Introduction
Deborah was the fourth of the Judges, a series of prophets who ruled Israel when they first entered Canaan, their Promised Land. The message of their stories was that if Israel turned from God to worship the gods of the nations, then God would let the kings of the nations have their way until Israel repented.
AFTER Ehud delivered Israel from Eglon, King of Moab, the Israelites weakened again, and returned to worshipping Canaan’s gods. Their reward was to fall under the harsh government of Jabin, King of Hazor,* and his general Sisera, who maintained nine hundred chariots of iron in a vast military complex at Harosheth Haggoyim;* nonetheless, twenty years passed before the humbled Israelites sought Deborah’s counsel.
Deborah immediately sent for Barak, son of Abinoam. Had not God commanded him, she said, to gather ten thousand men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at the River Kishon by Mount Tabor?* There would God draw Sisera, with all his chariots and his men, and deliver them into Barak’s hand.
Barak promised to lead Israel, if Deborah would accompany him. ‘I will surely go’ she said. ‘For by a woman’s hand shall Sisera fall.’ But Sisera learnt of Barak’s manoeuvres through Heber the Kenite, who was on good terms with Jabin; and emptying all Harosheth Haggoyim, Sisera came to the Valley of Jezreel to do battle at the River Kishon.*
An ancient city in Upper Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau north of the Sea of Galilee. See Google Maps. The city was destroyed by fire in around 1200 BC — approximately the time of Joshua and Deborah — but its fortunes picked up again under King Solomon or his successors in the ninth century, and Hazor became one of the most important cities of the region, trading in metals with Syria and Babylon.
Harosheth Haggoyim has been tentatively identified with El-Ahwat, in the hills between Katzir-Harish and Nahal Iron, in Israel’s Manasseh Region of northwestern Samaria. See Google Maps. Excavations were carried out in 1993-2000, and revealed a fortified establishment dating back to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (13th-12th centuries BC), just about the right time for the Books of Joshua and Judges. A linchpin from a chariot belonging to a man of high noble rank has been discovered.
The River Kishon rises in the Gilboa mountains overlooking the Valley of Jezreel, and runs through the valley on its way to Haifa Bay. Mount Tabor, on the northern (Galilee) side of the valley, was where Jesus Christ was transfigured. See Mark 9:2-10 and Mountain of Light.
The Valley of Jezreel is a wide plain running roughly northwest to Haifa on the coast. See Google Maps. On the upper side, where Barak’s troops were gathered, is Mount Tabor and Nazareth; on the lower is Megiddo and the mountains of Samaria, i.e. the ‘mountains of Ephraim’ where Deborah lived and where Harosheth Haggoyim lay. Another of the Judges, Gideon, subsequently won a great victory in the same valley against Midianites and the Amalekites; see Gideon’s Fleece. It is aso the prophesied place of Armageddon, in Revelation 16:16.
Précis
When the harsh rule of Jabin King of Hazor and of his general Sisera became too much for the Israelites, they sought Deborah’s counsel. She in turn told Barak to raise an army and assemble at the River Kishon in the Valley of Jezreel, for there God would give Barak victory, and Sisera would die by a woman’s hand. (59 / 60 words)
When the harsh rule of Jabin King of Hazor and of his general Sisera became too much for the Israelites, they sought Deborah’s counsel. She in turn told Barak to raise an army and assemble at the River Kishon in the Valley of Jezreel, for there God would give Barak victory, and Sisera would die by a woman’s hand.
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Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, if, may, otherwise, since, unless, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did the Israelites consult Deborah?
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Jabin ruled the Israelites harshly. This lasted for twenty years. The Israelites asked Deborah for help.