THE SONG OF DEBORAH

The text of the Song of Deborah is largely recognized to be very early Hebrew; it is generally ascribed to sometime in the twelfth-century BC. As such, the song presents us invaluable glimpses into the sociopolitical makeup of Israel shortly after its conquest of Canaan, and therefore especially revealing is Israel's early structure as also its prospects in the Promised Land. Of greater value is its theological importance, which is personified by Deborah. This study is interested in the following aspects of the Song of Deborah, as supported by its prose counterpart:

II. Translating the Song of Deborah

We translated the song into English as an exercise some years ago, and then as now we were students of biblical Hebrew. Our main resources were the Blue Letter Bible website and their linguistic tools (BLB), and G. Pratico and M. V. Van Pelt’s Basics of Biblical Hebrew (Pratico). We are sure we could not have located all the verbs, nor parsed them properly, without the help of the Blue Letter Bible. Pratico and Van Pelt’s text was invaluable in confirming the stems and conjugations indicated by the Blue Letter Bible, and in the area of identifying person, number, and gender, the one area we did not have a popular consensus to fall back on (most Hebrew verbs reflect person, number, and gender; English verbs do not—context does so in the latter).

A. Parsing Hebrew Verbs

With some experience one can become adept at distinguishing Hebrew verbs from other Hebrew grammatical constructs such as adjectives, nominals, nouns, prepositions, etc. This is obviously the first hurdle that must be cleared in the correct parsing of Hebrew verbs (in this setting parsing=identifying/classifying as the eye scans across the verb). Notwithstanding, a significant remaining challenge arises when confronting the so-called weak class of verbs. These weak verbs, which appear in the Qal and all the derived stems (Pratico 137 for a useful flowchart), typically have weak consonants in their consonantal root (character map). Roots are “seed kernels” from which other Hebrew words are derived; they are primitive forms; verbal stems are one such derivation, albeit a primitive one—verbal stems thus have consonantal roots at their core (Pratico 121). In addition, weak verbs may also consist of geminate and/or biconsonantal roots. We said all that to say this: Weak verbs manifest a vowel pattern change that accommodates the idiosyncratic vocalization they generate in a verb, and it is this vowel pattern change that is a significant translational challenge, for it can cause one to incorrectly classify a verbal stem, and thus verbal meaning (verbal stems communicate verbal meaning, verbal conjugations communicate verbal function [Pratico 128]). Context can usually be relied on to bring clarity, but not always; said challenge manifests itself more so with respect to possible confusion between verb classes. Imperfect weak verbs, for example, because they have both a prefix and a suffix, are readily susceptible to misidentification because of the spelling variation induced by a changing vowel pattern. Misidentification then degrades translation through imprecise perceived verbal meaning, with the result that the true sense of the clause containing the verb may be lost, and it only takes one such lost clause for an entire passage to be misunderstood. The Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament does not contain such a weak verb construction, and is therefore much more straightforward to translate; that is not to say that this Greek does not pose its own significant peculiar translational challenges.

B. The Song of Deborah Verbs

75 verbs in the Qal stem (simple [unnuanced] action, active voice), 6 in the Niphal stem (simple action, reflexive/passive voice), 14 in the Piel stem (intensive action, active voice), 3 in the Pual stem (intensive action, passive voice), 3 in the Hiphil stem (causative action, active voice), 0 in the Hophal stem (causative action, passive voice), and 2 in the Hithpael stem (intensive action, largely reflexive voice). Thus the preponderance of the 103 total verbs we found were simple-active verbs (Qal ~73%) and intensive-active verbs (Piel ~14%). In the Qal stem, the preponderance of the verbs were in the perfect (completed action) conjugation (~46%) and the imperfect (incomplete action) conjugation (~17%). In the Piel stem, the preponderance of the verbs were in the imperfect conjugation (~42%) and the imperative (direct address/command) conjugation (~25%) (Tab. 1). The Qal verbs are less problematic insofar as translation is concerned because they convey simple, straightforward action. The Piel verbs are more difficult because the notion of “intensive” action is sometimes nebulous. For example, consider Jdg 5:11:

[Our Translation]: By the voice of archers between the places of drawing water, where they recount [3NH, character map] righteous acts of Jehovah, righteous acts of his villages in Israel, then go down to the gates have the people of Jehovah.

