Last time we looked at Judges 4 as a tale of two women. Deborah and Jael took center stage. Tonight we must add a third woman to flesh out the story.
Sisera's mother, Deborah, and Jael are the three main characters; Barak and Sisera are almost bit players.
All three times Barak is mentioned, he is named immediately after Deborah. You would never say "Barak and Deborah", any more than you would say "Aaron and Moses". Yes, there are five times in the Bible where Aaron gets named first, and all five are in genealogical accounts where he gets the proper credit for being the firstborn. But all other 66 times - all other 66 times – Moses is named first!
So the fact that Barak is named after Deborah throughout the poem, makes it clear that he is subordinate to her. And this took place "in the days of Shamgar, son of Anath" and "in the days of Jael". As Deborah had prophesied, Barak does not get the glory for this victory!
Sisera is named four times in the poem. First as the one against whom the stars fought (v 20). Second as the one whom Jael struck (v 26). Third as the son of his mother (v 28). And finally in his mother's fond dream (v 30). Sisera appears in this song as one who is acted upon by others.
If all we had was the poem, then all we would know is that the Israelites were involved in a battle with the Canaanite army, led by Sisera, that Deborah and Barak were key figures in leading Israel into battle, that not all the tribes responded, that some sort of meteorological event intervened in the battle, and that Jael killed the enemy general.
So the prose account is crucial for giving us the details - but the poetic account helps us make out what is really going on.
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