Deborah the Judge (דְּבוֹרָה, devorah; “honeybee”). Judge over Israel who led the Israelite army to victory over the Canaanites.

Deborah judged Israel after Shamgar. When Deborah was raised as a judge, Israel had been oppressed by King Jabin of Canaan for 20 years (Judg 4:2–3). Deborah is also referred to as a “prophetess” (Judg 4:4). She is one of two Israelite women in the Bible—along with Huldah (2 Kgs 22:14)—to be given this designation.

Deborah is first introduced in Judg 4:4–5. She judges Israel while sitting “under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim,” which is north of Jerusalem (Soggins, Judges, 64). While she is already serving as judge in the sense of arbitrating disputes, it is not until later in the chapter that she takes on the role of military advisor and leader.

In Judges 4:4, Deborah is described as “לַפִּידוֹת אֵשֶׁת (lappidoth esheth),” which can mean either “wife of Lappidoth,” or literally, “woman of torches.” The name “Lappidoth” is elsewhere unattested; Robert Boling suggests that this is because it is a nickname for “Barak” (Boling, Judges, 95). Susan Niditch and others argue for the translation “woman of torches,” suggesting that Deborah is presented as a charismatic leader—not a “domesticated version of the woman warrior” (Niditch, Judges, 62, 65; Ackerman, Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen, 38). The designation “woman of torches” would then mean something like “fiery woman” (Ackerman, Warrior, 38). The presentation of Deborah as charismatic leader fits with the description of “the palm of Deborah” (Judg 4:4), which describes Deborah as “an oracle associated with a sacred tree or space” (Niditch, Judges, 62). Since Deborah fills the role of prophet and judge throughout Judg 4–5, it would be surprising for her to be introduced in the role of wife (O’Connor, “The Women in the Book of Judges,” 279–80).

J. Alberto Soggins refers Deborah’s position in Judg 4:4—“judging” Israel—as the “forensic sense of the term” judging. He contrasts it with Deborah’s role as “judge on the political and religious plane.” As the narrative progresses, Deborah moves into her role as judge in this second sense. Soggins notes that “during the exercise of this latter office there is no sign of the former” (Soggins, Judges, 71).