[Compare YLT]: “By the voice of shouters between the places of drawing water, there they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, righteous acts of His villages in Israel, then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah.” Red font added.

[Compare NLT]: “[They that are delivered] from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, [even] the righteous acts [toward the inhabitants] of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.” Red font added.

The Septuagint has DWSOUSIN here (character map) which is literally connected with giving.

The red verb is Piel and its conjugation is imperfect. The intensive action is hard to catch here, but compare to the Piel of Jdg 5:2:

[Our Translation]: “For freeing freemen in Israel, for a people willingly offering themselves praise [BRK, character map] ye Jehovah.”

[Compare YLT]: '“For freeing freemen in Israel, for a people willingly offering themselves bless ye Jehovah.”' Red font added.

[Compare NLT]: '"Israel's leaders took charge, and the people gladly followed. Praise the LORD!”' Red font added.

The Septuagint has EULOGEITE here (character map) which is literally connected with speaking a good word.

In this example the imperative conjugation and the context make it much clearer that the author means something like “really put your heart into it”—PRAISE Jehovah. The point is that with a fair portion of the song's verbs in the Piel stem, any one translation is not etched in stone so to speak. The same difficulties arise with Hebrew verbs in the Hiphil and Hophal stem (causative action, active and passive voice respectively). That is to say, the same ambiguity arises in catching the causative nuance, but these stems are less attested in the Song of Deborah.

III. The Historical Importance of the Song of Deborah

The Song of Deborah, like the Song of the Sea (=The Song of Moses, Exd 15:1-18, a Redemption song like the Song of Deborah; Exd 15:20-21 for the Song of Miriam), is one of the earliest examples of Hebrew poetry. Its historical importance then, as also the historical importance of its prose counterpart (Judges 4), is connected with the insights we gain concerning Israel’s structure and prospects in the Promised Land after the conquest of Canaan by Joshua (by God), owing to the song's composition not long afterward (relative dates are discussed more fully below). Moreover, there is general agreement that the song was composed very near the time of the battle which it describes. The period of Israelite judges to which Deborah belongs begins after the death of Joshua, probably around the middle to late fourteenth century BC [1].

A. Israel's Structure as Revealed in the Song of Deborah

From the prose text we learn that Israel was suffering oppression at the hands of one Jabin of Hazor, a confederate king of Canaan (Jdg 4:1-3; note that Joshua had defeated another Jabin in the main thrust of the Conquest: Jos 11:1-14, 21-23, 14:6-15; “Jabin”). John Bright believes Israel existed here as a loose tribal league. He points out that when foreign oppression and threats arose, so did a judge in Israel “who would call out the clans and repel the foe” (Bright 167).This is exactly the motif we see in the Song of Deborah. That not all the tribes responded to Deborah and Barak’s battle cry probably confirms the notion that no central government with executive power existed, as Bright supposes (Bright 167; Asher, Dan, and Gilead [=Gad, East Manasseh, and Reuben] abstained; Deborah belonged to Ephraim, though some say Issachar, and Barak to Naphtali—all three of these joined the fight).Moreover, because neither Judah or Simeon are mentioned in the song may indicate that this tribal league consisted of only ten members at this time (Bright 166). Matthew Henry thinks that they are not mentioned because their location was too remote from the fight and they were thus not expected to be present (Henry). In the interest of clarifying relevant geographical locations, Mount Tabor (the Mount of Transfiguration?), Israel's encampment before the fight (Jdg 4:6), is located in lower Galilee southwest of Lake Galilee on the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley (=Plain of Esdraelon in Greek) in Issachar “Twelve Tribes of Israel-Map;” the map shows Megiddo and Taanach in West Manasseh, the location of the rout (Jdg 5:19). The Kishon River flows west-northwest through the Jezreel Valley from its source at Mount Gilboa and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

