101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

Myths of the Heroes 261
parent. In 2 Samuel 20, Joab set out to kill an enemy of David’s named Sheba, who had
taken refuge in a city named Abel. As Joab laid siege to the city, a wise woman came to
the wall and called out to him, “I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in
Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up
the inheritance of the LORD?” Here, the reference to a mother in Israel refers to the
city itself rather than the woman. After all, there were many mothers in the city. If the
phrase meant only that an Israelite mother would be killed in an attack, it would more
likely say that he would destroy mothers in Israel. The context indicates that the
“mother in Israel” was the city itself, one of the places that nurtured the Hebrew people.
Similarly, Deborah as a “mother in Israel” is depicted not as the mother of a child
but as a nurturer of Israel. That Deborah is an allegorical mother in Israel can be seen
from the Song of Deborah itself, which portrays the coming battle as one of cosmic
proportions.
LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of
Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the
LORD God of Israel. ( Judg. 5:4–5)
The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah
arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods; then was war in the
gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? ( Judg.
5:7–8)
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river
of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou
hast trodden down strength. ( Judg. 5:20–21)
So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun
when he goeth forth in his might. ( Judg. 5:31)
Earth trembled, the sky fell, mountains melted, new gods appeared, the stars
fought, rivers overflowed, the sun acted as a mighty warrior—these descriptions
bespeak a cosmic battle of gods. Right after Deborah is called“a mother in Israel,” we
are told that the enemy chose new gods and that war was in the gates. Compare the
themes in the biblical poem with the Egyptian hymn to Neith.