000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

Proper 28 [33]/Year A 115
Proper 27/Year A). Consequently, for twenty years they had lived under
the heel of the Canaanites, whose armies were commanded by Sisera with
his nine hundred chariots of iron. The mention of iron is significant, for
iron was a technological advance the Israelites did not have. The Israelites
repented and cried to God for help. God was faithful and responded
through Deborah—judge and prophet.
While women could rise to positions of leadership in Israel (e.g.,
Miriam), it is still surprising to find a woman in Deborah’s position of
prominence. Some scholars think that, as a way of maintaining male superiority,
male editors excised from Israel’s sacred literature memories of
women who functioned in authoritative positions. However, stories like
that of Deborah were so vibrant they could not be expunged.
Deborah received a message from God to direct a military campaign
against Sisera. The commander of her army, Barak (a male), was to take
ten thousand warriors to Mount Tabor (about ten miles west of the Sea of
Galilee). Deborah would draw Sisera’s force to the Wadi Kishon, just west
of the mountain where Barak’s army would crush Sisera’s.
Barak, however, is hesitant and agrees to go only if Deborah goes with
him. The reason for Barak’s reluctance is not clear. Is he afraid? Does he
distrust the word of a woman? Does he question the military plan? Is this
a case of Joseph R. Jeter Jr.’s observation, “There are some things one just
does not want to do alone”? 37 Deborah promises to go with Barak, but
with the proviso that Barak understands that the glory of the victory will
reflect not on him but on “the hand of a woman” (Judg. 4:8–10). When
Barak obeys, success follows.
The story unfolds just as Deborah said. Of Sisera’s army, the text says,
“No one was left” (Judg. 4:11–16) save Sisera, who had fled on foot. In
one of the most grizzly scenes in the Bible, Jael (a woman from whom Sisera
sought shelter) killed Sisera by driving a tent peg through the general’s
head (Judg. 4:17–23).
The lectionary does not appoint the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5:1–31a)
as a part of the reading for today, but most scholars consider it one of the
oldest (and most evocative) pieces of poetry in the Jewish tradition. The
hymn, which offers a different version of the story told in Judges 4, celebrates
God as divine warrior, tells an even more brutal version of the death
of Sisera, celebrates the fact that Sisera’s mother will never see her son
again, and concludes by wishing the same fate on all Israel’s enemies. The
song describes Deborah as “a mother in Israel,” language that puts Deborah
on the same plane as the male prophets who are described as “father”
in Israel (e.g., 2 Kgs. 13:14).