B. Israel's Prospects in the Promised Land as Suggested by the Song of Deborah

We learn from Jdg 5:19 that other Canaanite kings tried to aid Jabin’s military commander Sisera. This is telling in that it suggests that Israel was by this time, that is, since the death of Joshua around the middle to late fourteenth century BC, but before around the middle of the twelfth-century BC—the purported date of the song—a common enemy, and a force to be reckoned with. That Israel should be a common enemy here rather brings into question the view that Israel emerged as a subculture within Canaanite civilization, for one would expect a Canaanite Israel to have long been confederated with the other kings of the confederation [2]. In the eyes of Israel’s enemies, then, Israel’s prospects must have been viewed as threatening, which means that Israel’s prospects were in and of themselves quite promising at this time. The prospects in view here are those associated with nationhood—hold on territory, if not outright territorial expansion, economic increase, cultural spread/infusion [3]. Notice that a perceived threat of cultural infusion, if assessed correctly, again bespeaks of a people radically foreign to the indigenous, and not a subculture within the same.

C. Jabin's Iron Chariots

John Bright relates that just before 1400 BC the Hittites were reviving from a weakened position and exerting pressure on northern Syria (Bright 109). The Hittites actually gained control of Syria and were able to maintain control of it until late in the thirteenth century BC (the powerful Hittite empire fell around 1200 BC, early in the reign of Ramesses III; coincident with the disappearance of the Hittites is the appearance of the Sea Peoples [the Philistines and the Tjeker], who settled the coastal cities of Palestine Katzenstein 58). It is possible that the Hittites, with an eye to expansion southward, provided the iron chariots of Jdg 4:3 (cf. Jos 17:16-18; [Bright 176]). This is an important historical consideration because it suggests that the oppression Israel endured at the hands of Jabin may have been sanctioned by the Hittites, who probably saw Israel as a major obstacle to their expansion southward. This idea further suggests some kind of alliance between the Hittites and the Canaanite confederation that was oppressing Israel. Moreover, all this suggests again that Israel was hardly an insignificant presence in Palestine at this time, and lends robust credence to the biblical claim in the Book of Joshua of a conquest of Palestine by Israel, probably not too long before the date of the song. Certain scholars, however, balk at the idea of a single conquest by a single individual/nation in a fairly short period in Palestine’s late Bronze Age, because burn layers at different sites like Aphek, Hazor, Megiddo, etc., have been dated to different periods; another reason oft cited is that Hazor was burned to the ground by Joshua (Jos 11:13), but by the time of our song (c. 1150 BC), the city is presented as an intact metropolis by Scripture, indeed, the headquarters of the Canaanite confederation (Jdg 4:2). These scholars suppose that too little time passed for Hazor to regain such a status/condition. They reason this way largely because they base their dates on a Nineteenth Dynasty Exodus (c. 1306-1200 BC) [4]. Let us examine these arguments. If Joshua and Israel entered the Promised Land around 1400 BC, a date that coincides with the Hittite ascendancy, and largely subdued it around, conservatively, 1375 BC, that means there would have been around two-hundred-twenty-five years to rebuild Hazor and for it to regain its old status (1375-1150; actually somewhat less because the event of the song precedes the song of course; still, plenty of time) [5]. We cannot address the varied burn layer dating issue except to say it is uncertain how much Carbon-14 was introduced into the samples or washed out of them prior to their dating [6]. When we turn more specifically to the case of Hazor, we find its burn stratum dated to around the time of our song—c. 1150 BC. We suppose that this stratum's makeup is possibly influenced in part by the event/s attending Jdg 4:24, which relates the destruction of Jabin by Israel subsequent to his humiliation at the hands of Deborah and Barak.

These little glimpses into the sociopolitical environment related by the song give us invaluable insight not only into the immediate situation at hand in the song, but also into the foundation and fabric of other books of the Old Testament, particularly the historical books. In the end they testify to the connectedness and precision of Scripture.

IV. The Theological Importance of the Song of Deborah

The Song of Deborah is a celebration song; it is a victory song of celebration. It celebrates the mighty goings forth of Jehovah God on behalf of His people when they were sore oppressed. In this way it is entirely consistent with the main thrust of Scripture—God working to rescue His people from the oppression of Sin; from separation from Him—such is a sore, grievous oppression. How bleak the setting when the song opens; how heavy the oppression weighing down God's people because they had wandered afar off from Him. But God raised up Deborah; He raised up a savior mother in their midst for them. As we have worked with this revealing song over the years, Deborah stands out more and more as a type of Jesus Christ to us:

The song of Deborah is a hallelujah song. It is a continual reverberation of praise to the One who loosened the yoke of oppression.

