Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam together on the day of Israel's victory and deliverance from Sisera's army and the Canaanites under Jabin. The song gives all glory for the deliverance to God and calls the people to praise Him for His wonderful works, declaring that honor and power belong to God and not to men or idols. It opens a magnificent ode and triumph poem, the earliest poetry of Israel, whose musical language, forceful movement, imagery and lofty melody show the power, beauty and literary value of the Bible. Their joint public singing shows that women like men could sing, speak and bear testimony for God in public worship under the Spirit's influence to His glory without usurping authority, so women may help in His work and proclaim His truth in womanly Christian ways. The triumph shows how mightily God can work for His people when they act in faith, urging them to trust Him, pray and act courageously, and the battle in the days of Deborah and Barak stands as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon.
Setting and Deliverance
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, introducing the song they sang together on the day of Israel's victory and deliverance from Sisera's army and from the Canaanites under Jabin. It celebrates the defeat of the Canaanite oppressor and Israel's triumph over Jabin's forces after suffering under renewed heathen influence and distress. The song recounts the differing responses of the tribes to the call for help, calling them to join the battle, praising those who came to help, and condemning Meroz for refusing to help and bringing a curse upon itself for that refusal. Deborah directs the way while Barak leads the fighters, the victory comes through God's aid, the people are urged to trust Him, pray, and act courageously, and the triumph shows how mightily God can work for His people.
The verse belongs to the book's record of Israel's experiences between Joshua's death and the raising up of Samuel. It stands in the composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God, consequent suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. That history displays the perversity and unbelief of the people and the long-suffering and goodness of God amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise.
The victory was won at Megiddo against the enemies of God's people, one of the great battles in Israel's history, after twenty years of oppression. Their deliverance shows that Israel could overcome the iron chariots when they acted in faith. That victory first gave the Israelites possession of the Plain of Jezreel, though Canaanites retained several towns there until the time of the kings, after which the Canaanites were effectually subdued and the land had peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God. The battle at Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues.
Song as Literature and Worship
Then sang Deborah and Barak opens a magnificent ode and triumph poem celebrating the victory over Sisera's army. It is the earliest poetry of Israel, rising among the Galilean hills when Barak of Naphtali had triumphed over the Canaanites. Its musical language, forceful movement, and imagery display the power and beauty of the Bible. Its lofty music with wonderful rhythm and melody gives beautiful thoughts in language that plays on sensitive human hearts as skilled fingers play upon a harp. Together with the psalms and the ode of Moses and Miriam it shows the Bible is first in literary value among all books, and its vigor proves the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of the Galilean people.
In both its words and its music the song was composed to memorialize a great event in Israel's national life. Ancient Israel's music was not copied or borrowed from the surrounding nations but was an original expression of the individual and national life of God's chosen people. The singing of Deborah and Barak in praise belongs to the Spirit-inspired music that celebrates God's works.
The sublime and impassioned song gives all glory for deliverance to God and calls the people to praise Him for His wonderful works. It declares that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols. It calls the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God did for Israel as a warning not to harm them. It recalls God's awful power and majesty shown at Sinai and sets out Israel's helpless and distressed condition under oppression after suffering under renewed heathen influence. It tells in glowing language the history of their deliverance from Sisera's army and from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, including Jael's part in the deliverance.
The song calls Israel's tribes to join the battle, praises those who came to help and took part in the work, and condemns Meroz for refusing to help. It recounts the tribes' differing responses to the call for help, contrasting the participation of those who joined the fight with the curse on Meroz for failure to help. Deborah directs the way and Barak leads the fighters against Jabin, and the victory comes through God's aid. Afterward the Canaanites were effectually subdued and the land had peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God.
The verse shows the prominence placed upon sacred song in early Hebrew history, with Deborah standing with Miriam as a notable example. The song of Deborah and Barak belongs to divine worship as an elementary part of the service of the sanctuary, by which the human creature comes into right relation to the divine Creator in praise and homage. It stands at the beginning of a progressive growth of the Hebrew ritual of worship that led to the elaborate musical ritual established in Jerusalem with harp, instrument of ten strings, high-sounding cymbals, organ, and thousands of chorus voices calling on everything that hath breath to praise the Lord. That worship extends under the Christian dispensation to singing a hymn at the memorial supper and to speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with melody in the heart and thanksgiving to God.
Women Faith and Prophecy
Deborah the prophetess directed the way while Barak led the fighters, and the triumphant people gathered around her to sing together on the day of Israel's victory over Jabin's forces. The naming of Deborah alongside Barak the son of Abinoam recognizes women's place in God's work and gives an example of God using women in a public capacity to His glory. The song that follows called the tribes of Israel to join the battle, praised those who came to help, and condemned Meroz for refusing to help.
Their joint public singing shows that women, like men, could sing publicly for God under the Spirit's influence. Deborah's help to Barak shows that women may speak and bear testimony for God in public without usurping authority or acting arrogantly. Women may therefore bear testimony for Christ, help in His work, and proclaim His truth in womanly, Christian ways. The command for women to keep silence in the churches does not forbid such public part in proclaiming truth, but forbids women being out of place by assuming authority to teach and rule in a blameworthy, disorderly, unwomanly and unscriptural manner.
The battle at Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. The song of praise they sang after victory over Sisera and Israel's oppressors shows how mightily God can work for His people. Israel could overcome the iron chariots when they acted in faith, for the victory came through God's aid. The triumph urges the people to trust Him, pray, and act courageously.
