily inferred from the tenor of Deborah's song in the ensuing chapter, which is in part a reproof to several of the tribes for not offering themselves wil thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun; lingly on this perilous emergency. When arrived at the summit, the How much support this rendering traveller is astonished to find an oval receives from parallel usage will be of half a mile in extent, commanding seen from the following citations. the finest view any where to be obCant. 1. 4, Draw me, we will run tained in the whole compass of Palafter thee;' i. e. secretly but power-estine. On this plain at the east end fully constrain me. Jer. 31. 3, I is a mass of ruins, apparently the rehave loved thee with an everlasting mains of churches, towers, strong love; therefore with loving kindness walls, and fortifications, all bearing have I drawn thee.' Hos. 11. 4, I the traces of having been erected in drew them with cords of a man, with a very remote antiquity. Several bands of love ;' i. e. by the power of grottos and cisterns are also pointed moral suasion; by arguments and out. 'From its top,' says Maundmotives suited to their rational na-rell, 'you have a prospect which, if tures. In like manner, we suppose Barak was ordered to go and use h's utmost endeavors to stir up the 1.inds of his countrymen, and as a popular advocate of any cause draws partisans after him, so he was to prevail upon as many as possible to engage with him in the proposed enterprise. See on ch. 5. 14.-¶Mount Tabor. An isolated mountain which rises on the north-eastern side of the great plain of Esdraelon in Galilee, and situated about six miles southeast of Nazareth. It is described as having the appearance of a cone with the point cut off; but travellers vary in their estimate of its height, which is probably about 2,500 or 3,000 feet. It is remarkable for standing alone, though there are several eminences in the neighborhood, all which it completely overtops. It is very fertile and is entirely covered with green oaks and other trees, shrubs, and odoriferous plants. Roads and paths are made on the south side of the mountain, which lead to its top by winding ascents, and are sufficiently easy to admit of riding to the top. nothing else, will reward the labor of ascending it. It is impossible for man's eyes to have a higher gratification of this nature. On the northwest, you discern, at a distance, the Mediterranean, and all round you have the spacious and beautiful plains of Esdraelon and Galilee. Turning a little southward you have in view the high mountains of Gilboa, fatal to Saul and his sons. Due east you discern the sea of Tiberias, distant about one day's journey.' The mountain is now called Djebel Tour. Ten thousand men. Ten thousand more or less. Not that he was to be tied to this precise number, nor exclusively to these two tribes; for it is plain from ch. 5. 14-23, that several other tribes, as Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh, and Issachar, volunteered recruits on the occasion, while those that withheld them are reproved, and Meroz cursed for taking the stand of neutrality; but the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali are more especially mentioned, because they had probably been the principal sufferers under the oppressive rule of Jabin, and were nearer at hand to the scene of the approaching conflict than any of the rest. In addition to this, Barak himself was of the tribe of Naphtali, and the esteem in which he was doubtless held, would naturally bring numbers of them to his standard. and I will deliver him into thine hand? 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will but if thou wilt not go go: with me, then I will not go. he would otherwise have done. In like manner, Moses' lack of faith, when ordered to go upon a mission to Pharaoh, led God to divide the honor of that embassy with Aaron, which would otherwise have redounded to Moses alone, Ex. 4. 14. Still it is evident from the apostle's com7. And I will draw unto thee. The mendation, Heb. 11. 32, that Barak same word as that employed in the possessed true though weak faith, preceding verse, and having a kin- and that it was from a profound condred import. God would draw the viction of the spirit of God's dwellhosts of Sisera to the river Kishon,' ing and speaking in Deborah, that by so ordering the events of his pro- he so earnestly desired her presence. vidence as to afford motives to them Could he but enjoy this, he would to concentrate in all their force at feel that he possessed a pledge and that point. They were not to be earnest of the divine blessing, and drawn together by physical, but by this was showing a respect to God's moral influence. Their counsels prophets, which implied a genuine were to be so overruled by a secret faith, and was no doubt highly acdivine direction, that they should ceptable as far as it went. result in their being brought together though it would naturally be a source at that place, as sheep for the slaugh- of great satisfaction and encourageter, and yet their utmost freedom of ment to him, to have the prophetess will left undisturbed. 'When God with him to animate his soldiers, and will destroy his enemies, their re- to be consulted as an oracle upon all sistance is in vain; and their gather- occasions, yet it is plain that he ought ing to battle is only rushing into the to have gone directly forward withsnare.' Haweis.- ———¶ The river Ki-out her, relying on the God of Deboshon. See on ch. 5. 21. But rah, who had expressly and unconditionally promised him the victory, v. 7. How rare, alas! is simple, 8. If thou wilt go with me, &c. By making his obedience conditional when the command was absolute, Ba-child-like confidence in God! How rak showed that his faith was marred by infirmity, and this conviction is confirmed by Deborah's answer, in which she intimates to him that he shall not receive the same honor or distinction from the enterprise, that difficult is it for men, and the best of men, to break away from undue dependance on an arm of flesh, even when assured by the most express declaration of God, that he will uphold and deliver them, and be to |