V. Concluding Comments

That the preponderance of the verbs we found were Qal-Perfect-Active would be in keeping with a text that is relating declarative (simple facts) type material that has largely transpired, and that generally has its clausal subjects (God, Deborah, Israel, Sisera, etc.) acting. It is a verbal pattern consistent with the first-hand communication of the dynamics of an event that has transpired; with the first-hand communication of the dynamics of a history.

The Song of Deborah is almost universally recognized to be very early Hebrew; its composition is generally ascribed to sometime in the twelfth-century BC, and to sometime not long after the battle which it describes was fought. The battle and the history attending it are thus roughly dated as well. The text's early provenance reveals important aspects about Israel's early structure and prospects in the Promised Land because the composition is just a relatively short period of time removed from Israel's entry into the Promised Land and its birth as a nation. In our estimation, based on an Eighteenth Dynasty Exodus, on the order of two-hundred-fifty years had passed (1400-1150 BC; we realize much can happen in two-hundred and fifty years, but unless new evidence is unearthed, this is the best we can do; notwithstanding, the song reflects a time before the convolutions of nationhood unfolded which only worsen the scenario for us). Israel's structure here was probably that of a loose tribal league, with no central government, owing to the seeming independence the tribes are shown to exercise in response to Deborah's call to arms. That Israel faced a confederation of Canaanite enemies would seem to suggest that its prospects in Canaan were quite good by this time; Israel must have been viewed as a viable threat to the economic and political agendas of this confederation, and no doubt to their Hittite allies. It is hard to say with certainty which of them (confederation or the Hittites) saw Israel as the greater threat; probably the Hittites had more to lose should Israel wax stronger and stronger. It is noteworthy that so thorough was this confederation's defeat by Israel as related in the song that it and its kings are never mentioned again, as Matthew Henry points out in his commentary on Judges chapter four (Henry). Moreover, it is interesting that the Hittite empire collapsed around this time—the crushing defeat of their southern allies undoubtedly hastening the inevitable [7].

The theological import of the text comes through Deborah, who we have come to understand to be a type of Jesus Christ. The parallels to Jesus, our mighty conquering Savior, who, notwithstanding, acts as would a mother on behalf of His beloved, seem to jump out of the text.

Illustrations and Tables

Figure 1. Deborah: savior mother.

Table 1. The Song of Deborah Basic Verb Statistics.

Works Cited and References

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Young's Literal Translation; this version of the Bible is in the public domain.

Notes

1. Our date is based on an Eighteenth Dynasty Exodus, and has Israel in the Promised Land around 1400 BC. Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty reigned c. 1552-1306 BC.

2. By itself this argument has force, but finds real strength when taken together with the socio-religious peculiarity of Israel over against Canaanite culture.

3. Israel’s location at the crossroads of the important trade routes in the lucrative Jordan Valley south of Hazor would have been a vexation to the economic agendas of the Canaanite confederation including (and especially to) their Hittite allies.

4. As can be seen, the dating of the Exodus has far-reaching effects on one’s derived chronology concerning Israel’s nationhood.

5. One must remember that Palestine is small (“Palestine”)—it would have easily fit into the upper one-third of the American state of Florida, so the task of the Conquest was definitely limited in scope for a people probably near two-million strong (a projection based on Num 1:46). In practical consideration of this, Florida’s population estimate in 2010 was 18⁺ million (“Florida”). That implies, very roughly speaking, it could contain about 6 million people per one-third of the state, and the point is we know that folk are not “walking on each other” there. This suggests that Palestine could have easily supported a two-million person or more influx by Israel in Joshua’s day.

