Judg 4:0-5 | NET2full | STEP | The Israelites again did evil in the Lord ’s sight after Ehud’s death .

‏ Judges 4:1-5

Deborah Summons Barak

1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight ^{▼▼tn Heb “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”} after Ehud’s death. 2 The Lord turned them over to ^{▼▼tn Heb “the Lord sold them into the hands of.”} King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. ^{▼▼tn Or “King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler.”} The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. ^{▼▼tn Or “Harosheth of the Pagan Nations”; cf. KJV “Harosheth of the Gentiles.” “Haroshet” may mean “Forest [area]” or be a reference to some sort of carving.} 3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord because Sisera ^{▼▼tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} had 900 chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, ^{▼▼tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.} and he cruelly ^{▼▼tn Heb “with strength.”} oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, ^{▼▼tn Heb “a woman, a prophetess.” In Hebrew idiom the generic “woman” sometimes precedes the more specific designation. See GKC 437-38 §135.b.} wife of Lappidoth, was ^{▼▼tn Heb “she was.” The pronoun refers back to the nominative absolute “Deborah.” Hebrew style sometimes employs such resumptive pronouns when lengthy qualifiers separate the subject from the verb.} leading ^{▼▼tn Or “judging.”} Israel at that time. 5 She would sit ^{▼▼tn That is, “consider legal disputes.”} under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. ^{▼▼tn Heb “for judgment.”}