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam together on the day of Israel's victory and deliverance from Sisera's army and the Canaanites under Jabin. The song gives all glory for the deliverance to God and calls the people to praise Him for His wonderful works, declaring that honor and power belong to God and not to men or idols. It opens a magnificent ode and triumph poem, the earliest poetry of Israel, whose musical language, forceful movement, imagery and lofty melody show the power, beauty and literary value of the Bible. Their joint public singing shows that women like men could sing, speak and bear testimony for God in public worship under the Spirit's influence to His glory without usurping authority, so women may help in His work and proclaim His truth in womanly Christian ways. The triumph shows how mightily God can work for His people when they act in faith, urging them to trust Him, pray and act courageously, and the battle in the days of Deborah and Barak stands as an object lesson for the final gathering of the nations at Armageddon.
Setting and Deliverance
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, introducing the song they sang together on the day of Israel's victory and deliverance from Sisera's army and from the Canaanites under Jabin. It celebrates the defeat of the Canaanite oppressor and Israel's triumph over Jabin's forces after suffering under renewed heathen influence and distress. The song recounts the differing responses of the tribes to the call for help, calling them to join the battle, praising those who came to help, and condemning Meroz for refusing to help and bringing a curse upon itself for that refusal. Deborah directs the way while Barak leads the fighters, the victory comes through God's aid, the people are urged to trust Him, pray, and act courageously, and the triumph shows how mightily God can work for His people.
The verse belongs to the book's record of Israel's experiences between Joshua's death and the raising up of Samuel. It stands in the composite record of Judges 3 to 17 of backsliding from God, consequent suffering, oppression, captivity and servitude, then returning to God, forgiveness and deliverance. That history displays the perversity and unbelief of the people and the long-suffering and goodness of God amid awful moral surroundings and the demoralizing influences of the tribes permitted to remain in the land of promise.
The victory was won at Megiddo against the enemies of God's people, one of the great battles in Israel's history, after twenty years of oppression. Their deliverance shows that Israel could overcome the iron chariots when they acted in faith. That victory first gave the Israelites possession of the Plain of Jezreel, though Canaanites retained several towns there until the time of the kings, after which the Canaanites were effectually subdued and the land had peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God. The battle at Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues.
Song as Literature and Worship
Then sang Deborah and Barak opens a magnificent ode and triumph poem celebrating the victory over Sisera's army. It is the earliest poetry of Israel, rising among the Galilean hills when Barak of Naphtali had triumphed over the Canaanites. Its musical language, forceful movement, and imagery display the power and beauty of the Bible. Its lofty music with wonderful rhythm and melody gives beautiful thoughts in language that plays on sensitive human hearts as skilled fingers play upon a harp. Together with the psalms and the ode of Moses and Miriam it shows the Bible is first in literary value among all books, and its vigor proves the intellectual vigor and mental freshness and force of the Galilean people.
In both its words and its music the song was composed to memorialize a great event in Israel's national life. Ancient Israel's music was not copied or borrowed from the surrounding nations but was an original expression of the individual and national life of God's chosen people. The singing of Deborah and Barak in praise belongs to the Spirit-inspired music that celebrates God's works.
The sublime and impassioned song gives all glory for deliverance to God and calls the people to praise Him for His wonderful works. It declares that honor and power belong to God and not to men or to their idols. It calls the kings and princes of surrounding nations to hear what God did for Israel as a warning not to harm them. It recalls God's awful power and majesty shown at Sinai and sets out Israel's helpless and distressed condition under oppression after suffering under renewed heathen influence. It tells in glowing language the history of their deliverance from Sisera's army and from Jabin king of Canaan after twenty years of oppression, including Jael's part in the deliverance.
The song calls Israel's tribes to join the battle, praises those who came to help and took part in the work, and condemns Meroz for refusing to help. It recounts the tribes' differing responses to the call for help, contrasting the participation of those who joined the fight with the curse on Meroz for failure to help. Deborah directs the way and Barak leads the fighters against Jabin, and the victory comes through God's aid. Afterward the Canaanites were effectually subdued and the land had peace forty years, though prosperity did not bring Israel nearer to God.
The verse shows the prominence placed upon sacred song in early Hebrew history, with Deborah standing with Miriam as a notable example. The song of Deborah and Barak belongs to divine worship as an elementary part of the service of the sanctuary, by which the human creature comes into right relation to the divine Creator in praise and homage. It stands at the beginning of a progressive growth of the Hebrew ritual of worship that led to the elaborate musical ritual established in Jerusalem with harp, instrument of ten strings, high-sounding cymbals, organ, and thousands of chorus voices calling on everything that hath breath to praise the Lord. That worship extends under the Christian dispensation to singing a hymn at the memorial supper and to speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with melody in the heart and thanksgiving to God.
Women Faith and Prophecy
Deborah the prophetess directed the way while Barak led the fighters, and the triumphant people gathered around her to sing together on the day of Israel's victory over Jabin's forces. The naming of Deborah alongside Barak the son of Abinoam recognizes women's place in God's work and gives an example of God using women in a public capacity to His glory. The song that follows called the tribes of Israel to join the battle, praised those who came to help, and condemned Meroz for refusing to help.
Their joint public singing shows that women, like men, could sing publicly for God under the Spirit's influence. Deborah's help to Barak shows that women may speak and bear testimony for God in public without usurping authority or acting arrogantly. Women may therefore bear testimony for Christ, help in His work, and proclaim His truth in womanly, Christian ways. The command for women to keep silence in the churches does not forbid such public part in proclaiming truth, but forbids women being out of place by assuming authority to teach and rule in a blameworthy, disorderly, unwomanly and unscriptural manner.
The battle at Megiddo in the days of Deborah and Barak serves as an object lesson for the final gathering of nations at Armageddon under the sixth plague and for study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. The song of praise they sang after victory over Sisera and Israel's oppressors shows how mightily God can work for His people. Israel could overcome the iron chariots when they acted in faith, for the victory came through God's aid. The triumph urges the people to trust Him, pray, and act courageously.