6. This note was updated 09/20/2013 A.s. Carbon-14 (C-14) is a radioactive isotope of the element carbon (isotopes are elements that have similar chemical properties but different atomic weights). The C-14 radiometric dating method has a reliable accuracy limit of two to three half- lives (Walker 1088), or approximately 10,000 to 15,000 years from the death of an organism until its C-14 radiometric dating (one half-life = 5730 years for C-14; notice that from the Conquest until the burn site datings not even one half-life of C-14 had elapsed). This limit can be extended by way of certain calibration techniques, or by way of accelerator-mass spectrometry (AMS) centered on C-14. Other isotopes (besides C-14) such as potassium (K-40) and lead (Pb-210) may be utilized when extremely long or extremely short sample dating, respectively, is required. In regard to our burn site scenario above, it can be seen, owing to the approximate time of the Conquest (less than one C-14 half-life/5730 years ago), that the C-14 radiometric dating methodology cannot be called into question beyond experimenter error, which is likely negligible, and beyond sample quality, which is at least questionable, owing to the exchange of C-12 (a stable isotope of carbon) and C-14 in a given burn sample, as follows: (1) uptake of fresh C-14 since the time of the Conquest through carbonate or bicarbonate diffusion into the sample—which would make the sample appear younger than it actually is, or (2) loss of initial (time of Conquest) C-14 that washed out of the sample in the form of a carbonate or bicarbonate and was replaced with C-12—which would make the sample appear older than it actually is (Wilder-Smith, 123). It is highly probable that not all the burn sites would have been affected equally by such C-14 uptake or loss over the centuries since the Conquest, which disparity would give rise to variations in C-14 radiometric dating results from site to site. The rest of this note gives some general background about C-14 radiometric dating and you may wish to read it at another time so as not to lose continuity of thought with the main text above. Atmospheric C-14 concentrations are intimately a function of (1) cosmic particle influx stemming largely from outside our solar system. These particles are comprised of very high energy atomic nuclei (which are charged) and neutrons (neutrons are neutral—no charge). Cosmic particles are now thought to be sourced by supernova events, and possibly also by black hole activity; their influx is presumed to be constant, though this is certainly an idealization; it is further a function of (2) the strength of the earth's magnetic field (which waxes and wanes—it is currently waning Wilder-Smith 124ff); and of (3) solar activity—the solar wind buffets the charged contingent of cosmic particle influx into our solar system. (A theological aside—please note that any [even briefly] sustained influx of high energy neutrons into our solar system would be catastrophic for human life on a grand scale, thus we see how very tenuous life on earth is; it is truly a miracle of design and timing [Jehovah God's loving purposes for us by His grace] that humankind exists at all, let alone that the time has been granted for human culture to develop to the extent that it has). For the C-14 radiometric dating method to be reliable, one needs in addition to the sample age limit criterion mentioned above, constant C-14 concentrations in the upper atmosphere. Fluctuations in the earth's magnetic field make this a challenge, in that they directly translate to C-14 concentration fluctuations, as does solar activity manifest such fluctuations through attendant changes in the solar wind. Cosmic particles synthesize C-14 from Nitrogen-14 (N-14), which (the N-14) is abundant in our atmosphere; the synthesis comes by way of thermal (slow, or low energy) neutron capture (these low energy, C-14-synthesis catalyzing neutrons are a byproduct of cosmic particle collisions with the sundry molecules in our atmosphere). The stronger the earth's magnetic field, the weaker the C-14 synthesis in the upper atmosphere (the earth's magnetic field deflects the [charged] cosmic particles along its field lines which [the field lines] form continuous loops from pole to pole all around the earth, largely concentric with the outer reaches of our atmosphere—in one respect, here is a protective shield, but not against high energy neutrons). Periods of relatively weak magnetic field strength correlate to relatively more robust C-14 synthesis in the earth's upper atmosphere. Once synthesized, C-14 combines with oxygen (O2) to give radioactive carbon dioxide (C-14O2); this radioactive C-14O2 combines with nonradioactive carbon dioxide (C-12O2) in our atmosphere (together these comprise the “carbon dioxide” we reference below). The cells of all living matter are radioactive through the host organism's uptake of this carbon dioxide (plants by way of absorption and photosynthesis, animals and humans simply by way of breathing [air is ~.04% by volume carbon dioxide], and also by way of eating plants; as concerns insects, air enters their spiracles [openings on their thorax—a division between their head and abdomen], then moves through a series of continuous tubes [ a tracheal system]; at the end of each tube simple diffusion allows gas exchange to another cell in the insect). It is this radioactivity in the cells of all living matter that is the basis of the C-14 radiometric dating method—in short, when an organism dies (plant, animal, human, etc.), its uptake of carbon dioxide (and thus radioactive C-14O2) ceases, still, there is ever a radioactive decay process taking place in the dead material (bone, shell, wood, etc.; C-14 decays back to N-14 by way of beta decay), such that measurement of current C-14 radioactivity levels in the sample can be utilized to back-calculate with respect to the time of death.

