Judges 4 – Was Deborah, the only female judge, judged properly?

 

                                                                                     Chapter 4

                                          Was Deborah, the only female judge, judged properly?

 

Deborah and Samson are the most famous of the fourteen[1] or fifteen judges, and both are unusual, Deborah because she was a woman and Samson because of his unique un-judge-like behavior and super-human powers.

 

The story of Deborah

Judges 4 describes how Deborah, a prophetess[2] and judge, summoned Barak[3] to assemble troops to wage war against the Canaanites. Her story is retold in chapter 5 in poetry with many apparent changes.

Ehud, the prior judge died, Israel resumed improper acts, and God gave them into the hand of Yavin, king of Canaan, whose general was Sisera. Sisera had 900 chariots of iron[4] and inflicted the Israelites for twenty years.[5]

Deborah tells Barak[6] that God commands him to fight Sisera. He agrees, but only if Deborah accompanies him to the battle field.[7] Deborah agrees bur chastises him saying a woman, not he, will get credit for the victory. This cryptic prophecy may refer to Deborah herself or to the non-Israelite Yael who slew Sisera after the battle.[8] Judges has Deborah ridicule Barak with the idea that a woman will best him. This fear of being surpassed by a woman is repeated in 9:54 where Abimelech fears that people will mock him saying a woman killed him.[9]

Barak agrees to do as God willed. The Israelite force was made up of 10,000 men (or ten military units) from just two tribes Naphtali and Zebulun. They are successful.[10] However, chapter 4 does not reveal how Barak achieved victory or even if he and his 10,000 men even fought. Verse 15 states “And the Lord discomfited Sisera.” The story of the battle unfolds only if chapters 4 and 5 are read in conjunction, for what is in 4 is not in 5, and vice versa.[11] However, as we will see, chapter 5 is filled with hyperbole and some of the events it describes conflict with what is narrated in chapter 4.

Sisera abandons his chariot and runs for his life.[12] He finds what he thinks is shelter in the tent of the non-Israelite Yael, but after offering him milk[13]and after he falls asleep,[14] she kills him.

A third woman appears in chapter 5, Sisera’s mother, who stands by her window watching hopefully for the return of her son.

In 5:7, the poetic version of this tale calls Deborah a “mother.” What is the author saying? There are several possibilities. A mother protects her children, and Deborah is protecting her people; this may be a literary device to contrast Deborah with Sisera’s mother who could not protect him. Similarly, the Bible sometimes calls large cities “mother cities”[15] because they protect the surrounding towns when necessary in a military manner, as did Deborah. However, the phrase calling her a mother fails to note that Deborah was a prophet and judge. Is it possible that this is still another denigration of women?

 

Women in Judaism

The Babylonian Talmud[16] lists seven female prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Hulda, and Esther.[17] One opinion in the Talmud rates Sarah as a prophet superior to her husband Abraham. Many people read the Genesis tale and feel that the first female, Eve, was superior in intelligence and initiative to her passive husband Adam.

Yet, there were unfortunately many sages who read this chapter and made disparaging views about women. For example, Abarbanel asks, if Yael’s husband made a treaty with Yavin, king of Canaan, how could Yael breach that treaty. His answer: women are not bound by treaties; they must only do what their husbands tell them to do. Abarbanel also asks: how come Deborah, a judge and prophet, needs to sit under a tree. The Aramaic translation of Judges, Targum Jonathan, answers that she dwelt in a house that was shaded by a tree. However, Abarbanel responds, she felt that it was inappropriate for a woman to be alone with a man in a house, so she arranged her meetings with men outside under a tree.[18] Zohar[19] reads: “Woe unto the generation whose leader (judge) is a woman.” Several sources[20] state: “Prophetess though she (Deborah) was, she was yet subject to the frailties of her sex. Her self-consciousness was inordinate…. The result was that the prophetical spirit departed from her for a time while she was composing her song.”[21]

Unfortunately, many rabbis even today insist that women cannot serve as judges. They explain that Deborah was an exception because of hora’at sha’ah, the “extraordinary needs of the time.” The rule states that sometimes a situation is so extraordinary that unusual steps must be taken to save Judaism or the Jewish people.[22]

 

Yael

As with Deborah, various commentators made positive and negative remarks about Yael. We saw some negative view above. Since 5:6 lumps Shamgar with Yael,[23] many commentators opine that the two were non-Israelites, especially since chapter 4 specifically identifies Yael as a Kenite. However, Abarbanel and Gersonides take the opposite approach; both were Israelite judges.

Commenting on 5:24,[24] Ehrlich states that Yael bested Edomite women with her behavior, but not Israelite women who had a more developed culture and higher morals. Ehrlich castigates Yael for her murder of Sisera who came to her tent seeking security, but she violated the ancient rules of hospitality.[25] Rabbi Johanan degrades Yael in the Babylonian Talmud.[26] He states that Sisera had sex with her seven times before she killed him.

Neither Ehrlich nor Rabbi Johanan give Yael credit for handling an extraordinary difficult matter well and for saving Israel.

In short, while the story of Deborah appears at first glance to be simple, it is actually quite complex. We really don’t know exactly what transpired. Also, there are sages, rabbis, clerics, and scholars of all religions who disparage Deborah and Yael, some going so far as to minimize the humanity of women generally. But there are others who praise both women and recognize that women are people too.