If there has ever been a “go-to” icon for egalitarianism it’s Deborah the judge. I don’t think I’ve ever had a discussion with an egalitarian about women’s ordination in which Deborah didn’t come up as a poster child for the egalitarian cause. There aren’t many passages in the Law and the Prophets to substantiate the argument for women’s ordination, and so naturally Deborah is put in a position of carrying the argument forward. However, is this the position Deborah herself would hold? Is her presence amidst the Scripture being rightly understood or is she being haphazardly brandished to assert a point that removes her from her given context? Unfortunately, Deborah’s role and function in the context of Ancient Israel and within the theology of the Biblical writers is a poor selection for the point that egalitarians are trying to make.
Deborah’s role as a prophetess shouldn’t be diminished when rightly understood. Complementarians hold to the same belief as egalitarians that the God of the Bible elevated women above the oppression that was common in the ancient world. Deborah is a perfect example of the countercultural nature of the Biblical text against the backdrop of its contemporary culture. It’s important that in our attempt to understand the context of Deborah’s place in Scripture that we don’t err in the other direction and diminish the significance of Deborah’s narrative (and Biblical women as a whole). The Lord did use Deborah and used her in a way that shone forth His glory. Deborah was a prophetess that entered into the narrative of Israel at a time when the people desperately needed her. The Lord used her to bring about national deliverance for His people and to communicate important truths that future readers of the Scripture should understand. What we are looking at here doesn’t call into question women’s value or whether the Lord has given women purpose. The Lord loves women and they are part of His sovereign plan on the earth. Deborah was important and we shouldn’t say more or less about her than what the Scripture is intending to communicate to us. Complementarians don’t deny that women were given spiritual giftings and that they were integral in advancing the purposes of God. What is important to keep in mind is that the question at hand is the permissibility of female leadership in the home and in believing communities.
Complementarians and patricentrists generally do not dispute that women throughout Scripture held the office of prophetess. What is disputed is whether women were intended to have oversight in the assembly of Israel, the home, and the body of Christ. The point some egalitarians like to raise is that, because Deborah was a judge, she also governed the nation of Israel in some official capacity. If Deborah was able to lead physical Israel, why can’t other women lead spiritual Israel? The error here is in the understanding of what a judge was and did. When you think of a judge, you think of long black gowns and gavels. (If you think of powdered wigs, well… you’re just fancy.) However, the book of Judges uses the word “judge” differently than in other places of the Bible. A Judge in this book didn’t primarily perform judiciary functions, such as overseeing court proceedings to settle criminal accusations or disputes between people. Some of the judges may have served in some official role of governance, but this wasn’t the case for all the judges. The book of Judges’ primary usage of the word שֹׁפְטָ֥ה (šōpĕṭâ) was to convey an individual that was rendering a judgment from God upon Israel and the surrounding nations.1
In the specific case of Deborah, some people take Judges 4:5 to mean that Deborah was sitting under a palm tree settling Israel’s legal disputes (and unfortunately some poor translations actually render the text this way). Legal disputes were typically handled in the city gates or within the city; it would be unusual for an Ancient Israelite legal dispute to be settled somewhere outside of the city.2 The context of the passage in verse 3 is that Israel was undergoing a national crisis, verse 4 introduces her as a prophetess rendering judgments from the Lord, and verse 5 has the nation approaching the prophetess to receive a judgment and resolution from the Lord. The text only requires us to assign Deborah the function of prophet, but doesn’t require us to assume that she had any kind of civil authority.3 As entertaining as it is to think of Deborah as a Judge Judy precursor, it’s entirely inaccurate.