7. Israel routed this considerable and well-connected enemy with a fraction of its available manpower; what is more, they destroyed and eliminated Jabin and his domain just later. This shows us that had only Israel in unanimity of spirit and solidarity of purpose taken God at his word and thus mobilized against Canaan at the time of Joshua and the main thrust into Canaan, they could have done well more than just subdue it at that time—Jehovah God, through His power and with His presence at their side, had given them the might to obliterate Canaan, and so avert the oppression and trials we learn of in this song. Any struggle, no matter how unfavorable the odds, can turn into a rout for those who trust Him. Who (or what) can stand against Him when He bares His mighty arm against them? The universe is His, and it is at His beck and call.

English (transliteration)→Hebrew Character Mapping

Legend: black= primitive consonants; red and magenta= weak primitive consonants—red =weak guttural primitive consonants, magenta=weak guttural primitive consonants sometimes; blue =vowels: short, changeable long, unchangeable long, reduced, on a per row basis top to bottom (Pratico, passim).

English (transliteration)-->Greek Character Mapping

A->ALPHA	B->BETA	C->CHI	D->DELTA	E->EPSILON	F->PHI	G->GAMMA
H->ETA	I->IOTA	K->KAPPA	L->LAMBDA	M->MU	N->NU	O->OMICRON
P->PI	Q->THETA	R->RHO	S->SIGMA	T->TAU	U->UPSILON	W->OMEGA
X->XI	Y->PSI	Z->ZETA	; or :-> ^.(ano teleia)

STEM	QAL	PIEL	NIPHAL	PUAL	HIPHIL	HITHPAEL	HOPHAL
ACTION	simple	intensive	simple	intensive	causative	intensive	causative
VOICE	active	active	refl./pass.	passive	active	reflexive	passive
TOTALS	75	14	6	3	3	2	0

A-->ALEF	B-->BET	G-->GIMEL	D-->DALET	H-->HE	W-->WAW	Z->ZAYIN
X-->HET	T-->TET	Y-->YOD	K-->KAF	L-->LAMED	M-->MEM	N-->NUN
S-->SAMEK	I-->AYIN (Capital i)	P-->PE	2-->TSADE	Q-->QOF	R-->RESH	6-->SIN
7-->SHIN	3-->TAW
a-->PATHACH	e-->SEGHOL	i-->HIREQ	o-->QAMETS HATUF	u-->QIBBUTS
a'-->QAMETS	e'-->TSERE	o'-->HOLEM
a''-->QAMETS HE	e''-->TSERE YOD	;-->SEGHOL YOD	i''-->HIREQ YOD	o''-->HOLEM WAW	U''--> SHUREQ
a'''-->HATEPH PATHACH	e'''-->HATEPH SEGHOL	o'''-->HATEPH QAMETS

THE SONG OF DEBORAH

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Translating the Song of Deborah

A. Parsing Hebrew Verbs

B. The Song of Deborah Verbs

III. The Historical Importance of the Song of Deborah

A. Israel's Structure as Revealed in the Song of Deborah

B. Israel's Prospects in the Promised Land as Suggested by the Song of Deborah

C. Jabin's Iron Chariots

IV. The Theological Importance of the Song of Deborah

V. Concluding Comments

Illustrations and Tables

Figure 1. Deborah: savior mother.

Table 1. The Song of Deborah Basic Verb Statistics.

Works Cited and References

Notes

English (transliteration)→Hebrew Character Mapping

English (transliteration)-->Greek Character Mapping

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