The book of Judges depicts the role of a judge to both render the Lord’s judgment as well as be the national deliverer. Deborah was unique from the rest of the judges within the book (as well as the book of Samuel). In most cases, the judges were not only acting as prophets, but they were also acting as national deliverers. Deborah, while acting as a prophet rendering judgment from the Lord, did not act as the national deliverer. This role belonged to Barak. A national deliverer was the person that had the authority to carry out the judgments of the Lord, and ordinarily, a judge acted as both pronouncer and executor of the judgment. In this case, Deborah acted as the prophetess pronouncing the Lord’s judgment, but Barak had the authority to deliver Israel. There are several descriptors and qualities that the Scripture doesn’t use of Deborah that are used of other Judges within the book. Dr. Daniel Block, professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, writes:
“The ‘altogether enigmatic’ nature of the narrative raises numerous questions. If the author looked upon Deborah as one of the deliverers of Israel:
1. Why is she not introduced as one whom Yahweh had raised up?
2. Why is there no reference to her inspiration and empowerment by Yahweh’s Spirit (rûaḥ yhwh)?
3. Why does she need Barak to accomplish the deliverance?
4. Why is the verb yāšaʿ, “to save,” never applied to her?
5. Why does she say, “The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman” instead of “into my hands”?
6. Why does the author observe that “she went up with Barak” (4:10) but avoid placing her at the head of the troops?
7. Why does Deborah announce to Barak, “This day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands” rather than “my hands” (4:14)?
8. Why is she absent from the description of the actual battle (4:15–17), and why does she never meet Jabin or Sisera?
9. Why did the poet prefer the title “mother in Israel” over “savior of Israel” (5:7)?
10. Why does the poet avoid the root qûm, “to rise,” let alone referring to Yahweh as the causative subject, when he speaks of Deborah’s rise?
11. What is this woman doing in what everyone acknowledges traditionally as a man’s world—leading soldiers into battle?
12. Perhaps most intriguing, why does the narrator portray her character so different qualitatively from most of the other deliverers?”4
The difference between Deborah and the other Judges isn’t simply theoretical, but later Biblical authors viewed Barak as the national deliverer.
And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. (1 Sa 12:11 NASB).
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, (Heb 11:32 NASB)
It isn’t a coincidence that on two separate occasions the Biblical authors opted to use Barak’s name as an example of a national deliverer as opposed to Deborah. The point here being, that while Deborah rendered God’s judgment, it was Barak that fulfilled the deliverance. Deborah was a vessel of the Lord, but Barak ultimately carried the authority to lead the Israelites into victory.
The irony of egalitarians using Deborah as an example is in the context of the entire story: the failure of male leadership. To subjugate a ruler and an enemy of your people would have been considered a great honor in Ancient Israel. In fact, simply being the messenger breaking news to the king of the triumph was considered an honor. Barak was intended to be the deliverer, and he fulfilled that role. However, Barak proved to be a coward, and while he would deliver Israel, the honor of subjugating (or in this case slaying) Sisera was given to a woman, Jael.
Now she sent word and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has indeed commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will hand him over to you.’”Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” She said, “I will certainly go with you; however, the fame shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. (Judges 4:6-9 NASB)
When Barak received the charge from the Lord he responded by hiding behind Deborah’s skirt. Deborah would have much rather Barak engaged Sisera like a man and a warrior. Barak would reluctantly go and deliver the Lord’s people, but not without losing honor for his cowardice. In the end, Deborah prophesies that a woman would take the honor that would have been Barak’s. This is a deviation from how things should have transpired. Deborah’s pronouncement on Barak wasn’t intended to inspire the women of Israel to rise up and throw off the shackles of the patriarchy. This prophecy was to demonstrate the consequence of Barak’s cowardice and the accompanying shame, not celebrate it. The passage should be a caution to our egalitarian brethren of the consequences of male abdication, but in irony of ironies, it has been used to bolster the cause of male abdication.
Nothing about Deborah’s presence in the Biblical narrative substantiates the egalitarian vision of female ordination or the deconstruction of household patricentrism. Truthfully, Deborah’s narrative ought to encourage the opposite of what egalitarians are suggesting. The tale of Barak and Deborah should spur men to dutifully and manfully pick up the mantle the Lord has bequeathed them. Women throughout the Scripture have prophesied, advanced the gospel, and carried out the Lord’s purposes all within His designed framework. The truth is that Deborah should empower women to serve the Lord in ways that shine forth the goodness and power of our Lord. Proverbs 31 tells us that a woman that reflects the character of the Lord is beyond valuation. However, all this must be done in accordance with the Scripture and in submission to the created order of Christ.
Photo by shahin khalaji
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